The 'Windows 10 Cloud' to be a Chrome OS Killer?

[Ink]

Source(s):

1. Windows 10 Cloud is Microsoft’s fresh Chrome OS alternative
2. Microsoft's coming Windows 10 Cloud release may have nothing to do with the cloud | ZDNet

From Verge:

"Microsoft has been trying to keep PC makers away from Chrome OS for years, and consumers far away from Apple’s iPad alternative. While Windows RT largely failed at going mainstream, and Windows 8.1 with Bing was never widely used, the software giant is experimenting with another low-cost version of its popular Windows operating system: Windows 10 Cloud.​

References to the new variant have started appearing in recent Windows 10 test builds, and ZDNet’s Mary Jo Foley reports that Windows 10 Cloud will be another simplified version of Windows designed to run Microsoft’s Universal apps from the Windows Store."

From ZDNet:

"Windows 10 Cloud seemingly has little or nothing to do with the cloud, however, from what my sources are saying I guess the reason Microsoft chose that name is because the company is supposed to be all about "cloud first" these days? Or maybe the Cloud moniker is meant to indicate that this is Microsoft's competitor to Chrome OS/Chromebooks? Or maybe Microsoft intends to claim that Cortana/machine learning in this version makes it a "cloud" OS? Got me....​

I reached out to Microsoft to see if the company would share more about Windows 10 Cloud. No word back so far.

Update: "We have nothing to share," said a Microsoft spokesperson."
​

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What do you think Windows 10 Cloud is, the return of RT?​

 

[sudo -i]

It won't. Acer already tried with the Windows "Cloudbook" at less than $350 and it didn't surpass the Chromebook, or Macbooks for that matter. Chromebook has only started putting up a convincing fight against Apple for the past year. I don't see a "premium" cloudbook succeeding in the PC market at the moment, especially this early.

 

[ttto]

Source: Hands on with Microsoft's leaked, unannounced Windows 10 Cloud

References to Windows 10 Cloud first began to appear about a week ago in build 15019, but a couple days later, there was a report that the OS would only run apps from the Windows Store, similar to the failed Windows RT. Finally, a build of the unannounced OS leaked yesterday, allowing interested parties to find out what Windows 10 Cloud is really all about.

Indeed, it will only run apps from the Store, but what's interesting about it is that at this time, the OS can't run Project Centennial apps, which are desktop apps that have been converted to UWP. This was contradictory to screenshots that came from another report that was based on Windows 10 Cloud build 15019 (the leaked build is 15025).

Windows 8 apps that are in the Store still work though, and other than that, most of the OS looks and feels exactly like Windows 10 for PCs. Extensions even work in the Edge browser.

When we went hands on with the new build, we did found two things that are notably missing: OneDrive and PowerShell. There is no OneDrive integration with the File Explorer, so your only option at this time is the UWP app. PowerShell scripts don't work either; however, this seems like something that might change in the future, as the option to "Run with PowerShell" still shows up.

Here's our hands on video with Windows 10 Cloud build 15025:

 

[Rolo]

Or they could--rather than trying to make something "different" or trying to compete in spaces where they've already lost and diluting their products--just simply charge less for Windows.

"Superior product at a competitive price."
not
"Castrated product at a lower price."