Windows 365 on M1 Mac

Is it possible to work from a Mac in Windows 365?

The era of Cloud PCs is upon us, but is it any good?

So in a concerted effort to explore all my options for Mac-based Windows development, I figured I would try out Microsoft Windows 365 for my Windows development needs. So you may ask, what is Windows 365? and here is the quote directly from Microsoft:

So, essentially this is a PC based in the cloud. So instead of having a PC sitting on your desk, you instead access the computer via remote desktop to a computer in the cloud. You need to have a fairly fast internet connection to reduce any lag, although most home internet connections should be plenty fast enough and a computer or tablet.

A caveat of this service is that it is business-based, and you must have a Microsoft business account to use the service. The service delivers many different tiers, offering various different PC configurations from 1vCPU/2Gb/64Gb up to 8vCPU/32Gb/512Gb, that is CPU/RAM/Storage. Now obviously the more resources you choose, the more expensive it is.

The Cloud PC pricing ranges from $24 a month per user for the lowest tier, up to a whopping $162 a month per user for the fully specced out Cloud PC. These prices are based on the business account, but if you wish for more control, then IT managers can use the Enterprise version where they can configure everything and control all that they desire. Here is a comparison between Business and Enterprise Windows 365. Pricing shown is at the time of writing.

Setting up Windows 365 was not as simple as I expected. I have many years of experience handling Windows computers, but understanding how these virtual machines are configured was scary at first and I almost pulled the plug at the beginning. I had to result to contacting a Microsoft support representative to assist me. Sharing my screen with the rep, they walked me through basically turning off and turning on a certain feature and waiting the desired time for the VM to re-initialize. Something a regular user would not know to do. This fixed the issues I was having, and my VM was created successfully within 15 minutes, and then I proceeded to access it via remote desktop on my M1 Mac.

Once connected, the experience is very similar to accessing any computer via a remote desktop. A bit sluggish at times, but generally not too bad really, although this would not work for playing video games. I would use Xbox Cloud Gaming for that.

There are limitations, as many of the configuration settings are controlled by the company account, in other words, the business IT administrators. I am sure the limitations can be lifted, but I am new to this, so I am unsure. Another example is when accessing the configuration of the Microsoft Edge browser. Many aspects of the configuration are locked and inaccessible.

However, despite these limitations, I was easily able to install all the software I needed for development. Visual Studio, MSSQL Management Studio, MySQL include the workbench, Notepad++, Tortoise SVN, to name a few. I was able to set up IIS too, something I had trouble with on the ARM version of Windows 11. I downloaded my website files from SVN (subversion), restored my database in MySQL, and configured IIS, and my site was up and running. Even my VPN worked correctly. No worries at all.

All in all, I was pleased with the solution, it allowed me to develop with Windows web technologies as if I were using my own PC. At times it was slow, and there was one occasion when the service was down completely, so obviously a rather major downfall. So let’s do the pros and cons:

Pros

1. Accessible via remote desktop from anywhere there is an internet connection.
2. Allowed installation of software without limitations (depending on how it is configured by business IT administrators).
3. Allowed installation of IIS, unlike Windows on ARM.

Cons

1. Expensive.
2. Reliance on fast reliable internet connection.
3. Reliance on Windows 365 services being operational.
4. Somewhat complicated set-up and configuration with a steep learning curve.
5. Not practical for AAA gaming.

For a business that needs easily configurable computers for its many employees, especially if they are working remotely, Windows 365 is a terrific service that is definitely worth checking out. It is accessible from practically any platform, even iPad. For this scenario, I recommend the service.

However, for my use case (one cloud PC), it is an extremely expensive method of accessing a PC. I will not be continuing to use this service. I will be sticking with my desk-based Acer Predator laptop for now, until such time that Microsoft adds IIS to Windows on ARM, or I buy a new PC.

Paul Jacobs — 25th January 2022