Doubts with Amazon workspaces and EC2

Question

I need to rent/buy a server service in which I can run windows 7 with the following purpose: to install 4 programs. I need to work with them regularly but I cant install these programs from my PC, I have to be on the cloud server.

So my question, because the FAQ of each services do not state it clearly, if I rent workspace with windows 7 can I install any program I want? Can I do this as installation is done on a regular PC with windows 7 ?? I already tested the 4 programs I need to use on my windows 7 machine locally and they work perfectly. I only need to be sure they can work in Amazon web service as well.

Thanks in advance.

Answer 1

AWS Workspaces does not actually run Windows 7, it runs Windows Server 2008 R2, with a Windows 7 theme. (see "What Operating System does a WorkSpace run?")

Due to Windows client licensing restrictions it is not possible to run an MS client OS in a cloud environment.

While Windows Server 2008 R2 should run anything that Win7 can, there are a few apps that don't allow themselves to be run on a server OS.

Answer 2

you can install softwares on your workspace, you are admin by default. But Workspace pricing is a monthly cost, so if you need only few usage of this machine you may want to consider using a windows ec2 instance instead