New features and updates are something that we have become accustomed to and regularly expect for several reasons. Take the mobile devices that we carry with us everywhere. When you purchase a new one, one of the most important things you want to know is how many years of support you will receive.

This is because we all want to ensure that our devices can perform to their maximum capabilities for years to come. With this in mind, Microsoft ensures that products like Windows 365 regularly receive new features and updates that will improve the end-user experience.

As a result of this, businesses can expect the Cloud PC environment to often provide them with new and improved functionality. They’ll also address any issues or bugs that need dealing with. For this particular article, our focus will be the new features of Windows 365 Boot and Windows 365 Switch.

Review of Windows 365 Boot

For those who may not be familiar with Windows 365 Boot, let’s start with a review of what it is. Windows 365 Boot improves the overall experience by helping administrators make it easier to sign in for users on physical Windows 11 devices. Administrators can do this by configuring these devices such that:

• Users won’t need to sign in to their physical devices.
• Users can sign in directly to their Windows 365 Cloud PC on their physical devices.

Simply, this means is that Windows 365 Boot enables users of Windows 11 (version 22H2 or 23H2) to directly log into their Windows 365 Cloud PC and as the primary Windows experience on the device. Additionally, when single sign-on is turned on for your Cloud PC, you won’t need to sign in again to sign in to your Cloud PC.

This feature speeds up the signing-in process. It also cuts down on the time spent. Moreover, your business should find this to be an excellent solution for shared devices. Logging in with a unique user identity can take you to your personal and secure Cloud PC.

SHARED PC SCENARIO

This capability allows multiple users to use the same physical device to sign in to their own personal Cloud PCs. It’s design is such that whenever you sign in to the physical device, your unique identity will take you to your assigned and secure Cloud PC.

It’s great for an organization, such as a hospital or call center where people share physical devices then Windows 365 Boot provides you with an excellent solution. It gives employees added convenience by helping them bypass the often tedious startup process.

Consequently, whenever you want to get back to your device, you can boot directly into your secure Cloud PC. From there, you can pick up right where you left off. Colleagues can:

• Sign out from their Cloud PC on the physical device. Once you sign out, the device reverts back to the Windows 11 login screen.
• Hand over the physical device to another colleague at the end of your shift.
• The individual starting their shift can then use the device to sign in to their Cloud PC.

ACCESSING PHYSICAL DEVICES

The objective of Windows 365 Boot physical devices is to enable users to interact with their Cloud PCs without the ability to interact with the physical device. However, to achieve this, you need to set some configuration service provider (CSP) policies.

Administrators should be aware that Windows 365 won’t automatically set these policies to fully restrict end-users from accessing certain resources on the physical device. Therefore, you need to thoroughly review the configuration policies. Understand what applies to your Windows 365 Boot devices. You need to verify that these policies will meet your organization’s security needs for preventing access to the physical device.

PROCESS OVERVIEW

The first step will involve configuring the physical device for Windows 365 Boot. To do this, use the Microsoft 365 Boot guided scenario in the Microsoft Intune admin center. The next step, which is optional, would require you to consider restricting access to Windows 365 Boot physical devices.

And then you’ll need to set up each physical device for Windows 365 Boot configuration. Once the device configuration is complete, multiple users will be able to access their dedicated Cloud PCs from the same Windows 365 Boot physical device.

Windows 365 Switch

When working on your desktop, you want to have an ergonomic working environment where everything you need is easily within reach. To achieve that goal, Windows 365 Switch offers users a feature that makes it a lot easier to move between a Windows 365 Cloud PC and your local desktop. The process is even easier by the fact that you’ll get to use the same familiar keyboard commands, as well as a mouse click or a swipe gesture.

From within Windows, 11 using the Task view feature, users will benefit from the seamless experience, too. Windows 365 delivers by optimizing the way you work. As long as you have a Windows 365 Cloud PC on your device, Windows 365 Switch will pop up automatically inside the Task view feature. But, before we discuss pushing Windows 365 Switch feature components to your Windows 11 endpoints, you will need to meet the following requirements:

• Windows 11-based endpoints (both Windows 11 Pro and Enterprise)
• Update to the latest Windows OS Build on your Cloud PC Windows 11 Enterprise or Professional, version 22621.2361 or later
• Update to the latest Windows OS Build on your physical device Windows 11 Enterprise or Professional, version 22621.2361 or later
• Windows 365 Cloud PC license.

DEPLOYING WINDOWS 365 SWITCH

You’ll first need to ensure that your Cloud PC is updated to the latest Windows OS build on your Cloud PC. Having done that, under Settings, head over to the Windows Update page. Switch on the Get the latest updates as soon as they are available toggle to get the latest Windows OS updates. You can then restart your PC after you get the updates.

