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CompTIA A+ Certification All-in-One Exam Guide

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With Office 365, Microsoft changed the process in many ways. First, they

moved to a subscription-based fee structure, where users or organizations pay

a yearly fee for access to the full Office suite. Second, users (or managers)

can install only necessary applications. Third, Microsoft updates the

applications when necessary, and those updates happen to all the computers

connected to the Internet. No manual updates are necessary. Fourth,

Microsoft enabled cloud-based versions of the Office applications, so users

can access the apps from any Internet-connected computing device, without

installing anything locally. This virtual application streaming makes Office

applications available for smartphones, tablets, laptops, and desktops.

(CompTIA uses the term cell phone rather than smartphone, but they mean

the latter when it comes to cloud-based applications.)

Microsoft made Outlook available in the cloud as well, making it arguably

the most robust off-site e-mail application available. The fully featured

calendaring system plus the received and sent e-mail messages are available

from any Internet-connected computing device. This is more than traditional

Web-based mail; Outlook online is the real deal.

Cloud-Based Virtual Desktops

Earlier in this chapter, we walked through the steps required to set up a

virtual desktop inside a VM running on your local system. There’s no reason

you can’t run that same virtual desktop VM in the cloud, and then access it

remotely. A number of services have popped up that make it dead simple to

create a cloud-based virtual desktop and pay monthly or even hourly for

access. Interacting with them over the network adds a little lag, but you can

do a few neat tricks with them.

Ever wish you had the processing power of a top-of-the-line desktop

system and the convenience of a laptop? Any laptop with an Internet

connection can spin up a virtual desktop with a few times more processing

power. Too boring? What if I said you could use your puny laptop to play the

latest computer games (at max settings!) by remotely accessing a beastly

cloud gaming rig that has everything but the LED lights?

Cloud File Storage Services

Cloud file storage services, like Dropbox and Box, were early smash

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