Microsoft's Windows 10 Cloud version: Alleged screen shots leak
Alleged screen shots of a new version of Windows 10, currently known as "Windows Cloud," have leaked, courtesy of Windows Blog Italia.
The screen shots seem to show a coming version of the operating system that is locked down in a way similar to the way Microsoft locked down Windows RT and, before that the Windows 8.1 with Bing version of Windows.
Earlier this week, I reported that my sources said that Windows 10 Cloud seemingly had little to do with the cloud, despite its current name. My sources said it would be a version of Windows 10 that would run Universal Windows Platform apps only.
According to Windows Blog Italia, which said they've had a chance to test the current version of Windows 10 Cloud, the product can run Windows Store apps only. The site noted that Windows Store apps built using Microsoft's "Centennial" Desktop bridge, which enables developers to move their Win32 apps to the Windows Store, work on the version of Windows 10 Cloud to which they have access.
UWP apps and Windows Store apps have not been synonymous terms. But the important point here is Windows Cloud will be locked down so as to prevent users from installing apps that are not in the Windows 10 Store, which can be seen as a plus from a security and manageability standpoint, but a minus given the less-than-robust collection of UWP/Store apps available for Windows 10.
Microsoft is believed to be planning to position Windows 10 Cloud, at least in part, as an alternative to Chrome OS and Chromebooks.
We also don't know when Microsoft plans to take the wraps off Windows 10 Cloud, but given references to this version are in recent Windows 10 Insider preview builds, I'm thinking maybe this will happen around the time Windows 10 Creators Update launches, which is expected to be this April.
Microsoft officials have said they have "nothing to share" on Windows 10 Cloud.
In other Windows 10 news, Microsoft released ISOs of its latest Windows 10 Insider build (No. 15025) on February 3, the same day that its latest bug bash for the Creators Update kicked off.