Microsoft Corp. on Wednesday announced Windows 365, a cloud service that introduces a new way to experience Windows 10 or Windows 11 (when it becomes available) to businesses of all sizes. As it’s browser-based, Windows 365 is naturally Apple Silicon-compatible, removing a concern for those who need to slum it with Windows on their superior Apple Silicon-powered Macs. It’s also iPad-compatible.
Windows 365 takes the operating system to the Microsoft cloud, streaming the full Windows experience — apps, data and settings — to personal or corporate devices.
Microsoft says that Windows 365 secures and stores information in the cloud, not on the device, providing a secure, productive experience for workers from interns and contractors to software developers and industrial designers. Windows 365 also creates a new hybrid personal computing category called Cloud PC, which uses both the power of the cloud and the capabilities of the device to provide a full, personalized Windows experience. The announcement represents a groundbreaking development as organizations around the world grapple with the best ways to facilitate hybrid work models where employees are both on-site and distributed across the globe.
“With Windows 365, we’re creating a new category: the Cloud PC,” said Satya Nadella, chairman and CEO, Microsoft, in a statement. “Just like applications were brought to the cloud with SaaS, we are now bringing the operating system to the cloud, providing organizations with greater flexibility and a secure way to empower their workforce to be more productive and connected, regardless of location.”
As the pandemic eases in parts of the world, a new way of working is emerging, transformed by virtual processes and remote collaboration. In this more distributed environment, employees need access to corporate resources across locations and devices — and with cybersecurity threats on the rise, securing those resources is paramount.
“Hybrid work has fundamentally changed the role of technology in organizations today,” said Jared Spataro, corporate vice president, Microsoft 365, in a statement. “With workforces more disparate than ever before, organizations need a new way to deliver a great productivity experience with increased versatility, simplicity and security. Cloud PC is an exciting new category of hybrid personal computing that turns any device into a personalized, productive and secure digital workspace. Today’s announcement of Windows 365 is just the beginning of what will be possible as we blur the lines between the device and the cloud.”
Windows 365 helps employers solve challenges they’ve faced since long before the pandemic. Workers expect greater flexibility and more options to work from different locations, while still ensuring the security of the organization’s data. Seasonal workers can cycle on and off teams without the logistical challenges of issuing new hardware or securing personal devices — allowing the organization to scale for busy periods more efficiently and securely. And companies can easily ensure specialized workers in creative, analytics, engineering or scientific roles have greater compute power and secure access to critical applications that they need.
By building on the power of the Windows operating system and the strength of the cloud, Windows 365 gives any organization greater peace of mind in three key ways:
• With instant-on boot to their personal Cloud PC, users can stream all their applications, tools, data and settings from the cloud across any device. Windows 365 provides the full PC experience in the cloud. The cloud also provides versatility in processing power and storage, enabling IT to scale up or down, based on their needs. With a choice of either Windows 10 or Windows 11 (once it is generally available later in 2021), organizations can choose the Cloud PC that works for them with per-user per-month pricing. According to a graphic on Microsoft’s website, you can configure a cloud PC (vCPU) with as much as 512GB and 16GB of RAM.
• With a Cloud PC, users can log in and pick back up where they left off across devices, providing a Windows experience delivered by the cloud. For IT, Windows 365 also simplifies deployment, updates and management — and unlike other solutions, Windows 365 doesn’t require any virtualization experience. With Windows 365 optimized for the endpoint, IT can easily procure, deploy and manage Cloud PCs for their organization just as they manage physical PCs through Microsoft Endpoint Manager. Small and midsize businesses can purchase Windows 365 directly or through a cloud service provider, and set up their organization with Cloud PCs with just a few clicks. Microsoft also continues with Azure Virtual Desktop for those organizations with deep virtualization experience that want more customization and flexibility options.
• Windows 365 leverages the power of the cloud and the principles of Zero Trust. Information is secured and stored in the cloud, not on the device. Microsoft says that Windows 365 simplifies security and recommends the best security settings for the environment at hand.
Windows 365 will be generally available to businesses of all sizes starting on Aug. 2, 2021. More information can be found at https://Microsoft.com/Windows-365.
MacDailyNews Take: This is basically a simplified, rebranded Azure Virtual Desktop. No word on the pricing, or a consumer version, as of yet.
„Streaming the full Windows experience“. Is there anybody out there, who wants this? Poor guys.
Yes, Parallels and VM Ware exists by people just sending them money.
Ooohhhh so THIS is why Windows 11 has such high requirements. I predicted this 20 years ago
The only MS product I use is Excel – Pivot tables are a thing…
Have you tried “Categories” in Numbers as an alternative to Excel?
Doesn’t come close.
If your old enough to know what a “dumb terminal” is, you’ll appreciate the humor in Microsoft’s plans.
If you were old enough to remember grammar school, you’d write intelligible sentences.
If everything Microsoft does is wrong, then why does Apple contract with them for iCloud services? Why does Microsoft have about a 90% profit share in scientific computing?
Apple gave away the high power computing market when Timmy discovered mobile app store monopoly power. Good luck getting it back. Or do you cheerleaders think Safari and Messages are the future?
Is it that time of the month Nancy?
Don’t get so emotional Paul
Little buddy, if you get so bent out of shape that you go into some aimless rant off topic, you need to stop reading MDN for awhile and reconnect with the outside world.
But let me try to answer your questions that had nothing really to do with my point.
Apple contracts with Microsoft because it’s cheaper for them to operate…business 101. Nothing wrong with that.
Scientific research computing has nothing to do with my statement and the reason behind it.
Your not in Tim’s mind and you don’t know the future…so stop guessing, your not fooling anyone.
Sorry your feelings got hurt here, tell ya what, If you want a cloud based OS you may be charged a subscription fee for, your dream is about to come true, have at it…feel better now?
Pertinent questions….
as Apple gains in wealth, increases the eco-system and heralding pop-culture, the focus becomes dumbed down.
Gone are the days of the round pegs in square holes…while leading the emoji revolution.
When performance bottleneck is Internet bandwidth… In that world, I guess Intel is fast enough 😉
This is going to be great for apple! they are going to sell so much hardware with this…… have your work computer in your Home laptop….
With virtualization, they already have that.