You're reading from Mastering Windows 365

Product typeBook

Published inSep 2023

PublisherPackt

ISBN-139781837637966

Edition1st Edition

Concepts

Operating Systems

Authors (3):

Christiaan Brinkhoff

Sandeep Patnaik

Morten Pedholt

View More author details

Windows 365 license requirements

Before you can get started with deploying Cloud PCs for your users, they will need a Windows 365 license. There are multiple licenses for Windows 365; each license contains the hardware configuration of the Cloud PC that will be created – for example, if a user needs a Cloud PC with 4 vCPU, 16 GB RAM, and 128 GB hard drive space, the license will be named as Windows 365 [Edition] 4 vCPU, 16 GB, 128 GB. The [Edition] part of the license name will change depending on the Windows 365 edition you wish to deploy.

The following table shows all the current Windows 365 SKU licenses available. All the licenses are available for the Business, Enterprise, and Government Editions:

VM/OS disk size	Example scenarios	Applications
2 vCPU/4 GB/256 GB 2 vCPU/4 GB/128 GB 2 vCPU/4 GB/64 GB	Mergers and acquisitions, short-term and seasonal, customer services, bring your own device (BYOD), work from home	Microsoft 365 Apps, Microsoft Teams (audio-only), Outlook, Excel, PowerPoint, OneDrive, Adobe Reader, Edge, line-of-business app(s), Defender support
2 vCPU/8 GB/256 GB 2 vCPU/8 GB /128 GB	BYOD, work from home, market researchers, government, consultants	Microsoft 365 Apps, Microsoft Teams, Outlook, Excel, Access, PowerPoint, OneDrive, Adobe Reader, Edge, line-of-business app(s), Defender support
4 vCPU/16 GB/512 GB 4 vCPU /16 GB /256 GB 4 vCPU /16 GB /128 GB	Finance, government, consultants, healthcare services, BYOD, work from home	Microsoft 365 Apps, Microsoft Teams, Outlook, Excel, Access, PowerPoint, Power BI, Dynamics 365, OneDrive, Adobe Reader, Edge, line-of-business app(s), Defender support, nested virtualization support; Windows Subsystem for Linux/Android, Hyper-V, Defender support
8 vCPU /32 GB /512 GB 8 vCPU /32 GB /256 GB 8 vCPU /32 GB /128 GB	Software developers, engineers, content creators, design and engineering workstations	Microsoft 365 Apps, Microsoft Teams, Outlook, Access, OneDrive, Adobe Reader, Edge, Power BI, Visual Studio Code, line-of-business app(s), nested virtualization support; Windows Subsystem for Linux/Android, Hyper-V, Defender support

Table 1.4 – Windows 365 SKUs

The license pre-requirement for Windows 365 Business, Enterprise, and Government Editions are different. This means that before the users are eligible to use one of the Windows 365 licenses, they must have other licenses assigned. The available Windows 365 editions are covered next, along with their pre-required licenses.

Windows 365 Business license pre-requirements

Windows 365 Business licensing is extremely simple, as everything is cloud-only based, and all required licenses are included with the purchase. Customers can purchase Windows 365 Business licenses directly from admin.microsoft.com. Simply provide a credit card number to get started and become productive in a matter of minutes. Licenses are limited to 300 users per license type. Current Microsoft 365 customers must complete their purchase through the Microsoft 365 admin center. To purchase Windows 365 Business licenses, contact your Global administrator or Billing administrator.

Once a license has been assigned, IT administrators and users must go to Windows365.microsoft.com, set up their account without a domain, and provision and manage their Cloud PCs.

If you want to utilize the option to enable Intune on your Cloud PC deployed with Windows 365 Business, your users will need Microsoft Intune and Azure AD Premium P1 in order to get it to work. If you have bought a Windows 365 Business license with Windows Hybrid Benefit, then the users will also need a Windows 10/11 license.

