The Microsoft Windows 10 Cloud PC platform has been making the rounds of the rumor mill. Now, a Microsoft Support Document has referenced the remotely-hosted personal computing platform.
There’s little doubt that Microsoft is secretly working on a new Windows 10-powered Cloud PC service. The platform will eventually offer a complete desktop experience that an Azure-based server will power through the cloud infrastructure.
New Support Documents confirm the existence and service plans of Cloud PC:
Microsoft is yet to officially launch the Windows 10 Cloud PC service. However, the company has begun extensively testing the platform.
A series of new Support Documents have now appeared on the official Microsoft website that apparently confirm the existence of Windows 10 Cloud PC. Interestingly, apart from the PC-as-a-Cloud service, Microsoft is readying several ancillary services that most likely complement the platform.
The Support Documents also confirm Microsoft is slowly adding Cloud PC APIs to Microsoft Graph. The inclusion of these APIs should significantly boost the reliability, security, and performance of the Windows 10 Cloud PC.
Microsoft began testing cloud service of virtual desktops Cloud PC https://t.co/iV9PuH2hGs
— TekFiz (@tek_fiz) January 30, 2021
Interestingly, one of the Support Documents also highlighted that Microsoft will offer different “service plans” for consumers. As expected, Microsoft has categorized users as Medium, Heavy, and Advanced.
The Windows 10 Cloud PC “Medium” service plan will offer users access to 2 vCPUs, 4GB of RAM, and 96GB of SSD space. The “Heavy” service plan for the remote Windows 10 desktop will offer access to 2 vCPUs, 8GB of RAM, and 96 GB SSD. Simply put, subscribers with the “Heavy” service plan get 4GB additional RAM. Previous reports included screenshots that labeled these services as ‘Lite’ and ‘Standard’
The Support Documents do not reveal the configuration of the Windows 10 Cloud PC “Advanced” service plan. However, it is quite likely that Microsoft could offer custom configurations to companies that need access to powerful components.
It is amply clear that Microsoft has optimized the Windows 10 Cloud PC service for general-purpose personal computing, speed and performance. The “Heavy” service plan could be aimed at scalability and data processing on individual virtual Windows 10 sessions.
When will Windows 10 Cloud PC arrive?
Microsoft Windows 10X could arrive in Spring 2021. The lightweight fork of Windows 10 is an ideal launchpad for accessing Windows 10 Cloud PC. Hence, it is quite likely that Microsoft could roll out the Cloud PC platform along with Windows 10X.
Incidentally, subscribers of the Cloud PC platform will need a device that is capable of running Microsoft’s Remote Desktop platform. Even low-powered PCs with Windows 10X should be able to offer the capability.
With the Windows 10 Cloud PC service, Windows 10X users could also gain access to 32-Bit and 64-Bit applications that will run on remotely-hosted, Azure-based servers.