Introduction
Windows 365 is Microsoft’s Cloud PC solution, bringing the full Windows experience to any device via the cloud. Whether you’re an IT admin exploring modern deployment strategies or a business looking to simplify endpoint management, Windows 365 offers a scalable and secure way to deliver desktops to users.
In this beginner-friendly post, we’ll walk through the essentials of getting started with Windows 365. We’ll begin with a brief overview of what Windows 365 is, compare the Business and Enterprise editions, and outline the key requirements to start your deployment journey. Finally, we’ll dive into a hands-on demo showing how to configure and provision your first Cloud PC using Microsoft Intune.
If you want to know more details on Windows 365, make sure you check out the website from Microsoft here.
Licensing
Windows 365 is available in three editions: Windows 365 Business, Windows 365 Enterprise, and Windows 365 Frontline. All these types offer a Cloud PC experience, but they are designed for different organizational needs. Windows 365 Business is ideal for small to medium-sized companies that want a simple, streamlined way to provision Cloud PCs without requiring complex infrastructure or licensing. Windows 365 Enterprise/Frontline, on the other hand, is tailored for larger organizations that need advanced management capabilities, integration with Microsoft Intune, and support for custom networking and security configurations. Choosing the right edition depends on your IT environment, user scale, and management preferences.
Comparison
To help you choose the right edition of Windows 365 for your organization, I’ve outlined the key differences between Windows 365 Business, Windows 365 Enterprise, and Windows 365 Frontline. The table below highlights how each version is tailored to different environments, ranging from small businesses seeking simplicity to enterprises requiring advanced management and integration capabilities.
| Feature | Business | Enterprise | Frontline |
|---|---|---|---|
| Seat cap | ≤ 300 users | Unlimited | Pooled model (up to 3 users per license) |
| Management / Security | Entra ID only, no Intune/GPO | Full Intune, Group Policy, custom images | Same as Enterprise |
| Provisioning | Automatic via Microsoft-managed network | Custom via admin/VNet | Similar to Enterprise-based provisioning |
| Hybrid/domain join | Entra ID only | Entra ID, Hybrid AD, Azure AD + VNet | Enterprise-level support |
| Use cases | Freelancers, SMEs, contractors | Knowledge workers, IT-managed organizations | Shift-based or occasional workers |
| Pricing structure | Per user/month (vCPU/RAM/Storage) | Per user/month + existing licensing bundles | Per pooled license/month for up to 3 users |
Configuration
Microsoft 365 admin center
First, we need to assign our Windows 365 Enterprise license to our user. You can do this in various ways, either manually or with a license-based group. Please note that you must create a separate group for each Windows 365 license SKU. In this example, we will assign the license manually.
Go to the Microsoft 365 admin center | Users | Active Users and select your user. Then go to the Licenses and apps blade, assign the Windows 365 Enterprise license, and choose Save changes. Your license is now assigned.
Microsoft Entra ID
User Group
Next, we need to create a Microsoft Entra ID group for our Windows 365 Licensed user. Go to the Microsoft Entra admin center | Entra ID | Groups, and choose New group.
Create a group with the following details:
- Group type: Security
- Group name: WIN – USR – Windows 365 Enterprise Users
- Group description: This group contains users with an active Windows 365 Enterprise license
- Microsoft Entra roles can be assigned to the group: No
- Membership type: Assigned
Make sure you add our licensed user as a member to this new group, and choose Create. Our group is now ready to use.
INFORMATION: I kept the license assignment very simple and manual because I only have one license for this environment. In an environment where you have multiple SKUs for Windows 365, I recommend looking into Group-Based Licensing. More information can be found here on the Microsoft website.
Device Group
Like our physical devices, we can manage our Cloud PC with Microsoft Intune, which means we can assign compliance policies, configuration policies, and applications to it.
Assignment can be done with either a user group or a device group. A user group we already created, so let’s create a dynamic device group.
