Samsung Galaxy S8 and Note 8 smartphones can now run Windows 10 more easily

You can now run Windows 10 desktop on Samsung's latest flagship smartphones, the Galaxy S8, the S8+ and the Note 8 far more easily than before.

While the service was available when the Galaxy S8 and its docking station, DeX, launched earlier this year, this time around Ingram Micro, the world's largest distributor of technology products, has teamed up with Samsung and Amazon to deliver a simplified solution that allows Samsung DeX customers to access a full Windows Desktop from their mobile devices.

Ingram Micro Cloud’s solution automates the setup of Amazon WorkSpaces and Microsoft Windows Desktop as a Service (DaaS) for the Samsung Galaxy Note 8, Samsung Galaxy S8/S8+ and DeX prosumers so that they can set up and run a virtual desktop on their smartphones in just a few easy steps.

By using the Samsung DeX Station, Galaxy Note 8 and S8/S8+ users can connect to any type of display with an HDMI port and use a mouse and keyboard to obtain a full desktop experience right from their smartphone. 

Surprising tie-up with AWS

It's worth noting that Amazon Web Services rather than Microsoft's very own Azure provides with that solution, another indication perhaps, that after the recent Cortana and Alexa, Amazon and Microsoft are warming up to each other despite their rivalry in cloud computing.

When Samsung Dex is combined with Amazon Workspaces, users can have access to a full desktop experience complete with their own Microsoft Windows virtual desktop that allows them to use all of their files and applications.  

This is the first mobile device-based Windows cloud DaaS being offered directly to Samsung DeX customers and now students, freelancers and entrepreneurs can access a full Windows-based desktop directly from their Samsung DeX station and smartphones.

A 30-day free trial of Amazon Workspaces will be available to all Samsung Galaxy Note 8 and Galaxy S8/S8+ users in Australia, Belgium, Canada, France, Netherlands, New Zealand, the US and the UK so that they can try it out for themselves.

The offer can only be accessed through the Windows Desktop Free Trial DeX App on the Samsung Galaxy App Store.

Desire Athow
Managing Editor, TechRadar Pro

Désiré has been musing and writing about technology during a career spanning four decades. He dabbled in website builders and web hosting when DHTML and frames were in vogue and started narrating about the impact of technology on society just before the start of the Y2K hysteria at the turn of the last millennium.