Ask Paul: July 24 (Premium)

Happy Friday! Here’s another round of Q & A to close out the week and get the weekend started. It’s the weekend, right? Right.
Teams premium
will asks:

This week Microsoft announced several new, and previously talked about, updates to Teams. There were a couple of items that I noticed around some licensing options. Specifically it looks like there will be some higher or premium type tiers in some areas for Teams. Curious if you noticed this as well and if Microsoft might be looking to cash in a little on Teams by adding new premium type tiers that require additional licenses to be purchased? Currently the phone functions cost extra, as does Team Rooms, but that is it. Do you think Microsoft is looking at having various levels for Teams like they have done with Office? Would that be a good idea?

You are right to be nervous about Microsoft getting caught up in what I think of as “SKU-itis,” where more and more functionality is siphoned off into higher-end and more expensive versions of Microsoft 365 subscriptions. That’s the Microsoft way. Microsoft 365 is literally structured around this kind of feature differentiation.

That said, what it announced this week---two tiers of Teams Rooms called Teams Rooms Standard and Teams Rooms Premium, respectively---is defensible on its part. (And I don’t think I’m breaking a confidence by telling you that those names were literally a last-minute change, not that that matters too much.) These are specialized offerings where the lower-end version is supported by a partner and the higher-end version is literally supported by Microsoft, and only larger businesses would ever consider either anyway. (You can read more about them here.)
Windows 10X vs. Chromebooks
hrlngrv asks:

Windows 10X may get better over time, but when released without Win32 support in 2021, what could Windows 10X devices do which Chromebooks couldn't?

This brings Windows 10X back to what we thought it was originally back when it went by the names Windows Lite and LiteOS, and if all it does is literally offer all of the benefits of ChromeOS with none of the Google, then it’s still a win and is still necessary. That’s what Microsoft Edge does compared to Chrome, after all.

What could Windows 10X devices do which Windows RT devices couldn't if the latest version of Edge were available for them? Are there any PWAs which Edge can handle which Chrome can't?

No, of course not. But even a Win32-less Windows 10X is important because it comes from Microsoft and would presumably be a lower-cost and less-complex way for the educational institutions and businesses that want such a thing to get it from a company they trust and already rely on.

I do think Win32 support is important. And there are obviously different ways that support could come to Windows 10X, from the remote desktop-type solutions (Microsoft Cloud PC, Windows Virtual Desktop, etc.) to local container-based support. I guess we’ll see ...