Office 2013 over VDI

If you plan to deploy Microsoft Office 2013 over VDI keep an eye out for issues with screen flickers or audio pops. These are a side effect of a default Office option for hardware acceleration.

Issue:

• When using XenDesktop/XenApp 7.x with Office 2013 installed, there can be speaker popping, Office application windows can randomly go black, and there can be screen flickers.

Reason:

• Hardware acceleration with Office 2013

Resolution:

• On clients (server or desktop OS) with Office 2013 deployed: disable hardware graphics acceleration. 

This checkbox is available in all (I believe, only checked Outlook, Excel, and Word) the Office applications.

This setting may also be applied via the Office ADMX template in Group Policy.

Reference: KB2768648