Microsoft's New Cloud PC Service Can Stream Windows to Mac and iPad

[Rockadile]

Meanwhile, Parallels Desktop employees are panically brushing up resume writing skills.

It's as if most people in the world have uncapped, reliable, high speed internet 😱

 

[TheMacDaddy1]

I think what could be interesting with this is how fast / resolution etc.. of the desktop thats streamed vs normal RDP. If this is using the xbox cloud technology then you could actually do more serious graphics stuff (even play a game?).

Now that would be interesting. Could also feel smoother and more like an actual physical machine... Not holding my breath, but that would be amazing as many RDP solutions are not that performant in my view.

Umm have you tried the latest version of Xcloud....it is super laggy. Tried on multiple devices, over 1gig up/down pipe, wired and wireless.

I find it funny they are pushing this during the pandemic or now the end of it. Video (Zoom, Teams etc) became such a huge deal in the last year. Has anyone tried doing that kind of stuff over RDP? Hint it is not pretty....at all.

 

[TheMacDaddy1]

Few people stream video games so far. Videos and music, sure. (And even there: Apple Music and Spotify do local caching. If connection is poor, you can still listen to your recent songs. This approach is flat-out impossible with this streaming word processor.)

Why not stream the word processor? Well, for one, now you're no longer talking about consuming someone else's creative output, but putting your own data on someone else's computer. IOW, one reason why not to do this is privacy. Another is: no, you don't always have a "multi gigabit internet". You don't on a train, or on an airplane, or on vacation somewhere.

"Ah", you say, "but what about desktops? They're almost always connected." Sure, but if you're gonna invest $1-2k on a nice desk, chair, and computer anyway, why skimp on the most central tool you place on it?

Streaming of games so far is mostly a joke. Video/music is easy to do because it's one way and buffered.

 

[iMe]

Finally. Flash on iPhone

 

[dba415]

This is likely to be the future. you no longer need powerful devices you can just have any laptop with a screen and internet connection. This literally makes 2010s laptops usable therotically.

 

[8000XE]

As others have mentioned, I would really like to see pricing. I work for a state public safety agency in a communications / telephony capacity and regularly rely on using a program from Avaya and Motorola that are windows exclusive. If I could just use my iPad Pro or any apply device for that matter (without VM software) that would be huge for me. I’m tired of carrying around multiple devices

 

[kby]

Of course the major reason I have for Windoze is updating firmware with Wintel-only updates…

 

[One2Grift]

Cloud has its limitations -- right now. For better or worse prepare for the coming cloud over installed application. That's not to say that'll be the case for everything but its a business model that crushes it over maintaining code throughout a massive hardware variation landscape.
When they asked the robber why he robbed the bank? He said "because that's where the money is". Go look at Microsoft, Amazon and Google and see where the revenue growth is expected -- cloud business.

 

[jerryk]

This is likely to be the future. you no longer need powerful devices you can just have any laptop with a screen and internet connection. This literally makes 2010s laptops usable therotically.

I can see this creating demand for larger phones. Maybe those Samsung phones that unfold will finally find a market. Maybe...

 

[SaxPlayer]

This is of interest to me. Even if Windows ARM becomes a thing I have so little reason to run Windows these days that the need for Parallels and a fully licensed version of Windows is becoming less and less necessary. I'll inevitably move to an Apple SoC Mac in the next 2 or 3 years and that point, if the price is right, this could be fine for my limited use case. Key point there, though, the price...!

 

[Jim58]

Microsoft has announced Windows 365, a new Cloud PC service that allows users to stream a Windows desktop via web browser to any device, including Macs and iPads.

The service works similar to the company's Xbox Cloud Gaming service – the Windows OS is loaded on a remote computer in the cloud, and Microsoft streams the entire desktop PC experience to the user's device. Microsoft is calling it a "hybrid Windows for a hybrid world" where office and remote working interchange.

Users will be able to choose the configuration of the virtual PC, such as the amount of storage and working memory. According to Microsoft, a cloud PC can be configured with up to 512GB and 16GB of RAM.

There will be two edition options with multiple Cloud PC configurations based on performance needs: Windows 365 Business and Windows 365 Enterprise. Information and files are encrypted and stored in the cloud, to avoid security concerns about leaving sensitive data on local devices.

The service will launch in early August and, initially at least, will be offered to business customers on a per-user, per-month subscription basis. Microsoft hasn't mentioned whether a personal product is in the works, but the company has been working from a roadmap that should see all its main services eventually move to a subscription model.

