They agree that Cloud is most likely meant to take on Chromebooks

Microsoft is allowing serious buyers to try a Surface Hub before committing to its purchase, but only through resellers

If this build is authentic, it raises some interesting questions about Microsoft’s unconfirmed version of Windows.

Microsoft’s mysterious Windows Cloud is supposedly a stripped-down version of Microsoft’s operating system that runs only Windows Store apps. Microsoft’s not commenting, but an early build that leaked over the weekend appears to be authentic and gives further tantalizing hints of what the company may have in mind.

Windows Cloud intrigues Microsoft watchers because of its uncanny resemblance to Windows RT, Microsoft’s failed ARM-based platform. It, too, could only run Windows Store apps, plus desktop versions of Internet Explorer and Microsoft Office. There are numerous reasons why RT never succeeded, but the gist is there weren’t enough apps and nobody wanted to run a hobbled PC.

Why this matters: If there’s one thing Microsoft hates, it’s watching another company make gains in the space it dominates: PCs. For that reason, the company needs to dislodge Google’s dominant foothold in the education market with its Chromebooks. But Chromebooks started as minimally capable computers and have added features over time. It’s hard to say whether people will be any more accepting of a pared-down Windows than they were before.

It only runs Windows Store apps, but…

The idea behind running Windows Store apps only is that a Windows Cloud machine can be more easily managed, like a Chromebook. If you remove Win32 (traditional desktop) apps, you get greater security and control because users can only turn to web apps or the Windows Store.

But this might not be the whole truth behind Windows Cloud. Brad Sams at Thurrott.com ran the leaked build of Cloud on an x86-based virtual machine. (You’d be crazy to run a leaked build on bare metal, so it’s understandable to see him run it in a VM.)

Regardless, it’s clear that Windows Cloud (at least right now) can run on x86 processors. If that holds true for the official release, then there’s no reason it couldn’t run Win32 apps save for an artificial limitation put there by Microsoft.

Interestingly, MSPowerUser said it was able to download, but not run, Win32 apps that were in the Windows Store via Project Centennial.

There’s an upgrade path to Windows 10 Pro

Writing at Petri.com (the parent site to Thurrott.com), the same Brad Sams discovered there’s an upgrade path built into the leaked build to go from Windows Cloud to Windows 10 Pro. That further supports the notion that Cloud will appear on at least some x86 hardware. It’s also possible there could be upgrades to other versions of Windows in an official release.

If Windows Cloud offers upgrades, then this is a serious mash-up of the ghosts of Windows past—the second coming of Windows RT plus Windows Starter Edition. Windows Starter Editions were versions of Windows from XP to 7 that were stripped-down and simplified for netbooks (sound familiar?). They also included an upgrade path to Windows Home or other versions via the Windows Anytime Upgrade.

The odd thing is that if Windows Cloud is supposed to be a Chromebook competitor, why the upgrade path? Moving to Windows 10 Home or Pro defeats the point of a simplified operating system that is easier to manage. Plus, doesn’t this suggest Microsoft will advertise upgrades to Windows Cloud users? Yuck.

A Windows Store-only PC also is locked into Microsoft’s Edge browser, which lacks the popularity of Google’s Chrome browser, with its vast extensions and app catalog. That’s like bringing a wet sponge to gun fight.

Can the Windows Store take on Google Play?

This last point is more of a general question about Windows Cloud than anything we’ve learned from the leaks. A Windows Cloud machine has to rely on the anemic Windows Store. Meanwhile, its competitor Chromebooks, which were struggling to accumulate Chrome native apps, are about to gain a huge advantage. Google recently confirmed that all Chromebooks from 2017 and beyond will be able to run Android apps via the Play Store.

Microsoft might have an advantage with productivity features like digital inking and possibly Cortana, but as we’ve seen before when it comes down to apps, the better store always wins.

By Ian Paul, source by NetworkWorld

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Microsoft is building new analytics tools to help companies better manage small and virtual teams

Microsoft is making a strong push toward building tools for human capital management (HCM). Perhaps best considered a replacement for older-generation human resources tools like PeopleSoft, HCM blends traditional HR features with new analytics tooling to help organizations understand more about their employees.

