Alice Chambers |
Microsoft has focused on three work trends to develop its latest Windows 365 roadmap: the need for more flexible work arrangements, the pressure to increase productivity and a lack of time to complete work.
Building on the generally available Windows 365 Frontline, which allows three employees to share one Windows 365 licence to access their personalised Windows accounts on any device from anywhere, Microsoft has developed Windows 365 Switch, Windows 365 Boot and a Windows 365 Dock concept to enable workers to access their Windows 365 accounts through the cloud rather than a PC.
Windows 365 Switch – available in public preview – will allow users to view their cloud PC alongside other existing corporate or personal PC experiences.
“Customers will be able to swipe or move between their local device and cloud PC,” said Sam Duncan-Brown, the EMEA senior sales lead in the Global Black Belt team for Windows 365 and other cloud-managed endpoint services at Microsoft, in a Microsoft Cloud Endpoint Live Webinar. “This way, they can easily jump between a device from their employer and a cloud environment from a client.”
Windows 365 Switch enables employees to switch between viewing their cloud PC and physical desktop (credit: Microsoft)
Also available in public preview is Windows 365 Boot, which will enable users to boot directly into Windows 365 from a device. “This will be helpful for computers that you [IT teams] want to redistribute throughout the organisation,” said Duncan-Brown. “Users can log straight into the cloud PC and then disconnect when they leave, leaving no cross over of data.”
In addition, the Windows 365 Dock concept will allow workers to use their phones to authenticate themselves for access onto their cloud PCs via a monitor. “The phone could be used to ‘plug’ straight into a device and log individuals straight into Windows 365,” said Duncan-Brown. The concept is a remote desktop concept that has the potential to connect flexible workers to a PC quickly and safely.
Customers can also use the remote desktop application for employees to access their cloud PCs from their mobile phones and tablets and connect to a monitor setup.
“Windows 365 is expanding all the time to sweep up a lot of other use cases,” said Duncan-Brown. “It’s not just for a standard use case and it certainly won’t be in the future. Windows 365 is the future of Windows.”