Cloud pc azure windows#

'I think we'll still continue to have great client PC experiences,' said Melissa Grant, director of Product Marketing for Windows 365, in an interview. One thing Windows 365 doesn't mean, at least at this point, is the end of traditional computers. And even though a tool like Azure Virtual Desktop brought it to the cloud (Manchester assures us that's not going anywhere either), it's even more difficult to manage. Virtualizing operating systems has been a useful local tool for developers over the last few decades, but it's typically been a bit too difficult for mainstream users to manage on their own. 'Ultimately, they were looking for Microsoft to be a one-stop-shop for them to get all the services they need to,' he said said.

They used a tool meant for hybrid work - where you can easily switch between working in an office or remotely - while stuck at home during the pandemic.īut why develop Windows 365 when Azure Virtual Desktop already exists? Manchester tells us that Microsoft noticed a whopping 80 percent of AVD customers were relying on third-party vendors to help manage their installations.

While the idea for Windows 365 came long before the pandemic, Microsoft workers spent the last year learning first-hand how useful a Cloud PC could be. (Microsoft is also using technology that can render streaming video on a local machine, which it eventually passes over to your Cloud PC.) You'll also be able to roll back your Cloud PC to previous states, which should be helpful if you ever accidentally delete important files. It's also fast enough to stream video without any noticeable artifacts, Manchester says. During a brief demo of Windows 365, running apps and browsing the web didn't seem that different than a local PC. And instead of lugging a work device home, every Windows 365 user can securely hop back into their virtual desktops from their home PCs or tablets via the web or Microsoft's Remote Desktop app. Smaller businesses, meanwhile, could set up Windows 365 instances for their handful of employees to use on shared devices. Microsoft is also exploring ways to bring in dedicated GPU power for more demanding users, Scott Manchester, the director of Program Management for Windows 365, tells us. Windows 365 installations will be configurable with up to eight virtual CPUs, 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage at the time of launch. Now, instead of managing local Windows installations on pricey notebooks, IT folks can get by with simpler hardware that taps into a scalable cloud. Windows 365 likely isn't going to mean much for most consumers, but it could be life-changing for IT departments and small businesses. (Unfortunately, we don't yet know how much the service is going to cost, but Microsoft says it will reveal final pricing on August 1st.) You just need to head to when it launches on August 2nd (that domain isn't yet live), choose a virtual machine configuration, and you'll be up and running. It builds on Microsoft's Azure Virtual Desktop service, which lets tech-savvy folks also spin up their own virtual PCs, but it makes the entire process of managing a Windows installation in a far-off server far simpler.

Cloud pc azure full#

It is safe to say that Office 365 has been very successful and accounts for a significant portion of Azure’s overall workload at this point.While Windows 365 doesn't come completely out of nowhere - rumors about some kind of Microsoft cloud PC effort have been swirling for months - its full scope is still surprising. It is anybody’s guess how Windows 365 might take off, and how many virtual PC experiences Microsoft can cram into an Azure server. Microsoft also had no specifics on dates when the new Windows 365 features would be available. Windows 365 is an enterprise-tier service, so don’t expect these features to come to personal Windows 11 computers in the near future. The depth of integration between Windows 11 and Windows 365 may be Microsoft’s attempt to overcome stalling installation rates. Windows 11 has seen lagging adoption rates among enterprise users, with only 0.21 percent of enterprise machines running Microsoft’s latest OS as of late 2021. We’ve reached out to Microsoft with questions about the technology.

Cloud pc azure Offline#

Panay did say that this feature was something Microsoft “envisions,” so it remains to be seen when or if Windows 365 Offline will happen. Microsoft wasn’t specific on how it works aside from saying that it would automatically sync with Windows 365 when the connection is restored and that no data would be lost. The last of the four features, Windows 365 Offline, reportedly lets users who lose their internet connection continue to use their cloud PC while offline.