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Windows IT Pro Blog
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New Windows 365 Boot and Switch features now available

Elina_Luthra's avatar
Elina_Luthra
Icon for Microsoft rankMicrosoft
Feb 29, 2024

We're excited to announce new features for Windows 365 Boot and Windows 365 Switch including new integrations with Microsoft Intune, the ability to personalize the login page in shared mode, and user experience enhancements. Let's dive in.

New Microsoft Intune integration for Windows 365 Boot dedicated mode

You can now enable Windows 365 Boot dedicated mode via Microsoft Intune. We've added a new configuration option for dedicated mode, providing the same login and customization experiences you'll find with local versions of Windows. This includes people seeing their own user account on the sign-in screen and the ability to sign in with passwordless options like Windows Hello for Business.

Screenshot of the Basics menu for Windows 365 Boot in the Microsoft Intune admin center.

To access a step-by-step guide on this feature, in the Microsoft Intune admin center, navigate to Devices > Windows 365 and select Windows 365 Boot under Windows 365 Guides.

Screenshot of the Overview menu for Windows 365, accessed by selecting Windows 365 under Provisioning in the Devices pane of the Intune admin center.

New personalization options for Windows 365 Boot shared mode

If you're using shared mode, you can now use Intune to customize the login page to feature your organization's name and brand.

Screenshot of the customized login screen with the Contoso logo, name, and wallpaper.

To enable a customized company logo and name in Microsoft Intune, navigate to Home > Devices > Windows 365 Boot and look for Personalization in the Settings menu.

Screenshot of the Settings menu for Windows 365 Boot.

Fail fast mechanism for Windows 365 Boot

Have you or someone in your organization ever waited for the sign in process on a Cloud PC to complete—only to find out that Windows 365 Boot failed due to network issues or incomplete setup? New smart logic now proactively informs you to resolve network issues or complete app setup so you can experience a smooth login to your Cloud PC.

Screenshot of a warning on the Windows login screen for setup issues.

Screenshot of notification on the Windows login screen when there are network issues trying to connect.

Manage local PC settings through Windows 365 Boot

With this feature, it's now easier for you to access and manage sound, display, and other device settings for your local PC directly from your Cloud PC in Windows 365 Boot.

Screenshot of a red box highlighting the Open local PC settings option while in Windows 365 Boot.

Improved disconnect experience for Windows 365 Switch

Now let's move on to new capabilities in Windows 365 Switch! You can now disconnect from your Cloud PC directly from the local PC. To do this, navigate to Local PC > Task view, right click on the Cloud PC button, and select Disconnect. We've also added tool tips that show on disconnect and sign out options in the Cloud PC Start menu so that you can easily differentiate this capability from other options.

Screenshot of the disconnect experience for a Cloud PC as shown in Task view.

Desktop indicators differentiate between Cloud PC and local PC for Windows 365 Switch

You'll now see the term "Cloud PC" and "Local PC" on the desktop indicator when you switch between your respective PCs.

Screenshot of the new Cloud PC or Local PC label on the desktop indicator.

Gracefully handling increased connection time for Windows 365 Switch to Frontline Cloud PCs

You'll now see updates regarding Cloud PC connection status and the connection timeout indicator while waiting on the connection screen. In case there's an error, you be able to copy the correlation ID using the new copy button in the error screen for quicker resolution.

Screenshot of text indicating the Connection status on the connection screen.

Want to experience these new features?

Please note that this is a Controlled Feature Release, meaning that the features outlined here will be rolling out to 100% of the population by the end of March 2024.

To deploy the Windows 365 Boot components to your Windows 11 endpoints with Microsoft Intune, you will need to meet the following requirements:

A quick refresher on Windows 365 Boot and Windows 365 Switch

The announcements above assume you are familiar with Windows 365 Boot, shared mode for Windows 365 Boot, and Windows 365 Switch. If these are new solutions for you, here's a summary of what they are—and how they can help you:

  • Windows 365 Boot Shared mode allows those with a PC running Windows 11, version 22H2 to log directly into their Windows 365 Cloud PC as the primary Windows experience on their device. When you power on your device, Windows 365 Boot will take you to your Windows 11 sign-in experience. After you log in, you will be connected to your Windows 365 Cloud PC with no additional steps. This is a great solution for shared devices where the goal is to log in with a unique user identity be taken directly to your personal and secure Cloud PC.
  • Windows 365 Switch provides the ability to easily move between a Windows 365 Cloud PC and the local desktop using familiar keyboard commands, as well as a mouse-click or a swipe gesture. Windows 365 Switch enables a seamless experience from within Windows 11 via the Task View feature. Windows 365 will be required at the endpoint, after which all relevant elements will show up automatically inside the Task view feature.

