Microsoft announced Windows 365 at its Inspire partner conference on Wednesday. With the pandemic forcing people to work remotely, Microsoft has introduced the Cloud service to help businesses boost productivity in work-from-home scenarios. The new Windows 365 typically meant for businesses will allow access to Cloud PCs from anywhere and stream Windows 10 or Windows 11.
As mentioned, Windows 365 will only be made available for business from August 2 with a per-user monthly subscription cost. Windows 365 will arrive in two editions- Business and Enterprise. It is built on top of Azure Virtual Desktop and the service is meant for businesses of all sizes. As noted by The Verge, individual Cloud PCs can be configured with a single CPU, 2GB of RAM, and 64GB of storage at the low-end, and all the way up to eight CPUs, 32GB of RAM, and 512GB of storage. In total there are 12 different configurations for both Windows 365 Business and Enterprise.
“Just like applications were brought to the cloud with SaaS, we are now bringing the operating system to the cloud, providing organisations with greater flexibility and a secure way to empower their workforce to be more productive and connected, regardless of location,” Satya Nadella, Microsoft Chairman and CEO said at the company’s ‘Inspire 2021’ event.
“Cloud PC is an exciting, new category of hybrid personal computing that turns any device into a personalised, productive, and secure digital workspace,” Jared Spataro, corporate vice president, Microsoft 365 cited on the occasion.
While Microsoft has been offering similar technology with Azure Virtual Desktop for decades, the latest approach is meant to ease setup and management.
“Windows 365 provides an instant-on boot experience. You can pick up right where you left off, because the state of your Cloud PC remains the same, even when you switch devices,” Wangui McKelvey, a general manager for Microsoft 365 quoted saying. This means that employees will be able to stream their Windows session from the same apps, tools, data, and ‘settings across’ Android devices, Macs, iPads, etc.
“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,” the company mentioned.
As mentioned earlier, Windows 365 is not meant for consumers, but for small, medium, and large businesses. It will be available from August 2, although Microsoft is yet to disclose the price for this service.
