Microsoft launches the public preview of Windows 365 Switch service

More and more employees are using their own personal PCs for work purposes. However, they may need to connect to their employer's Cloud PC service via Windows 365. Today, Microsoft announced a new public preview of a new service called Windows 365 Switch that aims to make this kind of work situation earlier for employees.

In a blog post, Microsoft stated:

Windows 365 Switch provides the ability to easily move between a Windows 365 Cloud PC and the local desktop using the same familiar keyboard commands, as well as a mouse-click or a swipe gesture. Windows 365 Switch enables a seamless experience from within Windows 11 via the Task view feature. Windows 365 will be required on the endpoint, after which all relevant elements will show up automatically inside the Task view feature.

In order to try out Windows 365 Switch, a person must first be able to access their employer's Cloud PC on their Windows 11 Pro or Enterprise computer. Then they have to enroll in the Windows Insider Program. While the Dev channel is supported, the blog post states that signing up for Beta channel updates is the preferred method. They should also get the latest Beta channel build.

Then they can download the Windows 365 app from the Microsoft Store. The app should have the version number of at least 1.3.177.0 or newer.

Once everything is set up, users should now see the Windows Task option in the taskbar. Microsoft says:

Hovering over the Task view and clicking connect will launch the Windows 365 Cloud PC through the Windows 11 experience. Once you arrive on the Cloud PC, we will be showing the user an indicator that you arrived on the Cloud PC. Once you are inside the Cloud PC session, you can open the Task view feature from the Windows 11 taskbar (next to Search) once more.

The local Desktop icon should now be visible on the left side of the taskbar. Clicking on it will return the user to their local PC desktop. Microsoft claims switching between the Cloud PC environment to the local PC and back again should take less than a second.