Microsoft Reportedly Working On a 'Lightweight Version of Windows' Known As 'Cloud Shell' (neowin.net)

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Neowin: Last week, details emerged of Microsoft's plans to develop a single, unified, 'adaptive shell' for Windows 10. Known as the 'Composable Shell', or CSHELL, the company's efforts were said to be focused on establishing a universal Windows 10 version with a standardized framework to scale and adapt the OS to any type of device, display size or user experience, including smartphones, PCs, tablets, consoles, large touchscreens, and more. Today, Petri reported that Microsoft is working on a new shell for Windows known as 'Cloud Shell'. According to internal documentation referred to in that report, Cloud Shell is described as a "lightweight version of Windows designed for the modern computing world." It also hints at plans to introduce the Cloud Shell sometime in 2017 -- but little else is known about the new shell besides that. Cloud Shell is said to be connected, in some way, with the Windows Store and Universal Windows Platform app framework, and the report speculates that it may also be related to Microsoft's plans to bring the full version of Windows 10 to mobile devices with ARM-based processors, which it announced in December. However, the cloud nomenclature, and the reference to this being a 'lightweight' version of Windows could hint at a 'thin client'-style approach, in which the Windows 10 shell could be streamed from Microsoft's Azure platform to any device with an internet connection, while its cloud servers remotely handle all of the processing and storage requirements of each users' tasks.

Comments

Yay

[Anonymous Coward]

Another product no one asked for or wanted.

Re:Yay

[OtisSnerd]

Another product no one asked for or wanted.

You're missing the idea that this is a three letter agency and data harvesting company wet dream. Now, they don't even need back doors into your desktops, only to the cloud back end.

Re:Yay

[hairyfeet]

Did you miss the wikileaks from Snowden? Or the huge fucking monster data processing center the CIA built in Utah?

Got news for ya pal they want to know everything about EVERYBODY, in case you might be one of those pesky radicals. We shouldn't be surprised, its just COINTELPRO made faster and cheaper thanks to AI and large data processing facilities. hell they don't even have to follow you around anymore, just process the GPS from your smartphone.

Windows Store/Universal Platform

[phantomfive]

Cloud Shell is said to be connected, in some way, with the Windows Store and Universal Windows Platform app framework,

Does anyone even use either of those?

Sounds like the last thing I'd want

[epyT-R]

At least on the desktop. I am sure 'compromises' will be made that will favor mobile interface layout and aesthetics.

So in a meeting somewhere in Redmond ...

[Billly Gates]

... hey we have all this billions invested in WindowsPhone OS that we don't know what to do with since we plan to leave the market? Any ideas?

Re: So in a meeting somewhere in Redmond ...

[TheRaven64]

Why is someone earning over $400k and still sharing a room? Are you both living on the ISS?

64 bit x86

[backslashdot]

How about getting 64 bit x86 to work instead of emulating 32 bit x86 which is 1980s technology?

Back full circle

[Dorianny]

And just like that we are back to the days of mainframes/dumb terminals except that know we will call it the cloud/thin client. The reason are simple, vendor lock-in, walled gardens and "services" instead of ownership means you can milk your clients for years instead of selling them something once