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Microsoft's Coming Windows 10 Cloud Release May Have Nothing To Do With the Cloud (zdnet.com)
Last week, several users spotted a mention of "Windows Cloud" in Windows 10 inside builds, speculating if it is a new version of Windows 10 which will stream from Azure. That's not the case, according to long-time Microsoft journalist Mary Jo Foley. From a report: Windows 10 Cloud is a simplifed version of Windows 10 that will be able to run only Unified Windows Platform (UWP) apps installed from the Windows Store, my contacts say. Think of it as being similar to the version of Windows 10 formerly known as Windows RT or the Windows 8.1 with Bing SKU. Windows 10 Cloud is meant to help Microsoft in its ongoing campaign to attempt to thwart Chromebooks with a simpler, safer, cheaper version of Windows 10, my contacts say, though Microsoft is unlikely to position it that way (publicly). Windows 10 Cloud seemingly has little or nothing to do with the cloud.
Still as unwanted and unnecessary as ever.
So Windows 10 Cloud is a merely a more crippled version of Windows 10 that only runs Windows Stores Apps (formerly known as Metro apps). Thankfully there are lots of useful apps from Windows Store . . . not. [sarcasm] How people must be camping out to get Windows 10 Cloud.[/sarcasm]
Well, there's spam egg sausage and spam, that's not got much spam in it.
Microsoft has long been interested in becoming a service provider. Initially the idea was to get paid monthly or annually for the use of their software (Windows, Office, etc.) but recently it seems that they are more interested in becoming a distributor of other publisher's software, where they offer a standardized platform (Windows OS, UWP apps, Azure) for developers to target and they get a cut of the proceeds. To ensure that they could provide the largest market, the platform the end-users use would be offered free (hence, Windows10). Windows 10 Cloud just seems to be a furtherment of this objective, albeit stripped down to lessen the cost to Microsoft (and possibly to ensure that end-users would /have/ to use the app-store if they want to get anything done by not providing any built-in applications).
Want to compete with Chromebooks? Offer something with a key differentiator. Provide the server part of the software as well as the client. A Chromebook is fine if you completely trust Google with all of your data, making something where you have to completely trust Microsoft with your data isn't really a selling point. A lot of companies would love to have something like a Chromebook (centrally managed updates, remote self destruct, network storage working out of the box) but where they kept the server part in house. Microsoft could easily offer this (and even Azure hosting for the server part if you decided you did trust Microsoft, but wanted a bit more control than a fully managed solution), but instead they keep trying to compete with Google on Google's own terms. I don't really miss the predatory monopolistic Microsoft, but it's a bit sad that the company now seems to be run by people who don't understand basic business.
I am TheRaven on Soylent News
I read the summary 3 times... it makes no sense. I read the article... still no help.
What is this? Is this supposed to be one of those announcements that creates buzz? If I, as a tech person, don't get it then how will anyone else?
Several months ago I was in the Microsoft Store in a mall. I didn't even know they HAD Microsoft stores, and I hadn't been in a Mall for 10 years. So it was like a "things I despise" turducken. But my son's scout troop was in there doing a thing where they did game design. It was very lame, and he didn't have any fun. But while he was doing it, I sat and marveled at the Microsoft Store. They were really trying. Glitz and shiny things. Big screens, a VR! There were actual customers in there, which surprised me.
But I overheard a young, hip salesperson trying to sell an Office subscription to a middle-aged man, and she was really trying to get him to understand how it worked. There was a physical package on the shelf, and he could buy the 3 month subscription, take it home and then go to the website and register. He wanted to know how he installed it, and she explained he didn't. He wasn't getting it (and quite honestly, I wasn't either) She kept steering him towards a 12 month subscription - to something he didn't understand how to use. It was comical. He eventually gave up and left.
Good ol' Microsoft. They understand business - get in, sign the deals, make sure they are locked in. They understand oems - become the only thing they use, and make sure there are no other options. They understand acquisitions - buy things that are successful. They sure don't understand how to be relevant beyond those three things. And actually, I am not sure they really need to, but they keep trying.
My beliefs do not require that you agree with them.
Consider the increasingly crappy user experience that is Windows, combined with the chances that Microsoft are almost certainly violating your privacy in every way they can think of.
Don't use Metro, turn off Cortana.