We designed Secure Desktop for Win32 applications (e.g., COM, Win32, WPF, WinForms, etc.).
A Universal Windows Program (UWP) app is a new kind of app designed for Windows 10 and Windows 11. A Progressive Web App (PWA) is a website that can appear to the user like a traditional application.
The Windows Explorer shell and the Secure Desktop shell both provide the ability to run Win32 applications.
UWP and PWA apps need the Windows Explorer shell. The Windows Explorer shell has to be running to launch and run a UWP or PWA app. This design is an unfortunate architectural choice.
Secure Desktop provides security by temporarily replacing the Windows Explorer shell. When setting the Secure Desktop application to be the Windows shell, the Explorer shell is not running. Because the Explorer shell is not running, Secure Desktop can not run UWP or PWA apps in any edition of Windows.
Secure Desktop 13 is the first version of Secure Desktop that is 100% 64-bit. Past versions have been compiled as 32-bit applications, though 64-bit aware.
All editions of Windows 11 are 64-bit. Secure Desktop 13 is designed to run on x64 computers (AMD64 or Intel 64) with Windows 11.
Secure Desktop 13 should work on Windows 11 ARM64 via emulation. Secure Desktop 13 is compiled for x64, not for ARM64.
Secure Desktop has always been able to launch Win32 browsers such as Internet Explorer, Chrome, Brave, Firefox, and Opera.
Secure Desktop can not launch UWP browsers like the original Microsoft Edge browser. The newer Microsoft Edge browser is a Win32 application and, therefore, is compatible with Secure Desktop. Internet Explorer 11 has been retired and has gone out of support on June 15th, 2022.
If you are using the new Microsoft Edge browser, please read the following Microsoft document about the new Microsoft Edge browser policies:
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/deployedge/microsoft-edge-policies
Although Secure Desktop 13 is compatible with many editions of Windows 11, we strongly recommend consideration of the Windows 11 Enterprise LTSC (long term servicing channel) Edition before making a final decision. Regardless of the edition of Windows 11 you choose, Secure Desktop can not run UWP or PWA apps. Our research shows that Windows 11 Enterprise LTSC Edition may be the most secure and stable in a mission-critical system.
Microsoft TechNet Evaluation Center for Windows 11
Secure Desktop 13 is incompatible with Windows 11 S, or Windows 11 S Mode. Secure Desktop 13 should work on Windows 11 on ARM (Windows 11 ARM64) in emulation mode. Secure Desktop 13 has not been specifically tested on Windows 11 on ARM at this time. Still, it should be fully compatible with emulation mode.
Secure Desktop 12.54 and Secure Desktop 13.00 have 99% the same user interface and feature list. Secure Desktop 12 is 32-bit and supports both Windows 10 and Windows 11. Secure Desktop 13 is 64-bit and supports Windows 11 only.
If you are currently using Secure Desktop 12 with Windows 11, there is very little benefit to upgrading to Secure Desktop 13. Secure Desktop 12, as a 32-bit application, is running through the WoW64 (Windows on Windows 64-bit) compatibility layer. If this compatibility layer is causing issues in your system configuration, consider upgrading to Secure Desktop 13.
If you are currently using Secure Desktop 11 with Windows 11, and you are considering an upgrade to Secure Desktop 12 due to new features, you may want to consider upgrading to Secure Desktop 13 instead.
If you are currently using Windows 10 with Secure Desktop 10, 11 or 12 and you wish to upgrade to Windows 11, please consider upgrading to Secure Desktop 13.
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Secure Utilities 13 Data Sheet
Secure Utilities 12 Data Sheet
Secure Utilities 11 Data Sheet