Hardware and Software Sharing in the Cloud?

Steel

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Hey! I don't know very much about windows 8's cloud integration, but I have a few ideas that I thought would be cool if they are possible to implement. Does anyone know if these are in development or already exist?

Software sharing:

A person's windows account should be saved to the cloud: style settings, non-device-specific preferences (for example, a user's preference for google chrome as the preferred web browser, but if it is not installed, the windows default, internet explorer, would be used instead), and complete integration of linked cloud accounts (skydrive, itunes cloud, gmail, office online docs, steam, windows app store). All of these elements would constitute a user's 'windows profile in the cloud', and the user would have the ability to configure which settings, preferences, and linked cloud accounts are integrated into the profile.

Here's what I envision occurring under the hood when a person signs onto his or her 'windows profile in the cloud':

1) On an unfamiliar computer, windows creates a conventional guest account, and configures the temporary account with the windows settings, preferences, and integrated cloud accounts associated with the user's windows profile in the cloud
2) As with standard guest accounts, the user is denied access to all files, settings, and single-user-only programs stored on the local machine and other user accounts
3) Documents and apps stored in the cloud (from skydive, office docs, iTunes, etc.) appear in grey and may be downloaded and opened or installed (to the guest account only) with a click
4) All files, apps, and settings will be deleted when the user signs off, and the machine will be as it was before the user logged on

There may be some security and efficiency kinks to work out with this, but ultimately, windows could be optimized to build this simplified approximation of a user's home profile using a small-sized configuration file. Time spent downloading files and apps would remain at the user's discretion. By allowing the account profile to be fully configurable, the user may also choose to keep sensitive saved passwords and other secure information out of the cloud and out of other people's blank hard drive space.

Hardware Sharing:

If a user owns a windows 8 tablet or windows phone and a windows 8 desktop and needs a file from the desktop that he or she forgot to upload to skydrive, he or she should be able to access hardware remotely through the cloud to access the file in need:

1) Remote access must be enabled on both the devices and in the cloud account that the user wishes to access the device from, and the device must be kept on standby
2) The computer or device should remain locked to unauthorized users in physical reach while being accessed remotely
3) Hard drives, printers, cameras, displays, and other devices linked to a user's account should appear in grey in windows explorer as devices accessible through remote access.

Some hardware sharing may be more effective than others, but users will be able to experiment to find the most useful devices to link with their accounts. The cloud, WIFI, LAN, and Bluetooth should all be available means of communicating with shared devices.

What do you think? Are any of these features already in windows 8? I'm sorry that I know so little.
 

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System One

  • OS
    Windows 7
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