Introducing Windows 365 Frontline in shared mode

What’s up, everyone!

Did you hear about the new shared mode for Windows 365 Frontline? It’s a great way to allow users to quickly sign in to a shared Frontline Cloud PC to perform their tasks. Let’s compare the Windows 365 offerings and find out how and where the new shared mode fits in.

Enjoy!

Comparing Windows 365 offerings

Let’s start with a comparison between the Windows 365 offerings.

Windows 365 Business

Windows 365 Business is the easiest to setup and deploy. All you need to do is acquire Windows 365 Business licenses and add them to your Microsoft tenant. Use the Windows 365 website to configure and deploy your Windows 365 Business Cloud PCs.

There are a couple of things you want to be aware of:

There is a 300 license limit per tenant.
It is not possible to create an Azure Network Connection (ANC) to connect to an existing corporate network.
Management for Business Cloud PCs is limited.
Integrations for Windows 365 Business is limited. Universal Print for example is not supported.

Windows 365 Enterprise

Windows 365 Enterprise will give you access to all of the Windows 365 features. All you need to do is acquire Windows 365 Enterprise licenses and assign them to your users (or use group-based licensing). Create a provisioning policy and the Windows 365 service will deploy the Cloud PCs automatically. Enterprise Cloud PCs are managed via Microsoft Intune as your one-stop shop to manage everything from configuration settings to applications. Are there any other things to be aware of? Well yes, good question:

There is no limit of maximum number of licenses.
Enterprise supports an Azure Network Connection and bring-your-own-network scenario. (Or use the Microsoft Hosted Network (MHN) instead).
Supports Universal Print.
Supports partner/programmatic access; you can manage Enterprise Cloud PCs via Lighthouse or partners like Nerdio.

Windows 365 Frontline (dedicated mode)

Windows 365 Frontline features most of the capabilities that Windows 365 Enterprise has but there are some key differences. With Frontline you can license based on concurrency instead of a per-user basis. If you have a high concurrency (where users use their Cloud PC each day), then you probably should use a Windows 365 Enterprise Cloud PC. If you have a low concurrency (where users work in shifts and/or not every day) then I would recommend to use a Frontline Cloud PC. If you add one Frontline license to the tenant, you can deploy three Frontline Cloud PCs and you get one connection. So if you add 100 licenses to the tenant, you get 300 Frontline Cloud PCs that are turned off and 100 users can sign in at the same time. Any special things to know?

Frontline has a feature called concurrency buffer. This allows more connections than you have license for during a small period which comes in handy during shift changes. I’ve written a post about this feature in the past if you want to learn more.
Beware of the temporary blocks vs permanent blocks.
You can monitor the concurrency buffer in the Frontline Hourly report in Microsoft Intune.
Frontline Cloud PCs are turned off when not in use.
Make sure to configure session timeouts to free up licenses and make sure that your users can sign in.
The following features are not yet supported in Windows 365 Frontline:
- Resize a Cloud PC
- Move a Cloud PC
- Cross-region disaster recovery (Want to learn more?)

Windows 365 Frontline (Shared mode)

The new shared mode is a great way to provide access to a corporate desktop for users who only need access to their desktop for a short period. There are big differences when compared to a Frontline Cloud PC in dedicated mode:

A shared Frontline Cloud PC remains on. It will not be turned off.
It is the first Cloud PC that is assigned to multiple users. No, they cannot sign in at the same time on the same Cloud PC.

TL;DR
Let’s try and fit all this text into one graphic:

Configuring shared Windows 365 Frontline Cloud PCs

Deploying Enterprise and Frontline Cloud PCs is done by creating a provisioning policy in Microsoft Intune.

Sign into the Microsoft Intune Admin Center, Devices, Windows 365, Provisioning policies and select + Create policy.

Let’s zoom in on the first section of the provisioning policy. Make sure to select Frontline as the license type and Shared (Preview) as the Frontline type.

In the second part you need to configure the join type, network, geography and region. And last but not least, decide if you want to enable Microsoft Entra Single Sign-On.

Next up; select the Image you want to use:

Gallery images and custom images are supported The good news is that gallery and custom images are supported. This might present a scenario where custom images are a good fit. If shared Frontline users need their company desktop to access just a few specialized apps, it might make sense to use a custom image eliminating Microsoft Intune waiting times.

Select the language and region options. You can also use a device name template if you want to name your shared Frontline Cloud PCs in a certain way.

Make sure the check the official Microsoft video in the resources section The official Microsoft video shows another option in this section for Windows Autopilot. Here you can make sure certain apps are installed on the Cloud PCs. This functionality was not yet available in my tenants. I will update once this functionality becomes available.

Here is a screenshot of how to configuration step will look like:

(Image credit: Microsoft video)

You can add scope tags in this step if your organization has delegated control in Microsoft Intune (like control based on a country for example).

Assign the license to the group of users that require a shared Frontline Cloud PC.

Take a moment to review your awesome work and finish up by selecting the Create button.

The Windows 365 service will automatically pick up on the change and will start to provision the required shared Frontline Cloud PCs:

The Cloud PC will appear in the Windows App once successfully deployed. The tag will let users know that they are working on a shared Frontline Cloud PC:

Next I signed in using another user that I made a member of the group that can use this shared Frontline Cloud PC. The user experience is similar. It got me thinking though; this offering moves back to a shared desktop idea. So it makes sense that the user actions like renaming a Cloud PC are no longer present: