For those who may be interested:
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I feel like this has been an aim for a long time. Virtual Desktops have been available for more than 15 years running in data centres.
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Initial thoughts âŚ
What problem are they trying to solve? What are the benefits to me?
Suppose I want to remain on Windows N, but the online version is changing to Windows N+1?
It is one thing when a forum or a music service goes offline. But when your entire OS is?
As noted on another recent thread, I live in a wooded area. And this is thunderstorm season. Which means power outage season. Today, I fire up a generator and I can use my computer, albeit without a web connection. But if I canât even boot up?
And Iâve used my laptop while traveling in places without any internet connection.
I suppose there will be a market for this. But I hope that it is an option and not a requirement.
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yes, not everyone is in an area with excellent internet. I have to fight with/for my clients about this constantly, and there arenât many good options out here.
No one who develops these ideas seems to take these situations they donât daily experience to heart.
EDIT: I think itâs about control, and taking control away from the users because the corporations CAN.
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Iâm giving up entirely on the Verge unless Iâm misreading/skipped something.
Microsoftâs slide: âMove Windows 11 increasingly to the Cloudâ
Verge headline: " ⌠move Windows fully to the cloud"
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Thank you for the historical perspective. Iâve been around computers since 1987, and I forget from time to time.
It may not be good solution for an individual but there could be several benefits for a business. For example, your userâs desktops would likely always be up to date and protected by enterprise grade security.
We used Windows Terminal Servers and thin clients in the early 2000âs for most our our users. They could sit down at any machine and log into âtheir desktopâ. And if something happened to a server we just switched to our backup. It eliminated most of the work of supporting Windows.
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Agreed but the linked article says this is for individuals. 
Depends if the subscription has a lock-in period. Being able to boot a machine into windows on demand, but only paying for it when I use it? Could be handy.
That would be an interesting business model, buy time on a Windows system as needed.
I have a Garmin InReach device for which I do just that, albeit in one month chunks.
I think that very good network access would have to become much, much more ubiquitous and reliable before Microsoft could consider this as its sole method of delivering Windows.
No more watching movies on a Windows machine during air travel then 
I do see some use cases for Enterprise deployments here, but for consumers, Iâm way more skeptical. So, your internet goes out - for any reason - and youâre SOL? Not sure that will go over well.
Edit: flashback to the 1990s with âthin clientsâ booting off the LAN. At the time, mainly for cost reduction, as less local storage is needed and less admin work when you can maintain a few standard images. Thinking that train left the station a long time ago.
That concerned my former employer when I notified them that our telecom provider had announced they were ending analog business telephone service. But I explained we already depended on the internet for other critical services like email, shipping, etc. In the end we moved to VOIP a few years ahead of the deadline.
Some businesses and individuals cannot function without internet conductivity so the inability to log into Windows probably wouldnât matter. They are SOL if they donât have a redundant internet supply.
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From the Microsoft Slide:
Custom Silicon: Ensure the competitiveness of the entire Windows ecosystem and Surface hardware through investments and partnerships in Silicon
Interesting.
This.
Even with a Cloud Windows there need to be devices that access this Cloud Windows. And they need to work in situations to some degree or fully at least temporarily when there is no network connection.
The integration of the âcloudâ into all OS is a process that will intensify. If we take a look at Apple and how everything is working with their cloud solutions - even today - we already can see where everything is headed to (iCloud, OS restore and what not). Be it as it may: there always will be offline situations and there will be concepts for those situations. At least that is what I am thinkingâŚ
I like this as an option for meâŚit could be a cheaper way for me to have a Windows computer for Windows-specific apps I canât get on my Mac. That being said, I wouldnât want this to be my only computerâŚhaving used thin clients at work (and subsequently begging in order to get desktops instead) they are awful. Totally anecdotal as it all depends on the setup/vendor, but our thin clients are slower, lose settings more often, are hard to diagnose problems, etc.
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As one whoâs had to suffer through using MS Office 365 and wondered who in their right mind thought that a cloud-based experience for Excel, Word and PowerPoint was a good idea, Iâd have to say that the folks in Redmond have been smoking waayyy too much of the funny weedâŚ
The MS cloud experience can be summed up as follows:
- painful latency (like following someone going 30 in a 55)
- loss of functionality
- no offline access
Talk about providing a solution in search of a problemâŚ
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Itâs probably due to the demand for collaboration. Businesses want âeverything everywhere all at onceâ and Google has shown the cloud is the best way to achieve that. I guess Microsoft is still playing catch up and a little Mary Jane helps with the anxiety
Iâm not adverse to cloud computing when scale is necessary.
The typical home user simply doesnât need to offload to the cloud.
I suppose Microsoft is simply inserting their biz tech into the home where it doesnât fit but it doesnât hurt MSFT ambitions either
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Microsoft account teams for the corporate customers Iâve managed have told me this âWindows-in-the-cloudâ story for at least two decades. Iâve always told them that none of my clients cared about this, it solved no problems, and probably created a lot of issues. After they put away their PowerPoints, they would say, âoff the recordâ, that they agree.
Katie
True, but the typical home user can probably get by with a Chromebook. Iâve been expecting to see expensive phones and laptops replaced by relatively inexpensive cloud connected devices. Windows in the cloud might be another step in that direction.