Assuming Microsoft offers a consumer plan down the line, not only should Windows 365 offer a full desktop experience on iPads, it may appeal to owners of Apple silicon Macs who are unable to run Windows through Boot Camp.

Article Link: Microsoft's New Cloud PC Service Can Stream Windows to Mac and iPad

Announced cost will be over $30 per month when it is rolled out and the obvious reason it will be business only for now!

 

[threesixty360]

Umm have you tried the latest version of Xcloud....it is super laggy. Tried on multiple devices, over 1gig up/down pipe, wired and wireless.

I find it funny they are pushing this during the pandemic or now the end of it. Video (Zoom, Teams etc) became such a huge deal in the last year. Has anyone tried doing that kind of stuff over RDP? Hint it is not pretty....at all.

Yes I tried it. It lags very few seconds for me as you said. So it’s kind of unplayable. I have 350mb broadband so if that can’t achieve no lag then perhaps the product is not ready..

however, when it isn’t lagging it’s pushing an incredible amount of detailed video to the client with super low latency. Far more than traditional windows REmote desktop normally can do. So even a cut down version of the Xbox service should produce a better streamed windows desktop experience than we have now right?

 

[Yoms]

I think Apple will do the same:
1) Streaming will be limited to other Apple devices
2) Streaming will be using a dedicated app rather than the browser
3) Will be an answer to "why no macOS on iPad? Why!!!"
4) Cherry on the cake, as it's a remote Mac you'll only be able to install softwares from the MAS; yet another incentive for developers to release their (paid) apps on the MAS and for Apple to collect yet another 30%

I think #4 alone makes the idea compelling enough for Apple to launch such a service.

 

[mi7chy]

This would be useful for owners of Xbox and PlayStation consoles that don't want to invest in a separate PC but it depends on the cost otherwise you can get a $400 Steam Deck portable game console and run Windows on it.

 

[IVIIVI4ck3y27]

Why do they call it Windows 365? What is 365? Why not 360 at least?

The best talent people at Microsoft have is placing forgettable names on their products that will only end up remembered in time for the biggest failure they were.

365 days = 1 year, meaning it's Windows for every day of the year. At least their 365 branding makes sense.

If anything, XBox 360 was dumb... because what did 360 (degrees = a circle?) have to do with anything? Especially when a "Box" has 6 sides (not 360) and 8 vertices of 90 degrees each (720 degrees total). LoL The system wasn't a circle in shape (2D object anyhow). A sphere has 41,253 degrees. There was nothing for it to correlate with especially including the naming convention of "XBox" which itself is also meaningless. If it was XBox coming back 360 degrees... that basically leads back to where it started. So... is it just the original XBox all over again? Maybe it's XBox going forwards 360 degrees... which would be XBox 2. But then XBox One?

Especially when if the reasoning was to seem more "advanced" (larger #) than Playstation 3 numerically... then why when the Playstation 4 came out that they then launched XBox One? LoL I get that "One" was to signifying it all coming together into 1. But it really was just Kinect integrated into a UX that was a custom UI wrapped around a tweaked Windows build (which the Windows branding wasn't really part of the console itself). And soon after launch, they had to break Kinect-integration because it was a costly bundle that was helping Playstation 4 destroy it in sales. And ultimately, it had been a reskinned Windows since the first XBox. Heck, you can go back to the Dreamcast for that matter which had a reskinned Windows CE.

Microsoft historically is a flunkie when it comes to consistent logical branding. They jumped from XBox to XBox 360 so as to not have XBox 2 up against Playstation 3. But then they release One alongside Playstation 4, and now XBox (no #) Series S/X against Playstation 5. For a lot of people, Series S/X is more complicated in branding because there also was an XBox One X and an XBox One S. LoL

Then Windows... 3.11 and NT 3.5, vs. Windows '95 and NT 4, then '98, '98SE (second edition), ME (Millenium Edition), 2000 (NT 5), XP (NT 5.1 and 5.2), Windows Vista (NT 6), Windows 7 (NT 6.1), Windows 8 (NT 6.2), Windows 8.1 (NT 6.3), Windows 10 (NT 10.0), Windows 11 (NT 11.0).

Let alone Windows CE, Windows Embedded, Powered by Windows, Pocket PC, Pocket PC Phone Edition, SmartPhone, Windows Mobile, etc.

...and what about Bob?

 

[Tech198]

I like it, but not for everyone.

Why do they call it Windows 365? What is 365? Why not 360 at least?

Maybe it would remind users too much of Norton ?