Windows 365 is a very useful Microsoft service that enables access to virtualized PCs hosted on the cloud, facilitating remote and hybrid workers who are required to work in secure software environments. Microsoft continually makes improvements to this service, and now, it has announced a major update.
Windows 365 customers can now provision access to individual Cloud Apps like Outlook, Word, OneDrive, Edge, and PowerPoint, without provisioning a full Cloud PC. This is something Microsoft began testing privately in June, with the feature now entering public preview. The company believes that this will aid organizations in streamlining the delivery of dedicated apps, which will modernize their virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) and reduce administrative overhead.
That said, it is important to note that Windows 365 Cloud Apps operate under the Frontline Cloud PCs license running in shared mode. This particular license provisions Cloud PC access for shift-based workers, where an unlimited number of users can access a single Cloud PC, as long as only one session is active at a time. Microsoft emphasizes that this makes the Frontline license an ideal choice for Cloud Apps, since it facilitates task-based workers.
Cloud Apps are available for Windows 365 customers through the Windows App, which has also seen some enhancements recently. When customers launch the Apps page of the app, their selection will be filtered to Windows 365 Cloud Apps automatically. This new process of accessing apps should be much more convenient and flexible for customers rather than provisioning full desktop PCs.
Up until now, Windows 365 customers would create custom images with only the required line-of-business (LOB) apps when provisioning cloud hardware for their workers, but this was a tedious process. The public preview availability of Cloud Apps should certainly help in this regard. Moving forward, Microsoft will work to make Intune the "single pane of glass for app deployment", so that Intune Apps can be published as Cloud Apps too. There is no word on general availability for Windows 365 Cloud Apps yet, but Microsoft certainly seems confident about its future.