A year of Windows 365 product innovation

[Guest Scott Manchester]

Today, we are sharing updates on the upcoming Citrix HDX Plus for Windows 365 add-on, the new Windows 365 offering for government organizations in the United States, and new enhancements based on your feedback.

 

Just one year ago, at Microsoft Inspire, our largest partner event of the year, we announced Windows 365 to the world and introduced the Cloud PC, a whole new category of cloud computing. Windows 365 Cloud PCs let you securely stream your Windows desktop experience from the Microsoft cloud to any device. With Windows 365, you can leverage your existing infrastructure and Microsoft solutions, such as Microsoft Endpoint Manager, to provision, manage, and secure Cloud PCs right alongside your physical devices.

 

We've heard from you about new features and functionality you want to see in Windows 365 and have released many already, including Azure AD Join support for Cloud PCs, Microsoft Teams feature enhancements like background blur, restore and resize functionality, faster load times in the web client; and more. Many of these features and resources were based on direct feedback from you.

 

With even more on our roadmap, we invite you to continue to provide feedback to help us continue to enhance the service!

 

Citrix HDX Plus for Windows 365

 

 

We are excited to introduce Citrix HDX Plus for Windows 365, targeted for release later this year. Together, Windows 365 and Citrix HDX work to deliver support for a broader range of endpoint devices and peripherals, advanced security and policy controls, and a great experience in low bandwidth environments. In Microsoft Endpoint Manager's Tenant administrator section, you will see a new option for Windows 365 where you can turn on the integration and allow licensed employees to access their Windows 365 Cloud PCs in the Citrix environment they use today.

 

Windows 365 Government

 

 

We continue to expand where and how Windows 365 can be used. Governments have unique, enhanced security and compliance requirements. To better meet those needs, we will be releasing a new Windows 365 offering for Government Community Cloud (GCC) and Government Community Cloud High (GCC High) organizations in the United States. This will enable United States Government contractors (and the local, state, and federal customers they support) to securely stream their Windows apps, data, content, and settings from the Microsoft Cloud to any device, any time.

 

Remote monitoring and management tool integrations

 

 

We know many of our partners use remote monitoring and management (RMM) tools to manage their customers' PC estates. We are working with select RMM partners to enable Windows 365 to be managed alongside physical PCs. We will have lots of exciting updates to share very soon about RMM and other ISV partnerships and product integrations.

 

Monitoring and analytics

 

 

We continue to invest in monitoring, alerts, troubleshooting, and resize optimization to help your organization scale and automate. From real-time connectivity checks and resource performance insights to Cloud PC health and performance, we're excited to offer valuable, differentiated experiences for Windows 365 management in Microsoft Endpoint Manager.

 

Endpoint analytics Resource Performance helps you understand if users have been allocated the right level of resources for their individual needs. It also enables you to monitor performance, identify issues and root causes, and take proactive actions—such as resizing a device. General availability is coming soon. Learn more.

 

Connectivity health checks are a set of checks that run periodically and alert you if a Cloud PC is in a healthy and connectable state for your end users. You also will have access to a simple troubleshooter to fix failed checks and a historical view of a user's connection to their Cloud PC as well as information on when a connection to the session is lost due to a network interruption. This report is now in public preview; learn more.

 

Windows 365 Business edition enhancements

 

 

Windows 365 is a solution for businesses of all sizes, and we continue to invest in the Windows 365 Business edition to deliver new value to smaller businesses. For small and very small businesses not yet using Microsoft 365, we will provide a simplified sign-up experience to Windows 365. You will be able to purchase, provision, assign and sign in to Cloud PCs using the Microsoft accounts that you already use today for Outlook email, OneDrive, and Xbox Live.

 

Point-in-Time Restore lets you restore a Cloud PC to the exact "known good" state it was in at an earlier point in time. You can also give users permission to restore their own Cloud PCs. This feature is already generally available for Windows 365 Enterprise and is currently in public preview for Windows 365 Business.

 

For Windows 365 Business customers using Microsoft Endpoint Manager, we will soon be enabling you to automatically enroll Cloud PCs in Microsoft Endpoint Manager alongside your existing physical PC estate. This is a core functionality already generally available for Windows 365 Enterprise and is coming soon for Windows 365 Business.

 

Our continued commitment to security

 

 

We understand the importance of security, for your organization and our partners. We are committed to continuing to invest in new features and capabilities, such as forensic analysis, which takes a disk snapshot of the Cloud PC to allow for better eDiscovery and disk encryption using Bring Your Own Key.

 

Stay informed, join the conversation

 

• Read Collette Stallbaumer's latest post: From enabling hybrid work to creating collaborative experiences—here’s what’s new in Microsoft 365.
  
• Watch previous and upcoming episodes of Windows in the Cloud.
  
• Join the Ask Microsoft Anything (AMA): Windows 365 on August 24, 2022 at 8:00 am PT.
  
• Share your feedback on Windows 365.
  

 

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