The Office Graph (as shown in Office 365’s Delve), for understanding social networks inside your organization, is one such example, while other HCM tools take advantage of platforms like Dynamics to develop models around resource requirements and productivity.

There’s a lot of data in our business systems that can promote efficiency and help find the best teams for tackling various business initiatives, and mixing query graphs across platforms combines information sources to answer what can often be complex questions. Adding LinkedIn’s social network to Microsoft’s existing tooling could help with a key aspect of HCM: talent management. Finding new ways to build teams, especially where a significant part of the workforce is freelance, can give businesses a significant advantage over its competition.

StaffHub is one such Microsoft tool aimed at HCM. Replacing what had been ad-hoc paper-based solutions with services that can capture the implicit data in a small team, StaffHub is a simple, powerful tool for smaller organizations that can greatly improve the productivity of your staff. With the rise of virtual and contingent workforces, it may find an effective place in the enterprise as well.

StaffHub: Scheduling plus

Microsoft first announced StaffHub in September 2016, with the public preview of its tool for frontline workers. Last week it finally went into general availability as a new feature in a wide set of Office 365 subscriptions: K1, E1, E3, and E5. It helps provide scheduling and shared files, as well as links to key back-office applications, to users who don’t have PCs.

StaffHub is best thought of as the electronic equivalent of the workboards you see in many businesses where IT isn’t really part of the day-to-day operations. Take a look behind the door at a coffee shop and you’ll see them, covered in staff schedules and printouts of policies and announcements from headquarters. They’re where a lot of work gets done, deciding who gets what shift and what break, as well as informing staff of new offers and new products.

Much of the underlying technology in StaffHub comes out of existing Office 365 features. The scheduler is a combination of a calendar and a planner, while the file sharing tools are a fresh look and feel on top of a SharePoint-based OneDrive store. Links to external applications are delivered via PowerApps, and StaffHub teams themselves are based on the same Office 365 Groups that underpin Microsoft Teams.

Starting with StaffHub

Admins get access to a StaffHub admin page to seed teams, link in applications, and deliver documents. Users log into the website and get the option of downloading either an Android or iOS app by clicking on a link that’s texted to them as part of the registration process, which can even be used to automatically provision new Office 365 users.

The app is likely to be how most users interact with the service, as it lets users see their schedules and make changes. Once a schedule has been defined, it can be published and emailed to all team members, and users can make requests for time off or swap shifts with colleagues.

One useful feature is the ability to add notes to a shift, so staff can see what managers expect from the day — for example, if a bar is expected to be busy because of a big game. Notes can also be used to remind staff about new product lines and special offers. In addition, staff can quickly message each other, arranging breaks or letting each other know about regular customers.

There’s no direct back-end link into Microsoft systems yet, though a private beta adds links to the Kronos HR suite, and Microsoft has indicated that further integration points will be made available in the future. There’s also a very basic export feature that lets you take data from StaffHub as CSV files, while linking StaffHub to PowerApp endpoints gives you a quick way of collecting data directly from users and bringing it into your line-of-business services.

Tools for flexible workforces

If StaffHub sounds like fodder for the food services industry alone, think again.

Adam Warby, the CEO of IT consultancy Avanade, talks about bringing together pools of talent; associate networks of people that simplify the task of finding the right resources from inside and outside the company. HCM tools will work here as part of a more flexible workforce, where it’s the network of talent that matters more than the employer. By providing a cloud meeting place for information and scheduling, StaffHub can help bring together these virtual teams without requiring significant IT infrastructure, building a workspace for a project and tearing it down when it’s no longer needed.

HCM is an interesting space for Microsoft to explore. It’s controversial in its focus on the ad-hoc gig economy and flexible work at one end of the scale, but able to support more complex business models for freelance professionals at the other. Some of Microsoft’s experiments, like the GigJam collaboration platform, haven’t been successful, while others, like Delve Analytics and Planner, have shown considerable promise.

The key here is that Microsoft is putting a cloud-based integration layer across its services, using its PowerApps development framework to link new experiences like StaffHub to Office 365 features like Groups and to the services built into its Dynamics platform, as well as to other third-party tools and APIs. StaffHub may not do everything you want yet, but it’s another pointer to the importance of the Office Graph and Office 365 in Microsoft’s enterprise strategy.

By Simon Bisson, source by InfoWorld

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