Technology Comparison
Depending on your environment, type of automations, and applications used, you can choose one of the two available PiP technologies.
PiP - Child Session is best suited for complex automations that make use of hardware events and image-based automation, while PiP - Virtual Desktop provides a faster process start time and can run on more Windows operating systems.
If both PiP technologies are compatible with your environment and automations, PiP - Virtual Desktop is recommended as it is faster and uses less resources to start the automation. You can also keep a PiP - Child Session instance open throughout the day to achieve similar performance when starting an automation.
The main differences are presented below:
Session authentication and VPN compatibility
| Scenario | PiP - Child Session | PiP - Virtual Desktop |
|---|---|---|
| Normal Password Authentication | ✅ | ✅ |
| PIN Authentication | ✅1 | ✅ |
| Smart Card Authentication | ✅1 | ✅ |
| VPN Configurations | ✅2 | ✅ |
1 Only works the first time a PiP session is spawned. After that, the PiP session can be authenticated only using username and password until the next restart of the machine.
2 More information on how PiP - Child Session works with VPN can be found here.
UI Automation compatibility
| Scenario | PiP - Child Session | PiP - Virtual Desktop |
|---|---|---|
| Edge/Chrome Browser Automation | ✅ | ✅1 |
| Hardware Events UIAutomation | ✅ | ❌ |
| Image-Based Automation | ✅ | ❌ |
| Windows Messages2 | ✅ | ✅ |
| Simulate2 | ✅ | ✅ |
1 UIAutomation Activities v22.4 and above is required for Edge/Chrome browser automation when using PiP - Virtual Desktop.
2 These input methods may not work on all applications. Check the Input methods table for the overall compatibility with applications.
Applications and integrations usage
| Scenario | PiP - Child Session | PiP - Virtual Desktop |
|---|---|---|
| Microsoft Office Suite | ✅ | ✅ |
| Other UiPath Activities/Integrations | ✅ | ✅ |
Supported Operating Systems and Virtualization
| OS | PiP - Child Session | PiP - Virtual Desktop |
|---|---|---|
| Windows 8/10/11 - Home Edition | ❌ | ✅ |
| Windows 8/10/11 - Pro/Enterprise Edition | ✅ | ✅ |
| Windows Server 2012/2016/2019/2022 | ❌ | ✅ |
| Mac OS X | ❌ | ❌ |
| Remote Desktop | ✅ | ✅ |
| App-V | ❌ | ✅ |
Miscellaneous
| Scenario | PiP - Child Session | PiP - Virtual Desktop |
|---|---|---|
| Ability to run an executable as administrator | ❌ | ✅ |
| Recording execution or taking screenshots | ✅ | ❌ |