Microsoft tipster WalkingCat has found more details about Cloud PC, including the fact the service will be based on Azure consumption. That means users will pay for the service as part of their purchase of Azure cloud services. It is worth noting Microsoft has yet to officially confirm Cloud PC, which runs on top of Windows Virtual Desktop. Windows Virtual Desktop already lets users tap into Windows on the cloud. That said, it is not a true virtualized version of the platform. Cloud PC will provide a cloud-based version of Windows that users can tap into from Microsoft servers. Cloud PC will be linked to Microsoft’s cloud-based Microsoft 365 service.
— WalkingCat (@h0x0d) November 5, 2020 In a job description this summer, Microsoft detailed what Cloud PC will be: “Microsoft Cloud PC is a strategic, new offering that is built on top of Windows Virtual Desktop to delivering Desktop as a Service. At its core, Cloud PC provides business customers a modern, elastic, cloud-based Windows experience and will allow organizations to stay current in a more simplistic and scalable manner,” the job description says.
More Details
Thanks to the latest leak, we know Microsoft will sell Medium, Heavy, and Advanced payment plans for the service. With Medium, customers get two virtual CPUs, 4GB of RAM, and 96GB of SSD storage. Microsoft will bill this tier as “general-purpose optimized for cost and flexibility”. As for the Heavy subscription, it also allows a pair CPUs, 8GB of RAM, and 96GB of SSD storage for “advanced compute needs optimized for performance and speed“. Finally, the Advanced plan ups the virtual CPUs to three, keeps 8GB of RAM, but cuts storage to 40GB. Microsoft says it is for “accelerated graphics optimized for scalability and data processing”.
