According to a new report from ZDNet’s Mary Jo Foley, Microsoft is apparently gearing up to launch its Cloud PC service, which could arrive as soon as this summer.
Foley states that she’s hearing the tech giant may be aiming for a June or July launch of the service, potentially to coincide with Microsoft’s Inspire conference, which will be held from July 14 through July 15 as a digital event.
Reports on Microsoft’s Cloud PC service date back to last year, when the Azure-powered project was first rumored to be coming as soon as spring 2021. Now that spring 2021 is winding to a close, summer is the next best bet for any big announcements and service launches.
With Cloud PC, you may be able to access a Windows desktop remotely and use software such as Microsoft Office. That could come in handy if you frequently switch between devices and want access to the same desktop anywhere, or if you have an underpowered system and a solid enough internet connection. Companies would also be able to set up employees with basic hardware and manage their Windows 10 networks with Cloud PC.
Microsoft will reportedly sell the service as a managed Microsoft 365 experience and there’ll be a flat price per user. Previous reports suggested there will be different pricing tiers for Cloud PC, depending on processor, memory and storage needs.
We could learn more about the Cloud PC service at Build 2021. This year’s edition of Microsoft’s developer conference takes place in late May. If the reported launch timeline for Cloud PC is accurate, the service would go live just before Microsoft’s Inspire partner conference, which is set for mid-July.
