Microsoft has revealed its plans to provide Windows 365 users the ability to access Windows 11 on cloud-based PCs equipped with dedicated GPUs. The announcement, made at the Ignite 2023 developers conference, represents a significant development for professionals engaged in graphically demanding fields.
Targeted User Base and Performance Benefits
The new GPU-based Cloud PCs cater to a variety of professional users whose work demands considerable graphical processing power. Among those who stand to benefit from this offering are graphic designers, video editors, 3D modelers, data analysts, and visualization specialists. The integration of GPU acceleration ensures that these individuals can perform productive work on their preferred devices, unhindered by their physical location.
By leveraging the best available hardware on Microsoft Azure, Windows 365 mitigates the challenge of managing hardware lifecycles. Both NVIDIA and AMD support this initiative, indicating a landmark collaboration aimed at enabling customers to handle tasks like graphic design, image and video rendering, 3D modeling, as well as data processing and visualization applications that are reliant on powerful GPUs.
Available Tiers and Preview Access
Microsoft's blog post following the conference divulges that the public preview will offer three distinct hardware tiers for users to select from. Moreover, users will have the privilege of monitoring their GPU Cloud PC's performance specifications directly from the Task Manager's performance tab.
While Microsoft has yet to announce when these Cloud PCs will transition from public preview to general availability, there currently exists a waitlist for those wishing to participate in the early stages. Interested parties can find this waitlist and sign up via Microsoft's official website.
The company advises against the use of these GPU-enabled Cloud PCs for game development, artificial intelligence app creation, and other high-performance computing or machine learning tasks.
Windows App Brings Windows 365 Across Platforms
In other Windows 365 news from Ignite 2023, Microsoft introduced Windows App for iOS, Windows, iPadOS, and the web. It is designed to facilitate access to Windows PCs via the cloud, enabling users to connect from virtually any device. The offering, known as the “Windows App,” was announced during the Ignite 2023 event and is now available in a preview version. It supports Windows 365, Azure Virtual Desktop, Microsoft Dev Box, and personal Remote Desktop PCs, signifying an expansion of Microsoft's cloud computing portfolio.
