The Biggest Winners in Microsoft’s New 365 Offering are iPad Users
Microsoft is putting Windows into the cloud with Windows 365, a new service that will let business owners access Cloud PCs from anywhere. This means they’ll be able to stream a version of Windows 10 or Windows 11 in a web browser. While virtualization and remote access to PCs are not new technologies, Microsoft’s new offering will immensely benefit an unexpected user-base when it’s made available for everyday consumers — iPad users.
Is It a Computer?
Since the release of the iPad in 2012, people have been debating whether it is a “computer” or not. I’ve read countless articles of people reporting their attempts, watched an equal amount of videos on YouTube of people trying a similar feat.
I have even tried the experiment myself when I had to go back to school and my experience ended up being the same as every other reviewer on the internet.
The iPad is an amazing and capable device, but when you run into its limitations, you really run into them. The iPad is so frustrating as a productivity device that even my 6-year-old Macbook felt like an amazing experience when I had to inevitably start using it again.
Apple Knows It Is Not, Yet
Apple seems to have picked up on those limitations. They introduced their own line-up of keyboards, keyboards-trackpad combos, external mouse support, improved files system, and even their desktop-class chip, inching the iPad a tad bit closer to what iPad enthusiasts want it to be, a computer that is not a computer.
Hopes were at an all-time high for the iPad users that bit the bullet and bought the 2021 iPad Pro with the M1 chip and 16GB of RAM. Apple, however, disappointed them during the latest WWDC by adding only a few incremental improvements to iPadOS, basically consolidating it as a companion device to macOS.
Microsoft Might Be Able to Bridge the Gap
I am an avid follower of tech blogs, The Verge being my favorite, but the place where I have been getting the most insight is from a community from Reddit dedicated to iPad users.
Of course, opinions vary a lot in the conversations that happen in that community, but the common thing that most users mention is that they dream about the iPad being their only personal computing device.
It is, though, those edge cases — the 1–5% use case — that keeps them from getting rid of their desktop-class devices and use the iPad exclusively.
Microsoft’s offering of cloud PCs and other services might be the very thing that will allow those dreamers to finally cut the cord and finally be able to live on an iPad only.
What do you think? Would you switch to an iPad and a cloud PC?
