Windows 365 Enterprise now supports Windows 11

[Guest Christiaan_Brinkhoff]

Windows 365 Enterprise supports Windows 11 for all newly provisioned Cloud PCs in available regions beginning October 5, 2021. Windows 365 makes it easier for businesses to use Windows 11 on any device, anywhere. Here is everything you need to know about Windows 365 support for Windows 11.

 

A new OS, a new personalized end user experience

 

 

Windows 11 is the operating system for hybrid work, delivering new experiences that work how you work, is secure by design, and easy and familiar for IT to deploy and manage.

 

Beginning October 5, 2021, when you provision Cloud PCs, you can select Windows 11 or Windows 10 as the desired operating system (OS). Cloud PC sizing and configuration options haven't change and, as Windows 11 is supported on Cloud PCs with 2vCPU/4GB and higher, the choice to select Windows 11 as the OS appears only if the Cloud PC virtual hardware configuration supports it.

 

New for Windows 11 is the wallpaper that makes it easy for end users to distinguish between the Windows 10 and Windows 11 Cloud PCs assigned to them in the Windows 365 end user portal.

 

The Windows 365 end user portal with options to launch a Windows 11 or Windows 10 Cloud PC

 

Once you log on to a Windows 11 Cloud PC, a brand-new wallpaper is waiting for you that aligns with the modern work capabilities of Windows 11.

 

The Windows 11 experience on a Windows 365 Cloud PC

 

Enhancing the security baseline

 

 

Windows 11 introduces a new set of requirements to enhance both the performance and security of Windows for our customers and is the first service that can deliver Windows 11 in the cloud while aligning with the new system requirements, such as TPM, UEFI, and secure boot. Windows 365 will support all hardware requirements as part of the new baseline configuration for Cloud PCs.

 

The existing Windows 365 Cloud PC baseline in Microsoft Endpoint Manager also supports Windows 11. Please use this baseline to optimize the security posture of your Cloud PCs.

 

Windows 365 Enterprise gallery images

 

 

The Windows 11 image offered by Windows 365 Enterprise on October 5, 2021 includes the same applications preinstalled and configured as the Windows 10 image. We also support the creation of custom Windows 11 images if your organization prefers to prepare images this way.

 

Selecting a Windows 11 Enterprise image from the Microsoft Endpoint Manager admin center

 

Custom images switch to Gen2

 

 

Organizations that prefer to use custom images instead of Windows 365 Cloud PC gallery images can continue doing so. When preparing a new version; however, you need to change the virtual machine (VM) type from Gen1 to Gen2 as the source image. This is needed to make your Cloud PC ready for Windows 11 in-place upgrades.

 

For more information, see Convert an existing custom device image to a generation 2 virtual machine.

 

How to add a custom image to Windows 365 devices

 

Detect your Cloud PC Windows 11 readiness via Endpoint Analytics

 

 

If you use a gallery-based image, you can start provisioning new Cloud PCs based on Windows 11 beginning October 5, 2021. If you have Cloud PCs that were provisioned before October 5th, and want to upgrade those Cloud PCs to Windows 11, you can either go directly to Windows 11 by changing the gallery image from Windows 10 Enterprise to Windows 11 Enterprise + Microsoft 365 Apps and triggering a reprovision of your Cloud PCs via the Devices menu in Intune/Microsoft Endpoint Manager. The other option you have is to re-provision your existing Cloud PCs back to Windows 10 Enterprise and perform an in-place upgrade to Windows 11 Enterprise, either directly, or later on.

 

If you want to support in-place upgrades from Windows 10 to Windows 11, Cloud PCs need to be turned on the day of October 5th or after. For those organizations that need to re-provision their Cloud PCs, because we leverage OneDrive Known Folder Move as one of the standard services, the process will be seamless. Your end users' personal data is automatically backed-up and will be restored after the re-provisioning process. Simply ensure that they are assigned a OneDrive license.

 

You can detect whether a Cloud PC is ready for Windows 11 in-place upgrades via the new Work from anywhere (preview) dashboard in Endpoint Analytics. If your Cloud PCs show a Windows 11 readiness status of "Capable," you can perform an in-place upgrade.

 

Assessing Windows 11 readiness for a Windows 365 Cloud PC in Endpoint analytics

 

Windows 365 Business

 

 

In the coming weeks, we will release full Windows 11 support for Windows 365 Business, our service for small and midsized businesses, along with a new admin and management experience that enables the selection of Windows 10 or 11.

 

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