Next up, you’ll want to ensure that your physical device is updated to the latest Windows OS build. Then, you’ll head over to the Windows Update page, which is found under Settings, and switch on the Get the latest updates as soon as they are available toggle to get the latest Windows OS updates. After you get the updates, restart your PC.

Once you’ve taken care of all the above, you now have to install the Windows 365 app. Users can download this app from the Microsoft Store on Windows. And you need to verify that it’s version 1.3.185.0 or newer. The Microsoft Store will be extremely helpful to administrators because it’s going to keep the Windows 365 app up to date.

This will reduce the burden on IT admins because they don’t have to worry about maintaining the app. Depending on what is more convenient for your organization, you can have IT admins use Microsoft Intune to download the app for your end-users. Alternatively, these same end-users can follow the steps below to download the app themselves:

• Navigate to the Microsoft Store for Windows and look up Windows 365.
• Select Get to install Windows 365.
• Select Open.

Another option would be to download the Windows 365 app directly from windows365.microsoft.com. After you’ve completed all the given instructions, you’ll still need to wait a few hours. Then, Switch is fully enabled on your device.

Introducing the new updates

Anyone planning on using the new updates needs to ensure that they are enrolled on the Windows Insider Dev Channel. To do that, you need to follow the steps given below:

• Under Settings, go to Windows Update > Windows Insider Program. Select Get Started and this will initiate the enrollment process.
• Sign in with your Microsoft account.
• Select Dev Channel and Continue.
• To complete the enrollment process, you need to restart the device.
• Next, you need to navigate to the Windows Update Settings page and select Check for updates. Here you should select Install all until all the latest Windows updates have been installed.

Your organization can also use Microsoft Intune to enroll endpoints on a larger scale into the Windows Insider Program. To do that, pre-release builds for Windows updates must be enabled. And you must select Dev Channel as the pre-release channel.

What has been added to Windows 365 Boot?

Dedicated mode for Windows 365 Boot

According to the recent announcement, Microsoft is launching a new dedicated mode for Windows 365 Boot. This option, which is now in public preview, allows you to log in to your Windows 365 Cloud PC from your designated company-owned device.

It helps simplify the login process by enabling users. It provides easy log ins to their Cloud PCs from the Windows 11 login screen using password-less authentication methods such as Windows Hello for Business.

Additionally, the new dedicated mode comes with a fast account-switching experience. With this, users can seamlessly switch profiles to log in. They can also personalize the experience with their usernames and passwords, display a picture on the lock and log in screen, and remember their usernames, among other things.

New Microsoft Intune integration for Windows 365 Boot dedicated mode

Going forward, customers will be able to enable the Windows 365 Boot dedicated mode via Microsoft Intune. The integration of Windows 365 with Microsoft Intune allows everyone from IT admins to end-users to have an overall improved experience.

This is because the Microsoft design of both these products is such that they complement each other perfectly. This integration offers multiple benefits that would be pretty difficult to ignore such as:

• Familiarity with how Microsoft Intune works and the ability to leverage this knowledge to give you an even better Windows 365 experience.
• Your organization can potentially reduce expenses because of supporting only a single platform regardless of department.
• IT admins will also get the convenience of using existing profiles as well as deploying existing apps that you already have in your Microsoft Intune inventory.
• Your organization can benefit from the industry-leading security protocols that Intune uses because it can easily integrate with how the Cloud PC operates.

Among the newly added features, we can find an option to configure that will add Windows Hello support to Windows 365 Boot. You can use the Intune guided flow scenario to access Windows 365 Boot as follows:

• Go to Devices > Windows 365
• Under Windows 365 Guides, select Windows 365 Boot or Windows 365 Boot – Public Preview.

New Microsoft Intune integration

When in shared mode, your business can customize the login page to feature your company branding by using Microsoft Intune. If you want to enable customized company logo and name branding in Microsoft Intune:

• Go to Home > Devices > Windows 365 Boot.
• In the Settings menu, search for Personalization.

Fail fast mechanism for Windows 365 Boot

I’m sure that many have been frustrated by the experience of having to wait for the sign-in process to the Cloud PC to complete. And then finding out that Windows 365 Boot failed due to network issues or incomplete setup. It’s not exactly the most pleasant way for you to get started on an urgent project.

Fortunately, this issue is being addressed so that you won’t have to wait for the sign-in process to complete. Because of the introduction of the new smart logic, users will be given timely instructions to address any network issues or complete app setup. Doing so will enable you to have a seamless login experience to your Cloud PC.

