“The cloud” was an enormous tech buzzword a couple of decade in the past. Everything can be accessible in every single place. And that roughly occurred — with a little bit prep work and a good connection, you’ll be able to entry just about something from wherever, out of your resume .doc file to a set of films to full streaming PC video games. But, in line with not too long ago revealed info, Microsoft is trying into streaming all of Windows to consumer PCs from cloud-based servers.

Said information was revealed as a part of the continuing Federal Trade Commission listening to into Microsoft’s tried acquisition of Activision-Blizzard, which has already been a treasure trove of behind-the-curtain company information. As The Verge reports, one long-term purpose of the corporate (at the very least in line with inner documentation dated 2022) was to “Move Windows 11 increasingly to the Cloud.” This would, in line with the doc, imply “a full Windows operating system streamed from the cloud to any device.”

The thought isn’t a brand new one. Mainframe-client methods are virtually historical historical past in computing phrases and it’s actually attainable to do with one thing as sturdy as Windows, however that requires a reasonably antiquated native community. More fashionable implementations embody working digital machines on highly effective servers (sure, together with Windows) and permitting distant staff to log into them. Companies like VMWare and V2 Cloud already supply these on a company degree and there are even services like Shadow that provide a full distant Windows machine on to customers.

Shadow

Windows 365, launched two years in the past (earlier than this inner doc), is a form of child step in the direction of this actuality. (It’s the place the header picture for this text comes from.) For one, it’s solely out there to company prospects, so it isn’t actually related to the type of on a regular basis customers Microsoft wants so as to make a significant market shift. Two, it’s a part of the Azure platform, which suggests administration is centralized with an IT division in thoughts. It’s additionally lacking loads of consumer-focused options like media instruments or the extra hand-holding kind of help that entry-level customers depend on.

But the thought of Windows as a full cloud system is in step with Microsoft’s broader market pushes in the previous few years. After all, you’ll be able to’t get rather more “software as a service” than a full working system you pay for month-to-month, streamed to “dumb” screens that want extremely cheap {hardware}. (Or, for that matter, the telephones, tablets, and TVs that customers have already bought.) Microsoft actually has the infrastructure to tug this off, as evidenced by Xbox Game Pass’s cloud gaming push, although that’s solely a part of getting the expertise clean sufficient to promote it to common customers.

There’s additionally a component to this plan that’s far past Microsoft’s management. While a company buyer shifting to the cloud may be relied upon to provide a high-quality connection, that’s not at all assured for customers, even in ostensibly rich nations just like the United States. The thought of shedding your laptop’s full functionality the second you progress away from a strong broadband connection might be a tough promote.

Whether Microsoft continues to be on this cloud-based push a 12 months later, because it tries to shove “AI” into every press release, isn’t identified. But it looks as if a protected wager that the corporate continues to be engaged on this concept.