Microsoft plans to move Windows to the Cloud: Here’s what this means for users
Microsoft has been increasingly shifting Windows to the cloud on the commercial side with Windows 365, but the software giant also has the same ambition for consumers. In a Microsoft presentation from June 2022 that covers the “state of the business,” Microsoft talks about expanding on “Windows 365 to enable a complete Windows operating system streamed from the cloud to any device.”
The presentation has been revealed as part of the ongoing FTC v. Microsoft hearing, as it covers Microsoft’s overall gaming strategy and how it connects to other parts of the company’s businesses.
Transitioning “Windows 11 increasingly to the cloud” is seen as a long-term opportunity in Microsoft’s “Modern Life” consumer space, including using “the power of the cloud and client to enable enhanced AI-powered services and full roaming of people’s digital experience.”
What this means for users
Windows 365 is a service that lets users access a full Windows experience on any device. It’s currently only available for business users, but Windows 11 has already incorporated it deeply. A future update will bring Windows 365 Boot, which will allow Windows 11 devices to boot directly into a Cloud PC session instead of the local Windows installation. Windows 11 also has Windows 365 Switch, which integrates Cloud PCs with the Task View (virtual desktops) feature.
The idea of having a fully cloud-based Windows for consumers also goes along with Microsoft’s need to partner with custom silicon makers. Microsoft has already done some of this for its Surface Pro X devices that run on ARM. Bloomberg also reported in late 2020 that Microsoft was exploring designing its own ARM-based processors for servers and maybe even Surface devices.
In a different slide in the presentation, Microsoft talks about the need to “strengthen Windows commercial value and counter Chromebook threat” for its “Modern Work” priorities in its 2022 financial year. Long-term opportunities on the commercial side include increasing the adoption of cloud PCs with Windows 365.
Microsoft has recently unveiled Windows Copilot, an AI-powered assistant for Windows 11. Windows Copilot stays at the edge of Windows 11 and can summarize content you’re viewing in apps, rewrite it, or even explain it. Microsoft is currently testing this internally and promised to release it to testers in June before rolling it out more widely to Windows 11 users.
Windows Copilot is part of a larger AI push for Windows. Microsoft is also collaborating with AMD and Intel to enable more Windows features on next-gen CPUs. Intel and Microsoft have even hinted at Windows 12 in recent months, and Windows chief Panos Panay claimed at CES earlier this year that “AI is going to reinvent how you do everything on Windows.” All of this is part of Microsoft’s broad Windows ambition, detailed in its internal presentation, “to enable improved AI-powered services” in Windows.
The post Microsoft plans to move Windows to the Cloud: Here’s what this means for users appeared first on Techlusive.
Microsoft has been increasingly shifting Windows to the cloud on the commercial side with Windows 365, but the software giant also has the same ambition for consumers. In a Microsoft presentation from June 2022 that covers the “state of the business,” Microsoft talks about expanding on “Windows 365 to enable a complete Windows operating system streamed from the cloud to any device.”
The presentation has been revealed as part of the ongoing FTC v. Microsoft hearing, as it covers Microsoft’s overall gaming strategy and how it connects to other parts of the company’s businesses.
Transitioning “Windows 11 increasingly to the cloud” is seen as a long-term opportunity in Microsoft’s “Modern Life” consumer space, including using “the power of the cloud and client to enable enhanced AI-powered services and full roaming of people’s digital experience.”
What this means for users
Windows 365 is a service that lets users access a full Windows experience on any device. It’s currently only available for business users, but Windows 11 has already incorporated it deeply. A future update will bring Windows 365 Boot, which will allow Windows 11 devices to boot directly into a Cloud PC session instead of the local Windows installation. Windows 11 also has Windows 365 Switch, which integrates Cloud PCs with the Task View (virtual desktops) feature.
The idea of having a fully cloud-based Windows for consumers also goes along with Microsoft’s need to partner with custom silicon makers. Microsoft has already done some of this for its Surface Pro X devices that run on ARM. Bloomberg also reported in late 2020 that Microsoft was exploring designing its own ARM-based processors for servers and maybe even Surface devices.
In a different slide in the presentation, Microsoft talks about the need to “strengthen Windows commercial value and counter Chromebook threat” for its “Modern Work” priorities in its 2022 financial year. Long-term opportunities on the commercial side include increasing the adoption of cloud PCs with Windows 365.
Microsoft has recently unveiled Windows Copilot, an AI-powered assistant for Windows 11. Windows Copilot stays at the edge of Windows 11 and can summarize content you’re viewing in apps, rewrite it, or even explain it. Microsoft is currently testing this internally and promised to release it to testers in June before rolling it out more widely to Windows 11 users.
Windows Copilot is part of a larger AI push for Windows. Microsoft is also collaborating with AMD and Intel to enable more Windows features on next-gen CPUs. Intel and Microsoft have even hinted at Windows 12 in recent months, and Windows chief Panos Panay claimed at CES earlier this year that “AI is going to reinvent how you do everything on Windows.” All of this is part of Microsoft’s broad Windows ambition, detailed in its internal presentation, “to enable improved AI-powered services” in Windows.
The post Microsoft plans to move Windows to the Cloud: Here’s what this means for users appeared first on Techlusive.
