Desktop and Application virtualization are two different methods that allow software to be provided to users via on-premise or cloud resources. While both let you run software running on virtual machines in a data center, you interact with each one differently.
Application
This option allows you to launch only the application that you need, and allow it to run in a similar way as if it were running on your machine. The software is still running in the data center on another computer, but the Graphical User Interface of the software is passed to your machine, so you can interact with and use the software. The application icon below shows an example of Matlab, where you should see the actual icon for the software you want to use.
Desktop
This option launches an entire Desktop experience on your device (in full screen) and is very similar to using Remote Desktop to connect to another computer. While launching this often takes over your whole screen, you can minimize the software and continue to use anything else you are doing on your local device.
