Hey there everybody, it’s me, Cody, OnMSFT, where today I’ll be showing you Windows 10 Cloud build 15025. Almost all of what we’re hearing about Windows 10 cloud is pure speculation, as obviously there hasn’t been any official documentation released for this particular version of Windows 10.
Being so early in development, there’s not really much to see at this point in time, in fact, Windows 10 Cloud is identical to other versions of Windows as far as the user interface is concerned. The biggest, and perhaps only notable thing you will notice exploring Windows 10 Cloud is that it will not run desktop applications. You’ll be greeted by an error that RT users are familiar with; stating that the app is not designed to work on your version of Windows. This message even tends to pop up randomly, probably because of background tasks that startup only to be knocked over for being incompatible.
Speculation points towards the idea that this version of Windows is the resurrection of the Windows RT concept. One of the key differences however with this is that Windows 10 cloud is capable of running on both ARM based devices and traditional x86 Intel based devices. Basically, a lightweight version of Windows with reduced licensing fees for manufacturers. It’s being thought that this version of Windows could be aimed at the lower end market, for less expensive devices capable of just simple tasks like web browsing and word processing.
Windows 10 cloud could be an interesting strategic move to promote the Universal Windows Platform and Windows store. Obviously, because legacy applications won’t be able to run on this version of Windows, apps would be primarily acquired through the Windows store.
Interestingly though, at least with this build of Windows 10 Cloud, the OS is actually not capable of running all store apps. Windows 8 apps and UWP apps open just fine, however desktop apps in the store ported through the Centennial bridge won’t open.
Another idea being tossed around in conspiracy land is the idea Windows 10 cloud could be aimed as a direct competitor to ChromeOS. While there isn’t much to back this, I do see this as a feasible option for things like business or organizations, like K-12 school districts for example. In this instance, the devices are only needed for simple tasks like web browsing and word processing, something that Google Docs does very well. Also, because the user account and file system on Chromebooks is essentially just a Google account and Google drive, it makes it super fast and easy for students to access their accounts and files from any device they sign into using the account credentials provided by the school.
While some speculation seems to be revolving around this idea, in all reality it probably won’t be aimed in such a way.
It more likely, as I’ve said before, will be a sort of new approach to Windows RT. A light version of Windows with reduced licensing fees that can run on both arm and x86 based devices.
Speculation aside, it’s a really interesting development that I’m sure you’ll be interested in hearing more about in the future.
