Microsoft just paused its free trial of Windows 365 because of ‘unbelievable’ demand | ZDNet

Microsoft’s new Windows 365 Cloud PC service has attracted so much interest in the trial version that the company has now run out of servers to support trial signups. 

Microsoft has now paused the Windows 365 trial program until it boosts capacity, according to Scott Manchester, director of program management for Microsoft’s Windows 365 team. 

The Windows 365 trial was made available this week along with the general availability release of its newest Cloud PC offering, which is based on Azure Virtual Desktop. 

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Microsoft, however, is still inviting interested users in signing up for the trial to be notified when more capacity becomes available. The other option is to buy it. 

“We have seen unbelievable response to #Windows365 and need to pause our free trial program while we provision additional capacity. Sign up below to get notified when trials resume,” wrote Manchester. 

Microsoft’s page for Windows 365 contains a similar message: “Following significant demand, we have reached capacity for Windows 365 trials. Sign up to receive a notification when trials resume or buy today.”

Microsoft offered fans a free two-month trial of Windows 365 Basic, Standard or Premium. Once the free trial ends, subscriptions automatically convert to paid unless users take action to stop this.

With Windows 365 reaching general availability, Microsoft released pricing details too, which range from $24 to $162 per user per month, based on cores, RAM and storage. 

Windows 365 is a remote-desktop solution that complements Azure Virtual Desktop, which lets users bring Windows 10 and Windows 11 (after it’s released in fall) environments to work and personal devices, including PCs, Macs, iPads, Linux and Android devices. 

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The entry-level Windows 365 configuration includes 1 virtual CPU (vCPU), 2GB of RAM and 64 GB of storage. At the high end, Windows 365 is available with 8 vCPU, 32 GB of RAM and 512 GB of storage. 

Windows 365 for Business supports Cloud PCs for up to 300 users across an organization, while Windows 365 for Enterprise supports an unlimited number of users.