Go to Microsoft Entra admin center | Groups and choose New group, and choose the settings below. Then choose Create:
- Group type: Security
- Group name: CPC – WIN – All Cloud PCs
- Group description: This group contains all Cloud PCs
- Microsoft Entra roles can be assigned to the group: No
- Membership type: Dynamic Device
- Dynamic device query: (device.deviceModel -startsWith “Cloud PC”)
Now that we have our groups, let’s get our Cloud PC provisioned with Microsoft Intune.
Microsoft Intune
Now comes the fun part: provisioning our new Cloud PC with Microsoft Intune.
Go to the Microsoft Intune admin center | Devices | Device onboarding | Windows 365 and choose the All Cloud PCs blade. You’ll notice that there is a “Not provisioned” Cloud PC ready for our user.
If no licenses are assigned, you’ll notice that there are no Cloud PCs available for pre-provisioning
Next, we will create our provisioning policy. Go to the Provisioning policies blade and choose Create policy.
In the Create a provisioning policy screen, choose the following and then choose Next.
- Name: CPC – WIN365 – Provisioning
- Description: This policy controls the automated provisioning of Windows 365 Cloud PCs by specifying the image, network, region, and user assignment settings.
- Experience: Access a full Cloud PC desktop
- License type: Enterprise (if you have a Frontline license, make sure you choose Frontline)
- Join type: Microsoft Entra join
- Network: Microsoft Hosted network
- Geography: Europe
- Region groups/regions: All region groups and regions selected (this only applies to regions based on your choice of geography)
- Use Microsoft Entra single sign-on: Check
At the Image blade, we can choose between Gallery Image and a Custom image. In this procedure we choose Gallery image. Now choose Selected. Let’s go for the Windows 11 Enterprise + Microsoft 365 Apps version 25H2 and choose Select.
After selecting the image type, choose Next.
In the Configuration blade, choose the following:
- Language & Region: English (United States)
- Apply device name template: Check
- Enter a name template: CPC-%RAND:5%
We will skip the Windows Autopilot & Windows Autopatch options for now; we will discuss them in detail in upcoming blog posts. Choose Next and skip Scope Tags.
In the assignment blade, we are going to assign our provisioning policy to our created user group. Assign the user group and choose Next.
Review the settings and choose Create.
The provision policy is set and ready to go.
If we go back to the All Cloud PCs blade you’ll see that the provision status is changed to “Provisioning”. Now we have to wait untill our CLoud PC is provisioned, be aware that this can take a while.
Once our device is provisioned you’ll see that the status is changed to “Provisioned” and the device is now available and ready to use.
If we click on the device name, you’ll be redirected to the device detail screen in Microsoft Intune.
Now that our device is ready to connect to, let’s see how this is experienced from the end-user side.
End user experience
From the end-user side, we first need to install the Windows App from the Microsoft Store to access our Cloud PC. Download it here.
Once downloaded and installed, open the Windows App and choose Sign in, and sign-in with your licensed user.
Once you’ve signed in, you’ll see that the provisioned Cloud PC is available. Now choose Connect.
The first time you open the connection, you’ll need to sign in again and allow a remote desktop connection. Choose Yes.
Once the connection is done, a Remote Desktop screen will open and your Cloud Pc is shown, the first time you’ll see a Enrollment Status Page screen that is preparing your device and after that your device is ready and deployed!
Conclusion
Windows 365 Cloud PC shows just how effortless the modern workplace can be: a full Windows environment can be provisioned in minutes, managed centrally, and accessed securely from anywhere, on any device, without the traditional complexity of imaging, hardware dependency, or on‑prem infrastructure.
This simplicity frees IT teams to focus on value instead of maintenance, while users benefit from a consistent, high‑performance experience wherever they work. As hybrid work becomes the standard and flexibility becomes a business requirement, Windows 365 represents the future of endpoints, shifting Windows from a physical device to a scalable cloud service that is secure, predictable, and ready for the way we work next.
