Windows 10 Cloud – Microsoft’s Answer to Chromebooks?

Microsoft aims to dominate in as many sectors as possible, and this is why it has such a wide array of products. Its current crop of PC products compete right from the high end Macbook Pro to the lowest Chromebooks. In fact, to take on this low end version, Microsoft has released a new operating system called Windows 10 Cloud. This new OS comes after multiple failed attempts in the form of Windows RT and Windows 8.1 with Bing, both of which didn’t take customers away from Chromebook or Macbook.

At this point, not much is known about Windows 10 Cloud, as Microsoft has decided to maintain a veil of secrecy around it. Some reports however suggest that this new operating system can be a simplified version of Windows 10, possibly one that could run only on Unified Windows Platform (UWP) apps installed from the Windows store. In this sense, it could be similar to the earlier ones – Windows RT or Windows 8.1 with Bing. Hopefully soon, we’ll get to know how similar or different it is from its earlier operating systems.

One thing that’s for sure is that Windows 10 Cloud has little or nothing to do with cloud. The name is misleading, and maybe with an intent to make users guess about its connection with Azure. Or it could be to keep tune with Microsoft’s policy of “cloud first.” A look into Microsoft’s latest earnings show that much of the profits are driven by the company’s cloud business, and maybe this name could reflect the rapid transition that Microsoft is making to become the leader in cloud computing.

Another theory is that this operating system will rely on Microsoft’s cloud services when using the hardware that ships with this OS. In other words, it means Office 365 for productivity, Bing for search engine, Cortana for help and OneDrive for storage. On top of it, Microsoft is expected to bundle its key services as default, including Bing, with an intent to keep customers within its own ecosystem of products and services.

Reports of this new operating system has been found by Windows sleuths and experts when they browsed through the latest builds. From these log files, we can make an intelligent guess about the due date, which could be on or before April 2017. Alternately, it can also be shipped along with the second planned update to Windows 10, that is expected to roll out later this year.

So, what is it that Microsoft wants to achieve through this product? Obviously, it wants to capture the lower end of the PC market, and want users to take to its product over Chromebooks. Experts opine that this is highly unlikely given that Chromebooks is already quite popular among people, and unless Microsoft offers something extraordinary in its Windows 10 Cloud, such a shift is unlikely.

Currently, reports show that Microsoft may either reduce the price of its Windows 10 Cloud systems or it may provide additional features such as a larger display for the same cost.

The post Windows 10 Cloud – Microsoft’s Answer to Chromebooks? appeared first on Cloud News Daily.

Dropbox makes Paper generally available and hits billion-dollar revenue milestone

(c)iStock.com/KIVILCIM PINAR

Cloud storage firm Dropbox has announced two new products focusing on cross-platform storage and collaboration, as well as revealing it has become the fastest software as a service (SaaS) vendor to hit the $1 billion revenue run rate threshold.

According to various reports, Dropbox CEO Drew Houston announced the financial milestone at an event in San Francisco earlier this week. Fastest of course does not mean first; the company has a way to go before it catches up with the likes of Salesforce, who announced its first billion-dollar quarter back in 2013, but Dropbox becomes one of only five companies to achieve the feat.

The new products, as detailed in a company blog post, are Smart Sync – formerly Dropbox Infinite – which aims to provide the industry’s first on-demand, cross-platform cloud storage offering, and the long trailed general availability of Dropbox Paper, a collaborative tool which was launched in open beta as far back as August.

“We’re redesigning Dropbox to be fundamentally designed for teams,” said Houston in a statement. “We’re reinventing sync, bringing a modern collaboration experience to all your files, and launching Paper, a new way to work together that goes beyond the document…and we’re building this all on top of a strong business foundation.”

Dropbox said users in more than 200 countries and territories had created documents in Paper, totalling in the millions, while the product was in beta. Other recently released features in Paper include a presentation mode, improved search functionality, and mobile folder functionality on iOS and Android. With Smart Sync, Dropbox ‘becomes a centrally manageable, secure hub for teams to work together on all their files,’ according to the press materials.

“Team members gain full visibility and unprecedented access to their entire Dropbox right from their desktop file system, no matter how large,” the company added.

According to Business Insider, Dropbox is ‘not in any rush’ to go public; the company continues to be at the forefront of articles of rumoured 2017 IPOs. Dropbox was ranked as the second most influential private company leading cloud computing last year by Forbes, behind Slack and ahead of DocuSign.

Dropbox makes Paper generally available and hits billion-dollar revenue milestone

(c)iStock.com/KIVILCIM PINAR

Cloud storage firm Dropbox has announced two new products focusing on cross-platform storage and collaboration, as well as revealing it has become the fastest software as a service (SaaS) vendor to hit the $1 billion revenue run rate threshold.

According to various reports, Dropbox CEO Drew Houston announced the financial milestone at an event in San Francisco earlier this week. Fastest of course does not mean first; the company has a way to go before it catches up with the likes of Salesforce, who announced its first billion-dollar quarter back in 2013, but Dropbox becomes one of only five companies to achieve the feat.

