Microsoft improves its PC in the cloud offering Windows 365

Last year, Microsoft introduced Windows 365 to business customers. Windows 365 brings the Windows experience to the cloud so that an employee’s specific content, including files, settings, or applications, can be streamed to local devices.

Windows 365 is compatible with most devices that have an Internet connection, including Windows PCs, Mac OS devices, and iOS and Android mobile devices.

The service is available only to business and enterprise customers. Pricing starts at $31 per user per month for the Basic business plan for 2 vCPU, 4 Gigabyte RAM, and 128 Gigabyte virtual system storage. Outgoing data volumes are limited and Azure bandwidth pricing applies to data transfers over 20GB, 40GB, or 70GB limits depending on selected plans.

Microsoft unveiled improvements to Windows 365 at its hybrid work event. The “new experiences” introduce new options to marry the “power of the cloud and the familiarity of the PC.”

Windows 365 Boot allows users to boot directly to the Windows 365 cloud PC at system startup. The feature appears to be limited to Windows 11 devices. The device loads the Windows sign-in experience with Windows Hello, and from there, the Cloud PC environment.

This makes Windows 365 an even better solution for the temporary or frontline workforces I mentioned, where device-sharing and bring-your-own-device (BYOD) scenarios are common. Let different users sign in directly to their own personal, secure Windows 365 Cloud PC with their credentials.

Windows 365 Switch add cloud PC environments to desktop switcher on Windows devices; this makes it easy to switch between your on-premises environment and the Windows 365 Cloud PC environment.

We are now adding Windows 365 Switch, which will allow me to move between my Windows 365 Cloud PC and the local desktop just like I do today between different desktops in the task switcher. I’ll even be able to use the same familiar keyboard commands, as well as a mouse click or swipe gesture.

The new Windows 365 app adds a new option to launch Windows 365 Cloud PC from the taskbar or Start menu on Windows devices. The app will be pre-installed in future versions of Windows 11, and IT administrators can install it on Windows 10 devices manually.

A new native Windows 365 app will give me another way to go directly to my Windows 365 cloud PC from the taskbar or Start menu. All with a desktop path to my Windows 365 PC in the cloud, providing a personal and personalized welcome experience to fit my setup, profile, and work style.

Windows 365 offline Provides offline access to Windows 365 when there is no internet connection.

We’re also working to offer Windows 365 offline, which will allow you to work in Windows 365 even when you’re offline. When connectivity is restored, the Windows 365 cloud PC will automatically resynchronize with the Windows 365 service without data loss for a persistent user experience and workflow.

Support for Azure AD Join is leaving public preview to be available in May 2022 for Windows 365 Enterprise customers.

Now you: Do you already use Windows 365 or would you (if Microsoft released a Home version)?

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