Microsoft is planning to launch a new purpose-built miniature PC for its Windows 365 cloud service next year. Windows 365 Link is a $349 device that acts like a thin client PC to connect to the cloud and stream a version of Windows 11.
The Link device is designed to be a compact, fanless, and easy to use cloud PC for your local monitors and peripherals. It’s meant to be the ideal companion to Microsoft’s Windows 365 service, which lets businesses transition employees over to virtual machines that exist in the cloud and can be streamed securely to multiple devices.
“We want the focus of Link to be the Windows 365 part of it,” explains Pavan Davuluri, Microsoft’s head of Windows and Surface, in an interview with The Verge. “We want to make it as simple and efficient as possible for you to be able to access your cloud PC. Our goal really is for the device itself to be as transparent as possible, so we minimize the steps for you from setup, to login, to handoffs and transitions.”
Windows 365 Link is secure by design, using all of Microsoft’s previous work of locking down Windows and even the Xbox console to keep hackers out. That means it won’t run anything local on device other than a lightweight OS that’s designed to get you into a Windows 365 cloud PC as quickly and securely as possible.
Link boots in seconds, can wake instantly from sleep, and uses its own chips to process video for Microsoft Teams or Webex by Cisco. Microsoft isn’t detailing the exact specs of Windows 365 Link yet, but the internals won’t really matter too much given it’s designed as a portal to a more powerful cloud PC.
It does have two USB-A ports and one USB-C port at the rear, alongside a single DisplayPort and HDMI port, and Ethernet connectivity. At the front there is a single USB-A port, and Microsoft has also included Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3 wireless connectivity.
The small Windows-based OS that powers Link won’t need to be managed like a dedicated PC for IT admins, and can easily be added to Microsoft Intune with little configuration. “The way to think about it is that it’s a super hardened version of Windows,” says David Weston, vice president of enterprise and OS security at Microsoft, in an interview with The Verge. “Think Xbox or phone, it’s a less is more. Because we don’t have to support win32, it’s super streamlined and super hardened so that everything that runs is signed by Microsoft and it’s isolated in sandboxes.”
It looks like it’ll be ideal for businesses that have already adopted Windows 365, particularly as a hot desk PC that lets multiple people use the same device to connect to their own cloud PCs.
HP, Dell, and Lenovo all offer similar thin client PCs at similar price points or even lower than $349. Microsoft thinks its Windows 365 Link device is a better alternative, though. “Our focus with the pricing of the product is to set it at a price point that makes sense for commercial customers, who have a set of scenarios and workloads that they’re using today where we think this is a more compelling alternative,” says Davuluri.
Microsoft won’t be the only ones making Windows 365 Link devices, though. “Just like we did with 2in1s, we’re starting with first party devices and doing the work to get the product experience right,” says Davuluri. “As we continue to expand the Cloud PC category, we look forward to expanding offerings as well, scaling with our OEM partners in 2025.”
This Link device will also be considered one of Microsoft’s Copilot Plus devices, a brand that has only existed for its range of Copilot Plus laptops so far. “We are on the journey of bringing Copilot Plus capabilities and the features that defined Copilot Plus PC to Windows 365 instances in the cloud,” explains Davuluri.
Windows 365 Link combined with these AI experiences could be another unique selling point for Windows 365 over similar cloud PC solutions from Citrix and others. Windows 365 Link is now in preview and will become available in select markets for $349 in April 2025.
