With the “Windows 365 Link”, Microsoft will offer an easy-to-carry PC to fans of the Windows ecosystem. There is, however, one crucial detail: this is a machine designed for Windows 365, a cloud operating system.
With its Mac mini at 699 euros, Apple undoubtedly has the most interesting desktop computer on the market. Small, powerful and loaded with ports, the Mac mini is an excellent device for portability, which has no real equivalent in the PC market.
On November 19, at its Ignite conference, Microsoft unveiled what appears, on the surface, to be a competitor to the Mac mini. In reality, this is a machine designed for Windows streaming, with no CPU inside.
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Microsoft looks to the future of PCs, with a computer built for the cloud
In April 2025, Microsoft will launch Windows 365 Link, at a price of around 400 euros ($349 in the United States).
The machine, which has multiple ports and must be connected to a screen to function, is not capable of launching applications on its own. Its only functionality is to be able to connect to a Windows 365 account, a paid subscription to stream a Windows 11 machine (a competitor to the French Shadow). It therefore requires Internet, with a good connection, to function.
With this proposal, Microsoft is inventing a new type of PC. The device is designed to allow access to Windows from any screen, but does not contain Windows directly. It's a sort of USB hub capable of streaming Windows 11 without being connected to a smartphone or computer. The initiative is also reminiscent of what Microsoft offers with its Xbox Game Pass, which allows you to play Xbox games without Xbox. All you need is a subscription and an Internet connection.
According to Microsoft, Windows 365 Link has several advantages. Since it doesn't run anything locally, it can't be hacked according to the company. It is therefore a device suitable for companies that use virtual machines, since it does not require a domestic OS. Microsoft has developed a minimalist operating system dedicated to connecting to Windows 365 (and possibly other cloud services in the future), but doesn't allow doing things locally. Only a few tasks, like video conferencing, are optimized for the machine.
The Windows 365 Link has four USB-A ports, a USB-C port, an HDMI port, a DisplayPort, and an Ethernet input. It supports Wi-Fi 6E, although Ethernet is more suitable for the cloud.
With its PC for the cloud, Microsoft is mainly targeting the professional market, which could be seduced by an inexpensive machine, which updates itself and which simply virtualizes a screen, without hardware vulnerabilities. The approach chosen by Microsoft is drastically opposed to that of Apple, which continues to increase the power of its machines.
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