Windows 365 For Dummies

Shift your PC to the cloud and liberate yourself from your desk

Microsoft’s newest cloud-based operating system allows you to access your PC from any device. Windows 365 For Dummies teaches you the ins and outs of this game-changing OS. You’ll learn how to make the most of Windows 365—get your work done, share documents and data, monitor storage space, and do it all with increased security. Oh, and did we mention you can do it from literally anywhere? Dummies will help you wrap your mind around cloud computing with Windows 365, so you can pick up with your files, data, and settings right where you left off, no matter where you are.

• Learn what a cloud PC is so you can access, edit, and share files from any device—even Apple devices
• Free yourself from the constraints of a physical computer and make work more flexible
• Ease the transition to Windows 365—get going with this new OS right away
• Discover powerful productivity-enhancing features and collaboration tools

This is the perfect Dummies guide for anyone moving to Windows 365 who needs to learn just what makes a cloud PC so unique and how to take advantage of all it offers.

Rosemarie Withee is the president of Portal Integrators and founder of Scrum Now. Rosemarie is the author of Microsoft Teams For Dummies and other Dummies titles.

Ken Withee works for Microsoft and is part of the Azure team. Previously, he was a SharePoint consultant, and he has authored several books on Microsoft products.

Introduction 1

About This Book 2

Foolish Assumptions 3

Icons Used in This Book 3

Beyond the Book 4

Where to Go from Here 4

Part 1: Windows 365 Isn’t the Windows You Grew Up With 5

Chapter 1: Getting Familiar with the Future of Windows 7

Meeting the Cloud PC 7

No, really, what is Windows 365? 9

Looking at a real-world example 10

Always on, always available, and just how you left it 11

How Windows 365 Differs from Previous Windows 12

Jumping off the upgrade merry-go-round 13

Keeping your knowledge and moving to the cloud 14

Building a Mental Model of a Cloud PC 15

Freeing up Administrators and Information Technology Teams 16

Getting Comfortable with Microsoft Branding 17

Questions (and Answers) Likely on Your Mind 18

Chapter 2: Wrangling Requirements for Windows 365 21

Figuring Out the Requirements Big Picture 21

Making Sure Your Physical Device Makes the Grade 22

Plugging into the Online World 25

Windows 365 Business versus Windows 365 Enterprise Requirements 27

Understanding Subscription and Account Requirements 28

Checking Whether Your Geographic Region Is Supported (Yet) 28

Chapter 3: Getting Up and Running With Windows 365 29

Up and Running with Windows 365 in Five Minutes Flat 30

Signing up for Microsoft 365 30

Signing up for Windows 365 33

Assigning yourself a license to your new cloud PC 37

Finding the Windows 365 Administration Center 38

Signing In to Your New Cloud PC 39

Chapter 4: Do More with the Windows 365 Client App 43

Getting Familiar with the Windows 365 Remote Desktop Client Application 43

Installing the Windows 365 Client on Windows 45

Installing the Microsoft Remote Desktop for Mac 51

Installing the Windows 365 Client on your iPhone or iPad 54

Installing the Windows 365 Client on Your Android Phone or Tablet 57

Chapter 5: One Desktop from Any Device 61

Performing a Reality Check on Your New Cloud PC 62

Opening Your Cloud PC from a Web Browser 62

Making your cloud PC feel like it is running locally 65

Benefits of using your web browser 67

Opening the Windows 365 Remote Desktop Client 67

Web Browser vs the Windows 365 Remote Desktop Client 70

Using Your Phone in a Pinch (pun intended) 71

Peeking under the Covers of Your Cloud PC 73

Windows Hybrid: Keeping a Foot in Each World 74

Part 2: Getting the Most Out of Windows 365 77

Chapter 6: Personalizing Your Desktop 79

Finding the Best Place to Start 79

Taking a trip around your desktop 81

Getting comfortable with the Start menu and the Taskbar 83

Staying informed with notifications 84

Making Your Desktop Your Own 86

Picking a memorable background 86

Selecting a theme to match your personality 88

Customizing the Start menu to increase your productivity 89

Security Habits Worth Adopting 91

Chapter 7: Expanding the Reach of Your Cloud PC 93

Introducing Your Cloud PC to Your Peripherals 94

How your cloud PC views peripheral devices 95

Putting type to paper with printing 98

Using a USB drive with your cloud PC, aka sneaker-net 99

Working with Your Cloud PC from Your Tablet or Phone 100

Traveling with Your Cloud PC 100

Your physical computer as a gateway to your cloud PC 101

Keeping your meetings organized across time zones 102

Chapter 8: Digging into Software Applications in Windows 365 107

Discovering Programs Already Installed on Your Cloud PC 108

Finding our dear friends, the Office apps 108

Using Media Player to view videos 110

Content-generation apps 111

Oldie but goodie apps 114

Getting Comfortable with Apps on Your Physical Computer versus Your Cloud Computer 114

