Microsoft's Spring Windows Event Rumored To Focus On New Cloud OS

Microsoft will hold a special spring press conference next month, and it’s being speculated that the company will unveil the Surface Pro 5. However, it looks like Microsoft might actually be launching an entirely new product called Windows Cloud.

Tuesday Microsoft sent out press invites for a Windows hardware event, which will be held May 2 in New York City. Sources tell The Verge that Microsoft, despite rumors, it will not announce a new Surface Pro device.

Microsoft’s upcoming spring event is said to be codenamed “Bespin,” sources told ZDNet’s Mary Jo Foley. Bespin is gas planet in the “Star Wars” universe where Cloud City is located. Foley says that Windows Cloud is a new edition of Windows 10. The name first popped up during the testing phase of the Windows 10 creators Update, but Microsoft has not publicly acknowledged its existence.

Although its name suggests that the new operating system will be streamed from Microsoft’s cloud servers, Windows Cloud will just be a simpler version of Windows 10. Foley says that users of Windows Cloud will be able to upgrade to Windows 10 Pro for some amount of money.

Windows Cloud is said to be more secure and manageable. Microsoft is able to do this by only allowing it to run Unified Windows Platform (UWP) apps which can only be downloaded from the Windows Store, according to BGR.

Windows Cloud will be Microsoft’s way of competing with Google’s Chromebook which runs the web-centric Chrome OS. However, the company might not market Windows Cloud from that particular angle.

What isn’t made clear however is whether Microsoft will unveil a dedicated hardware for Windows Cloud. IBT reported last week that Microsoft is rumored to be working on new laptops with a traditional “clamshell” design. At the time, many thought it might be the Surface Book 2. But now, it’s possible that Microsoft’s new clamshell laptop might be designed for the new Windows Cloud operating system.

Foley speculates that if Microsoft does indeed release a hardware for Windows Cloud, it might simply be called the Surface 4 so that it will still be under the Surface line.

As for the Surface Pro 5, it might be announced at the spring event. If previous rumors are to be believed, it might not get much of a major redesign. However, the device is expected to come with Intel’s Kaby Lake processors.