The new products, as detailed in a company blog post, are Smart Sync – formerly Dropbox Infinite – which aims to provide the industry’s first on-demand, cross-platform cloud storage offering, and the long trailed general availability of Dropbox Paper, a collaborative tool which was launched in open beta as far back as August.

“We’re redesigning Dropbox to be fundamentally designed for teams,” said Houston in a statement. “We’re reinventing sync, bringing a modern collaboration experience to all your files, and launching Paper, a new way to work together that goes beyond the document…and we’re building this all on top of a strong business foundation.”

Dropbox said users in more than 200 countries and territories had created documents in Paper, totalling in the millions, while the product was in beta. Other recently released features in Paper include a presentation mode, improved search functionality, and mobile folder functionality on iOS and Android. With Smart Sync, Dropbox ‘becomes a centrally manageable, secure hub for teams to work together on all their files,’ according to the press materials.

“Team members gain full visibility and unprecedented access to their entire Dropbox right from their desktop file system, no matter how large,” the company added.

According to Business Insider, Dropbox is ‘not in any rush’ to go public; the company continues to be at the forefront of articles of rumoured 2017 IPOs. Dropbox was ranked as the second most influential private company leading cloud computing last year by Forbes, behind Slack and ahead of DocuSign.

Parallels will be at Mac Admin & Developer Conference in London

Parallels to sponsor Mac Admin & Developer Conference (MacADUK 2017) in London this year and we look forward to seeing you at our stand. Our Senior System Engineer, Robert Rengstl will also give a speech on 8th of February: When?  7th – 8th February 2017 Where? The O2 London, United Kingdom – Foyer Speaker Slot? Senior System Engineer Robert Rengstl – Day 2, […]

The post Parallels will be at Mac Admin & Developer Conference in London appeared first on Parallels Blog.

How to Use Microsoft Ink in Windows 10 on a Mac

Parallels Desktop 12 Update 1 adds even greater support for Microsoft Ink. (You can read an overview of Ink on the Mac here.) In earlier blog posts, I have focused on the use of Ink in the Office for Windows 2016 applications (Word, Excel, etc.). In this blog post, I will specifically discuss the uses […]

The post How to Use Microsoft Ink in Windows 10 on a Mac appeared first on Parallels Blog.

[session] Is SaaS Dead? By @stackArmor | @CloudExpo #SaaS #Cloud #Serverless

Both SaaS vendors and SaaS buyers are going “all-in” to hyperscale IaaS platforms such as AWS, which is disrupting the SaaS value proposition. Why should the enterprise SaaS consumer pay for the SaaS service if their data is resident in adjacent AWS S3 buckets? If both SaaS sellers and buyers are using the same cloud tools, automation and pay-per-transaction model offered by IaaS platforms, then why not host the “shrink-wrapped” software in the customers’ cloud? Further, serverless computing, cloud marketplaces and DevOps are changing the economics of hosting and delivering software.

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The Path to Your Future | @CloudExpo #AI #ML #Cloud #DigitalTransformation

In 2016, cloud computing started to dominate many IT market segments. As a business, Synergy Research Group reported that industry revenue for the four quarters ended Sept. 30 grew 25%. Operator and vendor revenue for six segments of cloud computing reached $148 billion during that period, with spending on private clouds accounting for over half the total but spending on the public cloud growing much more rapidly. As more and more companies are taking advantage of the benefits of moving to cloud services, there is a significant need for IT professionals to gain the skills needed to successfully use and implement a wide range of cloud services, making typical vendor-focused training solutions less valuable.

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[session] The App Architecture Revolution By @EmboticsCorp | @CloudExpo #Cloud #Microservices

In his session at 20th Cloud Expo, Scott Davis, CTO of Embotics, will discuss how automation can provide the dynamic management required to cost-effectively deliver microservices and container solutions at scale. He will discuss how flexible automation is the key to effectively bridging and seamlessly coordinating both IT and developer needs for component orchestration across disparate clouds – an increasingly important requirement at today’s multi-cloud enterprise.

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The End Game of Digital Transformation | @CloudExpo #IoT #M2M #Cloud

Digital transformation requires participants to have a vision for and understanding of what they are trying to achieve and why. In fact, the lack of a clear digital strategy is the second biggest mistake companies make in digital transformation, right behind moving too slowly, according to the middle managers we surveyed. Digital strategies, however, should evolve out of a documented, enterprise-focused digital transformation “doctrine.”

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Announcing @DCDnews Named “Media Sponsor” of @CloudExpo NY | #Cloud #DataCenter

SYS-CON Events announced today that Data Center Dynamics has been named “Media Sponsor” of SYS-CON’s 20th International Cloud Expo, which will take place on June 6–8, 2017, at the Javits Center in New York City, NY.
DCD is a global B2B events and media company, delivering unmatched insight and networking, to help the professionals driving the data center scale IT infrastructure sector to make better strategic and operational decisions.

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