Windows 365 Enterprise license pre-requirements

Each user must be licensed with Windows 10 Enterprise or Windows 11 Enterprise, Microsoft Intune, and Azure AD Premium P1. Each license can be bought individually as a single license, but you might find a license bundle with all three requirements to be a better fit for your organization by purchasing one of the following licensing bundles:

Microsoft 365 F3
Microsoft 365 E3
Microsoft 365 E5
Microsoft 365 A3
Microsoft 365 A5
Microsoft 365 Education Student Use Benefit
Microsoft Business Premium

Although all the preceding licensing bundles give access to Microsoft Intune and Azure AD Premium P1, not all licenses are available for every company to use. Microsoft 365 A3, A5, and Education Student Use Benefit are for educational organizations only, such as schools. Microsoft 365 Business Premium has a limit of 300 licensed users; if you need more than 300 licenses, you will have to buy Microsoft 365 F3, E3, or E5.

Customers can purchase Windows 365 directly from https://windows365.com/ or from their account representative. They can then provision and manage their Cloud PCs using Microsoft Intune, which works seamlessly with Windows 365 Enterprise.

Windows 365 Enterprise can be licensed separately with the Windows E3 or E5 license. Note that these licenses have Qualifying Operating System requirements. If a customer doesn’t have a qualifying license already and wants Windows 365 Enterprise, they can go to the Windows 11 Enterprise page (https://www.microsoft.com/licensing/product-licensing/windows) or the Microsoft 365 page (https://www.microsoft.com/microsoft-365/business/compare-all-microsoft-365-business-products) to learn more and purchase the plan that’s right for them.

Windows 365 Government license requirements

Just like Windows 365 Enterprise, governments who want to use Windows 365 Government must have their users licensed with Windows 10/11 Enterprise, Microsoft Intune, and Azure AD Premium P1 to be compliant. Governments also have the option to purchase these licenses through bundles.

Bundles that include the required licenses for Windows 365 Government are as follows:

Microsoft 365 G3
Microsoft 365 G5

You will be able to purchase any of the Windows 365 Business or Enterprise licenses alongside these bundles directly within the Microsoft 365 admin portal or by contacting your preferred cloud partner. If you are buying as a government, you need to contact the Microsoft account team you are assigned or any approved partner to purchase Windows 365 Government licenses.

You have been reading a chapter from

Mastering Windows 365

Published in: Sep 2023Publisher: PacktISBN-13: 9781837637966

A free Packt account unlocks extra newsletters, articles, discounted offers, and much more. Start advancing your knowledge today.

undefined

Unlock this book and the full library FREE for 7 days

Get unlimited access to 7000+ expert-authored eBooks and videos courses covering every tech area you can think of

Start free trial

Renews at ₹800/month. Cancel anytime

Authors (3)

Christiaan Brinkhoff

Christiaan Brinkhoff works as a Principal Program Manager and Community Director for Windows 365 and AVD at Microsoft, in his role at Microsoft, he works on features such as Windows 11, Windows 365 app, Switch and Boot. Christiaan is also an Author (3 books) and Inventor (3 patents). His mission is to drive innovation while bringing Windows 365, Windows, and Microsoft Intune closer together, drive community efforts around virtualization to empower Microsoft customers in leveraging new cloud virtualization scenarios. Christiaan joined Microsoft in 2018 as part of the FSLogix acquisition. He has also been rewarded with the Microsoft MVP, Citrix CTP, and VMware vExpert community achievements - for his continued support in the EUC community.
Read more about Christiaan Brinkhoff

Sandeep Patnaik

Sandeep is a virtualization veteran with nearly two decades of experience in the industry. He has shipped multiple billion-dollar products and cloud services for Microsoft to a global user base including Windows, Azure Virtual Desktop, and Windows 365. His contributions have earned him multiple patents in this field. Currently, he leads a stellar team that is responsible for building the product strategy for Windows 365 and Azure Virtual Desktop services and shaping the future of end-user experiences for these services.
Read more about Sandeep Patnaik

