Posted on 11/29/2023 6:42:03 PM PST by Responsibility2nd
Microsoft has announced the launch of what they are calling “Windows app,” a new service designed to stream the full Windows desktop operating system from the cloud to various devices, including Chromebooks. This new offering from Microsoft signifies a major shift in how the company thinks users will be using Windows in the future and is clearly a response to the “Chromebook threat.”
Let’s first dive into what this new service entails exactly. The Windows App is essentially a new remote desktop hub that enables users to stream Windows Cloud PC and remote desktop services on a range of devices. This includes not only other Windows machines but also iPhones, iPads, Macs, and any device equipped with a desktop browser, i.e. Chromebooks. Android devices are currently not supported. You can view a preview version of the app here.
Microsoft describes the Windows App as a “gateway” to several key services: Azure Virtual Desktop, Windows 365, Microsoft Dev Box, and Remote Desktop Services.
You can use Windows App on many different types of devices on different platforms and form factors, such as desktops and laptops, tablets, smartphones, and through a web browser. When using a web browser on a desktop or laptop, you can connect without having to download and install any software.
Interestingly, the service officially supports ChromeOS, allowing Chromebook users to stream Windows 11. The technical requirements for this are minimal, needing only ChromeOS version 57 or newer. But before you try to use the Windows App on your Chromebook, it’s important to know that Microsoft is currently only allowing business and school accounts to use the app.
As reported by The Verge, this initiative is part of a broader strategy by Microsoft to move Windows to the cloud, as revealed in an internal “state of the business” presentation from June 2022. Discussed during the ongoing FTC v. Microsoft hearing, this strategy includes a focus on building upon “Windows 365 to enable a full Windows operating system streamed from the cloud to any device.” Microsoft states things a little more clearly in another part of the presentation saying that they need to “shore up Windows commercial value and respond to Chromebook threat.”
I think Microsoft is clearly trying to figure out what Windows will look like in the new cloud-computing era and this new app is part of that. But here’s the difference: ChromeOS was built for the web, Windows was not. I am all for Microsoft improving their products and allowing users who depend on their services to access them through the web but throwing an old-school OS in the cloud isn’t the same as an OS that was built for the cloud. ChromeOS is a threat and for good reason – it is a modern OS built for what Microsoft calls “modern work.”
No, I did not write to disagree, and I respect your learned input which adds value to the thread. But while you did not do it, have sometimes who post on my positive experiences with Windows due to what I see as hype for Linux as if there can be no reasons to like Windows over it, and as balance is needed.
Maybe someday I will have to go with the Linux, but the learning curve and the time and energy. necessary to customize it I to render it to be like Windows is not warranted. Thank God there are alternatives to the default.
As for the Windows app, would that enable me to connect to another PC running W/10 and control it (I have an old one I would like to use as a security camera)?
i pay 9.99 a month for office 365, not interested in a cloud based windows OS
I would be willing to pay the extra $2/month myself if I was sharing a place with even one other person just to be nice to them :-)
hahaha
its just me in my house ;-)
My bad- don’t know the Office 365 (now rebranded as Microsoft 365) monthly rate in the USA where you are. Here is is 7.99 Canadian for one user, $9.99 for up to 4 or 5 other users that the subscriber can add or remove at any time. It’s the rough equivalent of $6 single user or $7.50 a month for you plus up to 4 or 5 in your money.
The only variable for you is whether there’s any value factoring the subscription rate vs. the effort needed to switch for either 365 or Windows. I have neither the right nor the inclination to make a value judgement that will always be yours alone.
There are many uses for linux on the Web alone that are objectively better on internet servers than there are for the typical desktop or laptop user but I have not interest in their decisions either way because life’s to short for me to make other people’s decisions for them.
So I can assume that we’re still good until established otherwise ;-)
Cheers,
Squawk
Open-source operating systems with tons of different distributions.
If that works for you or anyone else, fine. I have no need for that level of security but I’m not the only OS user in the world, nor am I the expert on everything.
Cheers FRiend,
Squawk
[snip] As reported by The Verge, this initiative is part of a broader strategy by Microsoft to move Windows to the cloud, as revealed in an internal “state of the business” presentation from June 2022. Discussed during the ongoing FTC v. Microsoft hearing, this strategy includes a focus on building upon “Windows 365 to enable a full Windows operating system streamed from the cloud to any device.” [/snip]
Of course, we'll see what the EU thinks of this.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.