Windows applications can be a valuable thing to a lot of different businesses, and why not? Windows has been pretty much running business for the last 20 years or so, so there's a wide volume of available topics on which to act. Stoneware, meanwhile, understands that even now not everyone's running Windows on everything, but may need access to Windows and its various apps at some point, so late last week it announced the release and immediate availability of webRDP HTML5 Gateway (News – Alert), a system designed to make Windows access faster and easier.

With webRDP HTML5 Gateway, users get the access to Windows that's needed, but with the added expedient of being able to get that access from any Web browser. This means that Windows applications are now available to even those who aren't running Windows on a particular device—Stoneware's CEO, Rick German, notes that it's particularly useful for those who are running Linux—and get access to those still-valuable legacy applications.

German further elaborated on changes to the webRDP HTML5 Gateway made with version 1.1, noting improvements to the user interface, and by extension a better user experience, as well as improvements made to the webRDP clipboard, a move that will allow RDP sessions to be much more functional overall than the previous versions. Indeed, the user interface took several major improvements, including allowing IT departments to create single-click logins that can be sent out via e-mail or the Web, as well as the ability to copy and paste via RDP connect. Custom logout URLs can also be brought into play, allowing users to be routed to a particular page when said users log out, and there's even something of a new feature in the form of a newly-enhanced virtual keyboard system.

Perhaps best of all, webRDP HTML5 Gateway version 1.1 offers support for both Proxy and SOCKS, while at the same time encrypting all passwords, and can be installed in a time estimated in minutes.  There's even an OEM version available that allows for extra customization and branding for user in custom solutions, making it that much more versatile overall.

That makes webRDP HTML5 Gateway version 1.1 a valuable tool for users looking for a way to get access to Windows tools while out and about, a measure which–given the overall increase in mobile workers and workers working from mobile technology platforms based on the bring your own device (BYOD) doctrine that's moving through businesses today–makes a lot of sense. Being able to reach Windows documents and the like—spreadsheets, databases, PowerPoint decks—from a Web browser is likely to prove helpful for many companies, especially those with outside sales arms or similarly mobile components, all thanks to the increasingly valuable property that is HTML5.

That's going to help put a lot of extra punch into mobile operations by providing the information that's needed where ever it should happen to be needed at the time, and ought to have more than a few companies looking to Stoneware with some serious interest. It may not be the solution for everybody, but for those who need access to those Windows apps from anywhere, it may be a good place to start looking.