Patent attributes
A service provider system may provision virtualized computing resources to implement a virtual desktop instance. An interactivity agent installed on the virtual desktop instance may collect data representing interactions between a user and various input devices (e.g. a keyboard or mouse) that are associated with the execution of various desktop applications, and may provide the interactivity data to a desktop application preferences service implemented in the service provider system. The desktop application preferences service may, based on the interactivity data, characterize the usage of the desktop applications and their targets (e.g., documents) to determine which applications and targets are likely to be used during subsequent virtual desktop sessions (e.g., those used most or most recently). When a new session is started, the determined collection of preferred applications (and targets thereof) may be presented in a user interface from which they may be collectively launched, or they may be launched automatically.