Where next for Windows 365?

Microsoft have become synonymous with Artificial Intelligence thanks to Copilot. There’s a Copilot in Microsoft 365, in Windows, in Azure, on Android, on iOS. It’s available in the cloud and on any device. With the brand-new Copilot+ PC, Copilot is in your hands without the need for a stable internet connection, because of a Small Language Model and a Neural Processing Unit (NPU) built into the device. There is another Microsoft technology, which has been waiting patiently for the same love – Windows 365.

What is Windows 365?

Once upon a time, Windows 365 was dubbed The Future of Windows. Maybe one day it will be. Windows 365 is a Cloud PC you can stream to any device. Imagine everything that makes up your computer, your desktop, apps, files and more – streamed. Your desktop experience on a phone, tablet, laptop or desktop of your choosing. Today, you can buy a specific build that includes a Virtual Central Processing Unit (vCPU), Random Access Memory (RAM), and a storage device for saving data. You can sign up to be in a Preview for a Graphical Processing Unit (GPU) add-on so you can stream graphically intensive software on a Windows 365 Cloud PC. To me, that’s like streaming my gaming PC – which Google Stadia was so close to accomplishing before the plug was, figuratively and literally, pulled.

What makes Windows 365 different?

Windows 365 is not a managed experience like anything an IT administrator would expect considering this is virtual. It’s not a Virtual Desktop Experience where we must program, set up securely, maintain and manage the end-to-end experience for your users. Windows 365 can be treated with the exact same settings as a physical device in your organisation. Managed with a Mobile Device Management (MDM) / Mobile Application Management (MAM) solution and placed in the hands of your end users. Users can even restart their Cloud PC if they run into an issue without intervention or permission from an administrator.

Why could Windows 365 be the future of Windows?

Windows 365 + Copilot creates some interesting ideas. Right now, we can select the Windows 365 Cloud PC configuration that we would like. We have specific tools in Azure that can highlight when an organisation is likely over or under paying for their Windows 365 Cloud PC configurations. What if Copilot could handle all of this for us? Where the Cloud PC configuration dynamically changes based on an assessment of what I am working on in real time.

Secondly, vGPUs are not widespread with Windows 365 prompting the question: What would happen if we added a Virtual Neural Processing Unit (vNPU)? As we know, a Copilot+ PC has a recommended requirement of 40 Trillion Operations per Second (TOPS). With a vNPU, this could well exceed 40 TOPS, taking workloads off the vCPU, potentially reducing demand for a vGPU all while being highly sustainable. Users with higher demands of AI can use Windows 365 as their most powerful resource.

There is a big piece to this puzzle we haven’t talked about yet. Sustainability. Electronic waste and malpractice when it comes to machine usage plus throw away culture has led us to ditch devices after a few years. Business device lifecycles are typically 3-5 years because devices slow down too quickly, application updates become more demanding, and we need greater hardware to run all the third-party tools and bloatware we have these days.

In 2025, Microsoft are committed to running Windows 365 in 100% renewable energy-based datacentres. Effectively the upfront Capex cost an end user or organisation could pay in future is for a thin client used for accessing and using a Cloud PC. The thin client need only be secure and handle an Operating System and is far cheaper than today’s ever increasing hardware prices. The Operating Expenditure cost is the monthly price of a Windows 365 Cloud PC, which I speculate will change when new technologies in this space come to light.

Finally, Windows 365 may come to the consumer market which brings the idea of a Cloud PC to the masses. The days when we would have a "family PC" that sits in a room in the house, would have a new lease of life. I'd be very interested to see if this is on the cards for Windows 365!

What our future could look like?

Put simply, a device that adapts to its surroundings, always connected and streaming our desktop content. When I say adapts to its surroundings, we’ve watched numerous attempts of a phone that can become your computer. Samsung DeX is the more prevalent solution, but some readers may remember Windows Continuum with the Lumia 950XL. If you’re feeling nostalgic, check out Microsoft’s article from 8 years ago here.

Let me know what you think lies ahead if Microsoft continue to invest in this space!

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