The Next Step for Windows: Devices with Cloud Integration, Advertising and Subscriptions?

In April of this year, a Windows insider said: Plans for tighter integration between Windows 365 and WindowsA preview of Windows 365 apps that Windows 11 users can pin to their taskbar or start menu for easy access to their cloud PCs. But Microsoft officials seem to have bigger plans for Windows 365 and hope it can keep Windows relevant even as the PC industry declines in the months and years to come. is.

As many of you have noticed, Microsoft is increasingly stuffing everything from Windows 11’s new search box to the Edge browser (and other apps) with ads. So it’s probably not all that surprising that Microsoft executives are pitching Windows as a means of delivering advertising. CEO Satya Nadella himself Microsoft’s first quarter 2023 earnings call(Thanks to Paul Thurrott for pointing this out. Windows Weekly last week. )

But more drastic plans for creating a new Windows business model are evident in recent job listings for the “newly formed Windows Incubation Team” on Microsoft’s careers site. The team aims to bring Windows and Windows 365 closer together by building “a web-based shell that integrates directly with Windows 365.” end game? Sell ​​thin clients/low cost devices to businesses and consumers and offset costs through advertising and subscriptions. From the job post:

“The building blocks we create are charted New Directions for Windows Experiences and Business Models – From low-cost PCs powered by advertising and subscriptions to new direct-to-cloud hardware devices that cut across work and life. ”

Microsoft Windows 365/Cloud PC service (codenamed ‘Dechutes’) will be generally available in August 2021Windows 365 is a cloud-based virtualization service that builds on top of and complements Azure Virtual Desktop. Windows 365 is currently for business users only and is priced at $20-$162/user/month Based on cores, RAM, and storage.But given that the Windows 365 Business SKU allows an employee to scale down to her one-man business, Microsoft officials are already saying Considering how to bring Windows 365 to consumers.

Microsoft keep quiet Windows 365 team moved under Chief Product Officer and Windows Chief Panos Panay in July. In addition to Windows 365 Apps, the team is working on Windows 365 Boot. This allows users to boot directly from their cloud PCs. Windows 365 switch. This allows users to move between their local and cloud PCs as easily as they move between different desktops today. Windows 365 Offline is a feature that resynchronizes with Windows 365 services without data loss. Microsoft does not provide public delivery targets for any of these features, but Demonstrate switch functionality during a “Technical Takeoff” virtual session last week.

Meanwhile, Microsoft’s WebXT organization, which includes “thousands of software engineers” working on products like Bing, Search, Edge, Maps, Ads and News, has a unique set of deliverables for both consumer and business users. offers. The team has done a lot of work in Machine Learning, Speech Recognition, Computer Vision, and Natural Language Processing, which is built into all of the above products.

It seems that at least some customers are already wondering if and when Microsoft and other PC makers will build thin-client type devices intended for use with Windows 365.