Finding and Installing Software on Your Cloud PC 116

Installing apps from the store 116

Installing Apps from Other Sources 118

Cleaning Up and Uninstalling Apps 120

Part 3: Getting Work Done with Microsoft 365 123

Chapter 9: Working with Documents and Folders 125

Finding Microsoft Office 126

Creating a new Excel spreadsheet from the Office app 127

Working in full-screen mode when creating a new document 129

Saving a document 131

Copying and pasting 131

Closing a document 132

Getting Familiar with Windows in Windows 365 133

Looking at Files and Folders 133

Moving and copying files 134

Creating folders 135

Organizing files 135

Sharing documents with others 137

Deleting and recovering documents and folders 137

Getting files from your physical computer to your cloud PC 138

Getting Comfortable with Backups in the Metaverse 140

Making sure you don’t lose work 141

Keeping your cloud PC safe and backed up 141

Chapter 10: Using Microsoft Teams to Stay Connected 143

Wrapping Your Head around Microsoft Teams 144

Getting Familiar with Teams Terminology 146

Getting Started with the Teams App 147

Taking a Quick Spin around Teams 147

Activity 148

Chat 149

Teams 149

Calendar 150

Calls 151

Files 151

Instant Messaging in Teams 152

Sending Messages in Channels 154

Creating a New Channel 154

Configuring a Channel 157

Adding Moderators 161

Moving from a Channel to a Chat 162

Starting a Private Chat 162

Adding Multiple People to a Chat 163

Giving a Chat a Title 164

Pinning a Chat to the Top of the List 164

Sending More Than Text When Chatting 165

Adding a File 165

Chapter 11: Managing Content with SharePoint and OneDrive 167

Finding SharePoint in Microsoft 365 168

Exploring Your SharePoint Team Site 171

Finding your way around 172

Uploading documents 173

Sharing your team site 174

Requesting a SharePoint Site 176

Getting Your Documents into SharePoint 177

Uploading a single document 177

Uploading multiple documents 177

Sharing Your Documents 179

Recovering Deleted Documents 180

Uploading Documents into a Folder 181

Saving Stuff with OneDrive 183

Creating or Uploading Documents in Your OneDrive 184

Discovering How SharePoint and Teams Work Together 185

Chapter 12: Getting the Most Out of Microsoft 365 187

Taking a Spin around Your Microsoft 365 Subscription 188

Rediscovering an Old Friend in Microsoft Office 189

Learning about Common Microsoft 365 Apps 190

Finding Control with the Power Platform 192

Creating Apps across the Microsoft Cloud with Power Apps 193

Introducing Power Apps 193

Signing into Power Apps 193

Getting familiar with Power Apps 194

Building your first Power App 196

Sharing your PowerApp 199

Building Workflows with Power Automate 200

Understanding Workflow 200

Introducing Microsoft Power Automate 201

Signing into Microsoft Power Automate 201

Getting familiar with Power Automate 201

Building your first flow 204

Part 4: Maintaining Your System 209

Chapter 13: Keeping Your System and Apps Up to Date 211

Learning Your Way around Windows Update 211

Diving into Advanced Options 213

Keeping all Microsoft software updated 213

Taking a look at additional options 215

Understanding the Windows Insider Program 219

Keeping All Your Software Apps Updated 220

Chapter 14: Staying Safe in a Virtual World 221

Keeping Track of Your Account and Credentials 222

Finding your account settings 222

Adding an additional Microsoft 365 account to your cloud PC 224

Managing Windows Credentials with Credential Manager 226

Credentials in your web browser 227

Credentials on your physical device versus your cloud PC 228

Changing your photo icon on your cloud PC 230

Using the Windows Security App 231

Getting Familiar with Security Best Practices 233

Staying in Sync with Backups 234

Advanced Security with Windows 365 Enterprise 235

Chapter 15: Troubleshooting When Windows Won’t Cooperate 237

