Cloudflare on Wednesday announced the launch of its WARP VPN service in beta for Windows and macOS. The company also plans to introduce a desktop client for WARP+ in the coming months. “While we announced the beta of 1.1.1.1 with WARP on April 1, 2019 it took us until late September before we were able to open it up to general availability,” writes Matthew Prince, the company’s CEO in a blog post. “We don’t expect the wait for macOS and Windows WARP to be nearly as long.” The WARP client for macOS and Windows relies on the same fast, efficient Wireguard protocol to secure Internet connections and keep them safe from being spied on by your ISP. Just like WARP on the 1.1.1.1 mobile app, the basic service will be free on macOS and Windows. Cloudflare will provide a plan option for existing WARP+ subscribers to add additional devices at a discount. Meanwhile, the beta will be available first to WARP+ subscribers, which will allow them to take advantage of Cloudflare’s Argo network for even faster Internet performance. The invites will be sent to WARP+ subscribers through the 1.1.1.1 mobile apps sometime over the coming weeks. As far as Linux support is concerned, the company will start building a WARP client for Linux as soon the macOS and Windows clients are released. “Thank you to everyone who helped us make WARP fast, efficient, and reliable on mobile. It’s incredible how far it’s come over the last year. If you tried it early in the beta last year but aren’t using it now, I encourage you to give it another try. We’re looking forward to bringing WARP speed and security to even more devices,” Prince concludes in the blog post. If you are not a subscriber and want to be the first to gain access to the beta, you can sign up for the WARP desktop waitlist here to receive a notification on your email address when the service goes live.
