Windows 10 Cloud, Explained (Premium)

Microsoft is expected to formally unveil Windows 10 Cloud at a press event in early May. But there's no need to wait on the rationale for this release, as the software giant just quietly explained its strategy.

As a recap, rumors of a new Windows product version, or SKU, called Windows 10 Cloud emerged earlier this year. Despite no official word (or confirmation) yet from Microsoft---heck, even the name could change---we actually know a lot about this release already.

Windows 10 Cloud is a new Windows 10 product version aimed at the future trajectory of the product line. Like Windows RT before it, Windows 10 Cloud can run Windows Store apps, but not legacy (Win32/.NET) desktop applications. Unlike Windows RT, however, Cloud is not a dead-end street: You will be able to upgrade to Windows 10 Pro (at least) if Cloud's functionality isn't enough for you.

Many have speculated that Windows 10 Cloud is Microsoft's Chromebook competitor/alternative, something that is aimed at low-end PCs---let's call them Cloudbooks---that will be pushed mostly in education. But that is only half the story: Microsoft also intends for Windows 10 Cloud to be sold with high-end premium PCs, and expects there is a market of customers who will simply prefer the reliability, security, and performance of a PC that is not dragged down by legacy code.

Windows 10 Cloud has nothing to do with ARM. It will not be an ARM-only version of Windows, and it will be available, over time on both x86/64 and ARM platforms.

Windows 10 Cloud is not about a subscription version of Windows, as many have long feared. Yes, the name is terrible. Yes, I'm sure Microsoft has reconsidered it many times. And yes, it's even possible that this name is incorrect.

Except for one thing. That name isn't as terrible as you may think. And that's where the explanation for this product comes into play.

If you listen to Windows Weekly or the other podcasts in which I participate, you may have heard me openly wonder about the rationale behind Windows 10 Cloud. Here's Microsoft, with its Windows Store apps platform (called Universal Windows Platform, or UWP) failing all around it, and what it's about to do is release---wait for it---a new version of Windows that can only run those apps? This makes no sense.

And to reiterate, it really does make no sense. There is no version of this story in which Windows 10 running only Windows Store apps makes sense.

But Windows 10 Cloud won't only run Windows Store apps. It will also run web apps. And while that seems semi-obvious on the surface---Microsoft Edge is sort of a Store app and it is the foundation on which web apps run in Windows 10---we just learned something very important about real-world Windows 10 usage. And this fact helps explain why Microsoft is making Windows 10 Cloud.

And it goes like this: Windows users already spend more than half their time on the web.

Think about that. Windows users, who have access to a Win32 appl...

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