This morning, Microsoft announced that it was releasing a cloud PC service called Windows 365; it got me thinking. While Windows 365 is about packaging a virtual Windows business desktop in a cloud context, if you think about the announcement differently, perhaps it could herald the beginning of a lightweight, cloud-based version of Windows — something that has been talked about for some time.
To be clear, the cloud PC announcement wasn’t related to hardware at all. It’s taking a Windows desktop and moving it fully virtualized to the cloud, where you can run it from anywhere, giving you a replica of your Windows desktop PC in the cloud. But what if you stretched that idea by taking Microsoft 365 with Office apps and throwing it onto a low-cost PC and using the Edge browser as your primary way of interacting with the computer? Now you have something that could compete directly with a Chromebook-style computer.
That’s precisely what Google has done with Chrome and Chromebooks for over a decade, working with partners to deliver low-cost hardware with the most required computing work in the cloud. The Chrome browser is the primary desktop environment; Google Workspace (aka G Suite) is the default set of office suite apps with a word processor, spreadsheet, presentation software, email and calendar,r, and other services. You can run any software service you wish in Chrome, including Microsoft’s cloud office tools. Regardless, the result of this is a low-end business (or personal) laptop that gets most of its power from the cloud.
Most people don’t need a modern notebook computer, and the hardware required to run full-strength operating systems contributes to the high cost of the underlying machine, something Google discovered long ago. If you simplified everything to a browser, an office suite, and web access to your favorite tools, you would have just about everything you need without all of the management headaches associated with owning a PC with a traditional OS sitting on it.
Think about someone who uses email and office tools and watches a little Netflix. This machine would be perfect for them without blowing their budget out of the water or being overly complex.
Last year when the pandemic hit and everyone had to hunker down and work on a PC, including children, people looked for a low-cost option. They voted for Chromebook in droves, accounting for more than 30 million units sold, including over 11 million in the fourth quarter alone, according to Canalys data.
While growth slowed slightly in the first quarter of this year, Canalys found Chromebook shipments still grew by 275%. Brian Lynch, an analyst at Canalys, wrote in the report that “Chromebooks are well and truly a mainstream computing product now,” adding that “while the education sector still accounts for the majority of shipments, their popularity with consumers and traditional commercial customers has reached new heights over the last year.”
Windows did well too, but given the number of Chromebooks flying off the shelves — led by Lenovo and HP, two companies that also make machines running Microsoft software — a Windows-based cloud PC could give Chromebook a run for its money.
