What you have to know
- During Ignite 2023, Microsoft launched an all-new ‘Windows App’ to stream Windows PCs from wherever.
- The app is suitable with macOS, iOS, iPadOS, and even Windows, but is just not obtainable for Android or ChromeOS.
- If you need to use this with a Chromebook, you’ll should depend on the browser implementation.
Chromebook house owners have been eager for the power to make use of Windows, or at the least Windows apps, for years. There was some hope that this may have come from Parallels, but that is seemingly been locked all the way down to the enterprise market. Then, Microsoft gave us a glimmer of hope throughout Ignite 2023, as the corporate launched a brand new “Windows App.”
Awkward identify apart, the Windows App is designed to supply entry to cloud computer systems from suitable units. This contains issues corresponding to Azure Virtual Desktop, Windows 365, and Microsoft Dev Box. But, this new app additionally gives the restricted potential to entry Remote Desktop Services and distant PCs.
Unfortunately, it appears as if Android and ChromeOS have been not noted to dry, for one cause or one other. Not solely is the Windows App not suitable with Chromebooks, but you additionally will not discover a devoted Android app. Making issues much more irritating, Microsoft’s assist documentation states that you aren’t capable of entry this service utilizing a cellular browser.
The subsequent roadblock, even when you fired up Chrome, is that you’ll want a registered work or faculty account. On the floor, that is an apparent limitation as it is not meant to provide everybody with a Microsoft account entry to a PC within the cloud. However, if you’re utilizing a Mac, iPhone, or iPad, you can truly hook up with your personal Windows pc, supplied that you have Remote Desktop Services enabled.
In the assist paperwork, Microsoft states that it “does not at present assist these connections.” Even nonetheless, it feels a bit odd to incorporate this performance to start with, even when it is not “formally” supported.
There are a number of totally different options obtainable for these utilizing Chromebooks within the enterprise house. However, the identical cannot be mentioned in terms of the buyer market. On one hand, Chromebooks proceed to enhance at an extremely speedy tempo, as evidenced by Google’s Chromebook Plus initiative.
However, there are nonetheless some issues that you cannot do on ChromeOS that you can do on Windows or macOS, and you undoubtedly do not need to run Windows on a Chromebook. We’ll be retaining our fingers crossed to see if this modifications, but we aren’t holding our breath.