Share your feedback

Please provide feedback in the Feedback Hub by pressing Win + F and navigating to Desktop Environment > Switch to Cloud PC.

Learn more and get help

For a closer look at some of features discussed in the post, check out this episode of Windows in the Cloud: Unveiling new features: Windows 365 Boot for dedicated devices and more!

If you have questions, post them below, during Windows in the Cloud episodes, or join our monthly Windows 365 Ask Microsoft Anything (AMA) events here on the Tech Community!


Continue the conversation. Find best practices. Bookmark the Windows Tech Community, then follow us @MSWindowsITPro on X/Twitter. Looking for support? Visit Windows on Microsoft Q&A.

Updated Feb 29, 2024
Version 2.0
  • SuryBoom's avatar
    SuryBoom
    Brass Contributor

    Elina_Luthra - Also noticed an issue with Cloud Boot Dedicated. We use Cloud PCs and also Microsoft Dev Box. If someone has a Devbox, Cloud Boot will automatically launch their DevBox. It does not give an option to switch. Is there any fix for this?

  • Rduraisamy7's avatar
    Rduraisamy7
    Copper Contributor

    Hi OwaisWali It's same here for me as well! Based on what I heard so far, it's not available to everyone yet thus it fails.

     

    Other useful information: This configuration is still expecting Windows insider preview build instead of GA to work.

  • OwaisWali's avatar
    OwaisWali
    Copper Contributor

    Elina_Luthra We go through all the steps for dedicated cloud boot but some of our machines fail on the config.

     

    machines are compliant, have all the updates as they are available, are running 23h2.

  • SuryBoom's avatar
    SuryBoom
    Brass Contributor

    Elina_Luthra - Any outlook on enabling captive browser-based authentication? We are issuing this to a fleet of laptops and would be incredibly helpful seeing as a good chunk of our users attend conferences and need to join their wi-fi. I'm sure with Offline mode in the horizon, this would alleviate some of the issues, but just wanted to know if this is something you guys are looking at, or is it purposely disabled for security reasons?

     

    Again, thank you and @Derek_liu for your continued support. We are a heavy Windows 365 shop and are looking forward to continuing Cloud boot testing and any other new product you and your team are working on. Many thanks and hope to see you and your team at Ignite.

  • SuryBoom's avatar
    SuryBoom
    Brass Contributor

    Elina_Luthra  -  Thank you! That was what I was missing.

     

    We are excited to say it is working! Will keep everyone updated!

  • SuryBoom this release is a controlled feature release, meaning this will be available for everyone by end of March. If you want to try and get it earlier, you have to turn on the "get latest update" flag.

  • SuryBoom's avatar
    SuryBoom
    Brass Contributor

    Elina_Luthra  - Thank you for the update.

     

    Is this currently rolled out and working? I cannot get this to work on any device I enroll. I have tried on 2 devices so far, different models as well.

     

    On one device, after performing an autopilot reset, on the part that says download configurations, it stalls for about 1 hour and then says "Windows 365 Boot Failed." I am unable to get past the OOBE screen.

     

    On the second desktop, autopilot goes through, but it just takes me to the local windows desktop. I check Intune and I do not even see the Dedicated Cloud Boot policy being applied, even though it's assigned to the computer. It just doesn't appear under the devices Device Configuration. Is that a bug? I would think it would at least show me the config name and that it failed, but it shows not even being applied to the device. I can confirm that the device is getting the intune apps that are associated with Dedicated Cloud Boot, it just does not get the configuration policy at all (also confirmed config policy has the group assigned).

     

    It's very confusing as I have rolled out the public preview of dedicated cloud boot on these devices and they were working normally with the public preview. 

    Can confirm device is no longer on Windows 11 Dev as I wiped the device to Windows 11 Pro. 

     

    Please let me know if you have any insight.