Ask HN: Technical choices shopping for desktop virtualization solutions?

My experience with remote hosting services is limited to headless server hosting--managed,unmanaged, shared, dedicated--services. Either you're providing a service, or you need hosting for your firm. In this case my firm is the consumer.

Looking for virtual workstations for (variably) 5-10 simultaneous users for 6-months or longer. Software requirements are minimal basic business apps: Microsoft Windows OS, Miscrosoft Office 365, Chrome/Firefox web browsers, Windows-based accounting software, Python (Anaconda), and printing. Our current solution uses LogMeIn/ConnectWise to access worker's remote machines--that's the baseline user experience.

- installation of required Windows-capable software--what are the sorts of restrictions?

- user experience as compared desktop (What is persistent virtual desktop? Would you have file-tree that's not persistent?? Can I have dual-head?)

- printing capability

- We also need a dedicated server--is it common to bundle all these services on one machine or with one provider?

The Wikipedia article on Desktop Virtualization [1] describes:

- VDI service provides individual desktop operating system instances (e.g., Windows..10) for each user,

- Remote Desktop Services sessions run in a single shared-server operating system (e.g., Windows Server...).

- Desktop as a service ... Private cloud implementations...referred to as "managed VDI".

Are there performance downsides for simultaneous users? I assume I should choose a provider close to my side of the country, but only some disclose where their 'data centers' are located--others do not.

I've already sat through one sales pitch and conference call thinking I was reviewing one product, but understand now they were selling me something with a different user experience than our baseline (Please disclose if this is your business.)

[1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desktop_virtualization