Posted on 07/14/2021 2:13:30 PM PDT by upchuck
What if you could use a Windows desktop PC without actually running Windows on your hardware? Microsoft has a solution for you: Windows 365, a cloud-based Windows desktop you can access from any device, including Macs, iPads, Chromebooks, Android phones, and Linux PCs.
To use a Windows 365 “Cloud PC” after the service launches on August 2, 2021, you just need a device with a modern web browser. Your Windows desktop in the cloud retains its current state even when you disconnect. If you’re editing an Excel spreadsheet and switch from a Mac to an iPad, for example, you’ll instantly see the desktop state right as you left it when you reconnect so you can get right back to work. It’s just like waking a PC from sleep mode.
The benefit is clear: You can run Windows applications without running Windows on your hardware. This means access to a full Windows 10 desktop on Macs, iPads, Chromebooks, and more—just as long as you have an internet connection. (When Windows 11 launches, you’ll be able to access a Windows 11 desktop in the same way.)
At launch, Windows 365 will only be available to businesses, and it will have a per-user monthly subscription cost. Microsoft offers a variety of different hardware configurations at different price points, all hosted on Azure, Microsoft’s cloud computing service. Businesses will be able to easily spin up cloud PCs, manage them, and control access.
At launch, single-person businesses are eligible. It’s not just for large corporations with thousands of employees—and it’s easy to imagine Microsoft offering the service to consumers in the future, too.
Other services already offer cloud-based desktop PCs you can access in a browser for everything from gaming to productivity, but now Microsoft is offering its own solution.
(Excerpt) Read more at howtogeek.com ...
Not even with a ten foot pole ...
I love this comment way more than I really should.
;D
The mainframe is back, with a new name. Does anyone remember the client server holy war? All the software processing was to be done on the client desktop.
Spy on you AND hold your data hostage to whatever whims they dream up (subscription fees, reduced storage, blacklisted user agreement).
And think just how easy it will be to monitor and cancel you! One moment you are working away, the next, you are locked out of all software and your data is gone, and you are permanently disconnected from all computing, forever.
The Left’s invisible friend in the clouds.
How wonderful...
Now we don’t have to worry about mistakenly writing something patriotic, pro-guns, or anti mooslem...
Microsoft will watch and protect...
Big deal we were doing much the same at work a decade or more ago.
It was all internal and used windows servers for ESRI apps etc. Browser etc all right there. I was the lucky admin for that server and more.
I ain’t having none of it.
I back up everything in the cloud anyway.
If you’re gonna get hacked - what difference does it make if they hack your hard drive or your cloud?
And if/when your PC crashes or your lose your phone - you still have data on an operating system
Many of the technology super impaired and incompetent could definitely benefit.
“To use a Windows 365 “Cloud PC” after the service launches on August 2, 2021, you just need a device with a modern web browser. “
... and your wallet.
ping
At launch, Windows 365 will only be available to businesses, and it will have a per-user monthly subscription cost.
Yeah. No thanks.
I remember these being proposed in the early 2000s as Application Service Providers ( ASPs ). IIRC one thing that killed the idea was that a couple of big free photo sharing sites went away at about the same time. People lost all of their pictures with no way to get them back.
Date shows 2012.
Funny, the idea sounds that old.
AWS can set up windowa or (linux in six flavors) VM that is the same thing. 10 years ago.
So if you lose your connection or have a payment declined, they virtually confiscate your computer. No thanks.
DELL stocks may be affected, I’d guess.
Jul 14, 2012
This has been around for a while. There are some real limitations to it, mostly with running slowly and the web versions of the Office Suite are stripped down versions.
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