Morten Pedholt

Morten works as a Cloud Architect for a consultant company in Denmark where he advises and implements Microsoft virtual desktop solutions to customers around the world, Morten started his journey as a consultant over 8 years ago where he started with managing client devices but quickly found a passion for virtual device management. Today Windows 365 and Azure Virtual Desktop are the main areas that are being focused on alongside Microsoft Intune. Based on all the community activities Morten has done in the past years, he got rewarded with the Microsoft MVP award in the category of Windows 365 in March 2022.
Read more about Morten Pedholt

Personalised recommendations for you

Based on your interests and search pattern

Attacking and Exploiting Modern Web Applications

Attacking and Exploiting Modern Web Attacks will help you understand how to identify attack surfaces and detect vulnerabilities. This book takes a hands-on approach to implementation and associated methodologies and equips you with the knowledge and skills needed to effectively combat web attacks.

BookAug 2023338 pages

Automotive Cybersecurity Engineering Handbook

This Automotive Cybersecurity Engineering Handbook untangles the complexities of building secure automotive products and helps you to comply with cybersecurity standards. It provides practical tools, tips, and techniques coupled with real-world examples to enable you to create cyber-resilient automotive products with ease.

BookOct 2023392 pages

Official Google Cloud Certified Professional Cloud Security Engineer Exam Guide

This book will help you to design, develop, and operate security controls on Google Cloud as well as discover best practices for relevant security domains, including identity and access management, network, and data.

BookAug 2023496 pages

Cloud Penetration Testing for Red Teamers

The advent of cloud networks and the AWS, Azure, and GCP platforms has revolutionized how companies of all sizes in all industries do business online. This book will help you meet the emerging demand for pentesting as it guides you through the tools, techniques, and security measures used by pentesters and red teamers in the 2020s and beyond.

BookNov 2023298 pages

ISACA Certified in Risk and Information Systems Control (CRISC®) Exam Guide

ISACA Certified in Risk and Information Systems Control (CRISC®) Certification Guide is an enterprise IT risk management professional’s dream. With its in-depth approach and various self-assessment exercises, this book arms you with knowledge of every single aspect of the certification, and is a fantastic career companion after you’re certified.

BookSep 2023316 pages5

Burp Suite Cookbook

Burp Suite is an immensely powerful and popular tool for web application security testing. This book provides a collection of recipes that address vulnerabilities in web applications and APIs. It offers guidance on how to configure Burp Suite, make the most of its tools, and explore into its extensions.

BookOct 2023450 pages

Building and Automating Penetration Testing Labs in the Cloud

This hands-on guide will help you design and build a variety of penetration testing labs that mimic modern cloud environments running on AWS, Azure, and GCP. In addition to these, you will explore a number of practical strategies on how to manage the complexity, cost, and security risks involved when setting up vulnerable cloud lab environments.

BookOct 2023562 pages

Ethical Hacking Workshop

As cyber-attacks grow and APT groups advance their skillset, you need to be able to protect your enterprise against cyber-attacks. In order to limit your attack surface, you need to ensure that you leverage the same skills and tools that an adversary may use to hack your environment and discover the security gaps. This book will teach you how to think like a hacker, use state-of-the-art hacking tools, and protect yourself and your organizaiton.

BookOct 2023220 pages

Windows Forensics Analyst Field Guide

This book contains step-by-step processes to guide you in any investigation related to Windows OS. You’ll find out how to acquire evidence using multiple tools as well as examine and analyze the collected artifacts, while discovering multiple techniques used in real-world forensic incidents.

BookOct 2023318 pages

Implementing DevSecOps Practices

This book is a comprehensive, hands-on guide for individuals new to DevSecOps who want to implement DevSecOps practices successfully and efficiently. With its help, you’ll be able to shift security toward the left, enabling you to merge security into coding in no time.

BookDec 2023258 pages