@TerryRitchie : are you a psychic channeling me, or are my internal rants forceful enough to be felt by other people?
Anyway....
I doubt full-on cloud-based Windows is in the current version of Microsoft's Great Plan, but new Windows versions allow MS to shift Windows' infrastructure in the direction they want it to go.
I think Microsoft is exploring Saas & WaaS to see how far they can go and how much money they can squeeze out of users. Losing some users will be acceptable to them if they get enough money out of those who remain. The majority of corporate users will remain and continue to support MS, because Windows works for them and they can justify the cost.
MS has had many long-term plans over the years, which have often changed dramatically, so there are many factors that could prevent a cloud-based walled-garden Windows.
For years now MS has been heading in a direction I do not like, and Windows 11 is my deciding factor. I wouldn't put Windows 11 on my machine if they were giving it away.
(FWIW: Out of my 10 or so various PCs, laptops, and netbooks, I own exactly ONE Windows 10 machine. It's a super-lightweight 2-in-1 laptop/tablet combo that I bought and tolerated because I needed a portable PC with a long battery life for a contract job. I tolerated that POS machine with POS operating system only as long as the job lasted and haven't touched it in the two years since.)
As I type this on my Windows 7 Pro desktop, my browser complains that I am running an old, deprecated OS. It won't be complaining too much longer, as my plans are to upgrade the RAM and HD in this workhorse then switch to Linux, with Wine, ReactOS, and maybe one or two older versions of Windows on VMs for when I need them.
I will miss some Windows-only games for a while if they don't run on Wine, but I will not miss Windows.
Anyway....
I doubt full-on cloud-based Windows is in the current version of Microsoft's Great Plan, but new Windows versions allow MS to shift Windows' infrastructure in the direction they want it to go.
I think Microsoft is exploring Saas & WaaS to see how far they can go and how much money they can squeeze out of users. Losing some users will be acceptable to them if they get enough money out of those who remain. The majority of corporate users will remain and continue to support MS, because Windows works for them and they can justify the cost.
MS has had many long-term plans over the years, which have often changed dramatically, so there are many factors that could prevent a cloud-based walled-garden Windows.
For years now MS has been heading in a direction I do not like, and Windows 11 is my deciding factor. I wouldn't put Windows 11 on my machine if they were giving it away.
(FWIW: Out of my 10 or so various PCs, laptops, and netbooks, I own exactly ONE Windows 10 machine. It's a super-lightweight 2-in-1 laptop/tablet combo that I bought and tolerated because I needed a portable PC with a long battery life for a contract job. I tolerated that POS machine with POS operating system only as long as the job lasted and haven't touched it in the two years since.)
As I type this on my Windows 7 Pro desktop, my browser complains that I am running an old, deprecated OS. It won't be complaining too much longer, as my plans are to upgrade the RAM and HD in this workhorse then switch to Linux, with Wine, ReactOS, and maybe one or two older versions of Windows on VMs for when I need them.
I will miss some Windows-only games for a while if they don't run on Wine, but I will not miss Windows.