Working through Problems with the Setup Process 238

Azure Active Directory limits adding new devices 238

Multifactor authentication causes problems 238

Figuring Out Why You Can’t Connect to Your Cloud PC 240

An Easy Solution to Problems with Your Physical Device 242

Keeping Up to Date with Known Issues 243

Recovering Deleted Files 243

Rebooting a Cloud PC 246

Finding Help within Your Cloud PC 247

Crashing in the Cloud 248

Resetting Your Cloud PC 249

Restoring Your Cloud PC to an Earlier State 250

Part 5: Implementation and Administration for Organizations 253

Chapter 16: Getting Comfortable with Networking in a Cloud-First World 255

Getting Familiar with Computer Networks 256

Networking is all about sending messages 256

Making messages reliable 257

Sending and receiving messages to and from your cloud PC 258

Creating a Local Network 259

Peering into the Internet 259

Taking a Look at the Microsoft Network 260

Viewing Networking from Your Cloud PC Point of View 261

Chapter 17: Moving Forward into the Future of Windows 263

Deciding Whether Embracing a Cloud PC Strategy Is Right for Your Organization 264

Sprinting into Windows 365 264

Determining your goals 265

Gathering any required approvals 266

Confirming requirements for physical devices 266

Checking everyone’s Internet connectivity 267

Checking the status of Microsoft 365 in your organization 268

Figuring out licensing 268

Create everyone’s cloud PC 270

Have a “sign in” party 270

Change the look and feel to make environments less confusing 271

Move everyone into their new cloud PC 271

Keeping an eye on new features 271

Some Tips for Enterprises 272

Chapter 18: Unleashing Your Inner Administrator 273

Getting a Handle on Cloud PC Management 274

Finding and exploring the Windows 365 administration center 274

Taking a look at the Microsoft 365 administration center 278

Digging into the heart of Microsoft services with Azure administration 279

Discovering administration centers for SharePoint and Teams 280

Manage Cloud PCs from the Cloud 282

Getting Help from Microsoft 283

Keeping Windows 365 Business and Enterprise Plans in Mind 283

Part 6: The Part of Tens 285

Chapter 19: Ten Reasons Windows 365 Is the Future OS 287

Microsoft Is Committed to a Cloud-First World 287

The Same Thing Happened with Office 288

Windows Needs to Be Cloud-First to Provide the Value We Expect in the Future 289

Security Is More Important Now Than Ever 290

Mundane IT Tasks Can Be Removed 290

Improved Efficiency by Having a Single Computer Accessible from Anywhere 291

The State of the Computer and Your Work Are Always as You Left Them 291

Basic Computer Hardware Is Becoming a Commodity 292

Internet Connections Are Improving Globally 293

People Are Distributed and Will Interact and Interface Through the Metaverse 293

Chapter 20: Top Ten Reasons to Convince Your Boss to Move to Windows 365 295

You Have Embraced the Post-Covid World and Your Physical Location Isn’t Tied to the Office 296

You Want to Be Your Most Productive Self and If That Means Doing a Little Bit of Work on Your iPad While the Kids Are Doing Homework, Then So Be It 296

You Want Your IT People to Help You with More Important Things, Like How to Use the Company ERP Software 297

You Don’t Want to Lose Your Work Again by Spilling Coffee or Water on Your Keyboard 298

Microsoft, Not Your Boss, Is Responsible for Your PC Now 299

You Really Prefer Using a Mac Even Though Windows Is Used at Work 300

You Need to Use Your Laptop When on the Move and You Want to Still Be Productive by Accessing Your Work Computer 300

You Won’t Have to Bug Your Boss with Ordering a New Computer Every Few Years 301

Your Boss Will Get the Benefits of a Cloud PC Too So They Might Want to Convince Their Boss 301

Your Boss Can Offload the Risk of the Computer to Microsoft 302

Index 303

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