icrosoft has spent years moving enterprise services to the cloud.

Exchange moved to Exchange Online.

SharePoint moved to SharePoint Online.

Office became increasingly cloud-connected through Office 365 and Microsoft 365.

Identity became cloud-connected.

Device management entered the cloud through Microsoft Intune.

Now Microsoft is taking another major step:

Windows itself is moving to the cloud.

On July 14, 2021, Microsoft announced Windows 365, a cloud service designed to stream a complete Windows environment to a device. Microsoft calls this new category a Cloud PC

What Is Windows 365?

Windows 365 is designed to provide users with a personalized Windows environment delivered from Microsoft cloud infrastructure.

Microsoft says the service can stream the Windows experience, including applications, data and settings, to either personal or corporate devices.

That is important because the computer being used to access Windows no longer has to represent the entire working environment.

The device becomes the window into a Windows environment that exists in the cloud.

Why Is Microsoft Doing This?

The timing makes sense.

Working patterns have changed dramatically.

Employees may be working in an office, at home or somewhere else entirely.

Some organizations also rely on temporary workers, contractors and distributed teams.

Microsoft’s Windows 365 announcement specifically positioned Cloud PC as a response to hybrid work, describing a workforce that needs access to corporate resources across different locations and devices.

The PC Is Becoming a Service

This introduces an interesting shift in how we think about computers.

Traditionally, the physical PC contains almost everything:

the operating system,
applications,
user settings,
locally stored information.

Cloud PC separates some of that experience from the physical hardware.

Microsoft says Windows 365 stores information in the cloud rather than on the device and is designed around Zero Trust principles.

That opens interesting possibilities for organizations dealing with employees who need a consistent Windows environment while moving between different physical devices.

Windows 10 and Windows 11

Windows 365 is not a new operating system replacing Windows.

Instead, Microsoft announced it as a service capable of delivering Windows 10 or Windows 11 when Windows 11 becomes available.

That distinction is important.

Windows 11 remains Windows.

Windows 365 is a method of delivering a Windows desktop environment from the cloud.

What Does This Mean for Endpoint Administrators?

Endpoint administration is becoming increasingly interesting.

Administrators now need to understand physical PCs, cloud identities, device management and virtual/cloud-based Windows environments.

Microsoft Intune also continues to play an important role in endpoint management.

Modern Intune device management provides administrators with a centralized environment for reviewing managed devices, configuration policies, compliance, applications, scripts and device information.

The bigger picture is that physical endpoint administration and cloud administration are moving closer together.

Cloud PC vs Traditional PC

The traditional PC isn’t suddenly going away.

Local computing continues to offer significant benefits.

Instead, Cloud PC introduces another model.

Some users may work best with a traditional company-managed laptop.

Others may benefit from accessing a corporate Windows environment from different hardware.

The interesting question is no longer:

“Will every PC move to the cloud?”

A better question is:

“Which users and workloads benefit from a cloud-delivered PC?”

Another Step in Microsoft’s Cloud Journey

Looking back over Microsoft’s recent history reveals an interesting progression.

Office productivity moved to subscription and cloud services.

Corporate email moved to Exchange Online.

Files increasingly moved to OneDrive and SharePoint.

Collaboration moved toward Teams.

Endpoint management moved toward Intune.

Now Windows itself can be delivered through Microsoft’s cloud.

The individual products differ, but the direction is remarkably consistent.

Final Thoughts

Windows 365 may become an important milestone in the evolution of corporate computing.

Microsoft isn’t merely moving applications to the cloud anymore.

It is now offering the complete Windows experience as a cloud service.

For endpoint administrators, this means the definition of a PC is becoming much more flexible.

The computer an employee holds in their hands and the Windows environment in which they work no longer necessarily have to be the same thing.

And that could significantly change how organizations think about Windows deployment in the years ahead.