Manage local PC settings through Windows 365 Boot

From the beginning, the goal with Windows 365 has been ease of use. Microsoft wants to ensure that using the Cloud PC is a comfortable experience that allows users to work at maximum efficiency and thus improve productivity. Something as simple as managing your local PC settings can end up frustrating, especially if you need to make regular changes.

This is why a newly added feature will simplify matters by making it easier to access and manage sound, display, and other device-specific settings of your local PC directly from your Cloud PC in Windows 365 Boot. So, from now on, anything that Cloud PC users need, will not be more than a few clicks away.

New Capabilities for Windows 365 Switch

In addition to the above, there are also a few new features added to Windows 365 Switch. In this section, we’ll be going over what those new capabilities are.

Improved disconnect experience for Windows 365 Switch

Users will now be able to disconnect from their Cloud PCs directly from the local PC. As you would expect, this adds immensely to the concept of ease of use. Cloud PC users gain additional convenience that further simplifies the process of signing in and out. To disconnect from your Cloud PC directly from the local PC, all you have to do is:

• Navigate to Local PC > Task view.
• Right-click on the Cloud PC button. Select Disconnect.

To make this even easier for users, Windows 365 also has tool tips that show on disconnect and sign out options in the Cloud PC Start menu. This means they can differentiate between these functionalities.

Desktop indicators differentiate between Cloud PC and local PC for Windows 365 Switch

In an effort to make things easier to see and manage, Windows 365 now has indicators to differentiate between Cloud PC and local PC. So, from now on, when you switch between your respective PCs, you should see Cloud PC and Local PC on the desktop indicator.

Gracefully handling increased connection time for Windows 365 Switch to Frontline Cloud PCs

Another new addition will be the capability to view the updates concerning the Cloud PC connection status and the connection timeout indicator while waiting on the connection screen. If you encounter any error, you can quickly resolve it by copying the correlation ID. Do so by using the new copy button in the error screen. Yet again, adding simplicity will serve to be a great tool for admins and end-users. And everyone can work even more efficiently and improve their productivity.

Windows 365 offers an always up-to-date environment

AUTOMATION OF UPDATES

All the new capabilities we have discussed show that Windows 365 is very much committed to ensuring that customers have a service that is constantly improving. They can depend on this service to get even better to improve the end-user experience.

One of the most important things in this respect is to provide automated updates. This is because it can help minimize disruptions. No one wants to interrupt their workday to deal with updates, especially not knowing how long the update process could take. Even while being aware of the security risks of ignoring updates, people can still continue without actually installing them.

This inspires the need for automated updates. Windows 365 can ensure that your devices remain up-to-date at a time that is convenient and doesn’t cause downtime.

This gives you the scheduling flexibility to plan. Coordinate the installation of automated updates for both the operating system and applications working on your Cloud PCs. And schedule them to occur during non-working hours.

Also, since these updates are automatic, it helps reduce the workload for your IT staff for eliminating those manual tasks. All this while your business gets to leverage the latest features and maintain high security levels.

AUTOMATIC PATCHING

To complement the automatic update feature that Windows 365 uses, clients will also get a patch management service that can scan and detect security patches before they’re downloaded and installed.

This feature further helps to optimize the Cloud PC environment by enabling IT admins to keep devices that are under their control and constantly up-to-date with the latest security patches. Leveraging the patch management capabilities that Windows 365 provides. It eliminates the overall need for IT admins to manually check each device to see if the necessary patches are applied.

Having automatic feature updates and security patches applied means that you reduce the risk of hacking. Would-be hackers won’t have sufficient time to exploit any known vulnerabilities and security threats. The last thing any organization wants is to give nefarious actors all the time they need to take advantage of weaknesses in your security.

You need features that can help your business significantly reduce attack surfaces. And you need to keep employee productivity levels unaffected by potential security breaches. Additionally, businesses will get to reap the benefits from reduced expenses for device lifecycle management and repairs.

Wrap up

If you talk to any IT professional about updates, you’ll probably get a very long discussion about keeping your devices secure and optimized. Whether we’re talking about the PC you use at work or your personal mobile device, regular software and security updates are extremely important to ensure that these devices perform at optimum levels.

In this article, we’ve been discussing the new capabilities that have been added to Windows 365 Boot and Windows 365 Switch to make the Cloud PC an even better product.

We all know of the long list of great features that were built into the Windows 365 Cloud PC when it was first introduced. In spite of that, however, any device or service needs constant improvement if it’s to keep up with all the innovation that we are witnessing year after year.

This is why features such as the ones we have gone over today are so vitally important for improving the experience for Cloud PC users. And as we move forward, we should only expect even greater features for Windows 365.