A lot of people say this is no big deal because other solutions are available.
However a big value add that Microsoft has is really amazing performance with their remote desktop systems, compared to most other competitors.
Even when other companies use the same RDP protocol the performance is usually not as good, and things like VNC and TeamViewer have much lower refresh rates.
Other solutions have some unique features that are useful, but for pure performance it doesn't get much better than this.
I have yet to use any other remote desktop system that feels nearly as responsive as Microsoft's own RDP implementation, and I've used many. The others I've used are workable (especially over very fast links), but with every interaction there is just enough lag to continually remind you that you're running over a network connection, whereas Microsoft's RDP feels pretty much like running locally as long as you avoid gaming or high-frame-rate video.
I haven't tried their Android client yet, but I'm hoping it works nearly as well as their desktop implementation does.
I think the state of the art right now is Remmina, which allows you to connect to Windows 7 + systems. I dont know if rdesktop now allows you to do that, but (a year ago) earlier it didnt.
The other big deal is that an Official app means a lot more when talking to some management people. "We are using Microsoft software to talk to Microsoft software" is a pretty easy statement. Also, if you work at one of those places that have approved vendors[1] then this is great.
1) did that once, oh my but it was more bureaucratic than some government agencies
Now if they can do this in Linux, then I can use Mint or Ubuntu 100% and access my email without having to open my company device... just keep it handy.
You can use any number of remote desktop front ends for Mint/Ubuntu...rdesktop for starters. Beyond that, if your company's mail server is a recent version of exchange, or even MS's office365 service, you should be able to configure your email client of choice.
However a big value add that Microsoft has is really amazing performance with their remote desktop systems, compared to most other competitors.
Even when other companies use the same RDP protocol the performance is usually not as good, and things like VNC and TeamViewer have much lower refresh rates.
Other solutions have some unique features that are useful, but for pure performance it doesn't get much better than this.