According to a new report, Microsoft will finally unveil its Cloud PC offering next week, at its virtual Inspire partner conference.

News of the announcement comes via ZDNet’s Mary Jo Foley, who undertook a Sherlock Holmes-like investigation to uncover the timing. According to Foley, Microsoft has scheduled a July 15 session for Inspire called “What’s Next in End-User Computing” that will focus on “the newest Microsoft cloud solution for enabling hybrid work.” One of the speakers at that session is Scott Manchester, the Director of Program Management for Cloud Managed Desktops and “a leader in the development of Windows Virtual Desktop, Remote Desktop Services, Second Screen Remoting, Multimedia, and Networking technologies.” And Manchester is working on Cloud PC.

Foley says she had heard from sources previously that Microsoft planned to launch Cloud PC “this summer,” so this timing matches up.

As Foley describes it, Cloud PC—once codenamed Deschutes—is a virtualization-based desktop-as-a-service offering that will allow customers to access remote Windows desktops and software like Microsoft Office, effectively turning whatever client device they’re using into a thin client. Microsoft will offer Cloud PC at a flat per-user price, which differentiates it from current solutions like Azure Virtual Desktop, which uses a consumption model.

“[Cloud PC] also seamlessly allows endpoint managers to instantly provision cloud-hosted PCs and manage physical and virtual devices through a unified portal and a fixed and predictable price,” a Cloud PC job posting, since edited, once read.

Tagged with Microsoft Cloud PC