Despite the fact that Windows 12 begins to attract the attention of the spotlight, that does not mean that Microsoft is going to leave users of Windows 11 in the short term. Because of that, we find that the company is allegedly working on an option to allow users to work with multiple Cloud PC providerswhich in that way would stop being tied to Windows 365 at least within Windows.
For those who are lost, Cloud PC is a service that allows you to have a Windows desktop through streaming, in a way that is somewhat reminiscent of what services like NVIDIA GeForce Now do, but by providing a desktop operating system instead of a game execution environment, so it can be defined as a “desktop as a service”. This approach allows Windows to be used in an abstract way from the hardware that is being used, to the extent that it is possible to run Cloud PC on Android with the Microsoft Remote Desktop application.
Small peek at more Cloud PC UX pieces 😶🌫️
Users will also be able to install multiple Cloud PC providers! Pretty excited to see that this isn’t locked down to Windows 365 😊 pic.twitter.com/BPi99EfAlF
— Albacore (@thebookisclosed) April 3, 2023
Until now Cloud PC was limited to Windows 365 (at least within the Microsoft ecosystem), but it seems that a future update for Windows will open the range so that the user can handle different providers. In addition to the possibility of linking to different providers, the Redmond giant would be adding little by little and somewhat unnoticed Cloud PC options in the Windows Settings application.
The feature of being able to work with different Cloud PC providers in Windows 11 has been revealed by a Twitter user named Albacore, who stands out for his research and discoveries around the Microsoft operating system. Use of a third party provider will require a registered Cloud PC system. In case you do not have the provider installed and your remote access system registered, the Settings page and the switcher parts of the virtual desktop will remain hidden. If the requirements are met, the feature should be able to be made operational with the following command on build 25330 of the Canary Insider channel:
vivetool /enable /id:34508225,40459297,42354458,42453017
IDs aside, you need a Cloud PC provider installed + a remote system registered/bound to it
Without these the Settings page and the virtual desktop switcher parts remain hidden— Albacore (@thebookisclosed) April 3, 2023
34508225, 40459297, 42354458, and 42453017 correspond to the CloudPCSwitch, CloudPCFastSwitchDiscovery, VirtualDesktopAnimationLocalAndCloud, and CloudPCBootLogonUI features respectively. It’s important to note that the features are still under development and too green for use in a production environment, so they might not work correctly at this time.
