Microsoft’s new cloud PC system, Windows 365, has officially launched for all eligible businesses and enterprises. While it’s not available to consumers yet, 9to5Mac‘s Parker Ortolan was able to go hands-on with Windows 365 on his iPad Pro.
Previously, we expected Windows 365 to be only accessible through a web browser. I first tried Windows 365 through Safari in iPadOS 15. It wasn’t a great experience, to be honest. But then I noticed Microsoft’s callout to the Remote Desktop app. I flew over to the App Store and downloaded the app, entered my credentials, and boom — I had a smooth virtual install of Windows running in a native app on my iPad from the App Store. Yeah, you read that correctly.
Apple has become infamous for its rejection of game streaming apps on the App Store. It has even blocked Microsoft from shipping an Xbox cloud app. So why does Apple allow an app that lets you stream an entire operating system on the store? You could even run Xbox streamed games through your virtual Windows 365 PC on your iPad. And while the Remote Desktop is typically used for accessing a physical PC remotely, this is an entirely different ballgame. A user can set up a virtual PC through a browser and then download an app that smoothly streams Windows from Apple…
The best part? The iPad’s trackpad cursor turns from the circle into the traditional white arrow cursor when using Windows 365 in-app. Microsoft also provides a few shortcuts for zooming and bringing up the iPad’s virtual keyboard at the top of the screen.
The cloud PC also holds its state, so you can multitask to other native iPad apps as you use Windows 365. You can place the Remote Desktop app in the dock to quickly jump over to Windows if you want to as well.
MacDailyNews Note: Windows 365 plans and pricing start at $20/month. More into via the Borg here.