Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella looks on from the audience during a news conference on the Microsoft campus in Redmond, Washington, on May 20, 2024.
Jason Redmond | AFP | Getty Images
Microsoft is previewing a new PC designed to connect corporate workers to programs and files in the cloud.
Windows 365 Cloud Connect has limited availability in the United States, Canada, and a few other countries. The product will be available in select markets in April for $349.
After years of failing to crack the list of top PC makers with its Surface line, Microsoft is trying something new in a well-established hardware category.
Jalleen Ringer, product lead for Windows Cloud Endpoints, told CNBC that early testers are already using the devices in call centers and hot desking, a practice that temporarily places employees in available work areas rather than leaving them alone. They stay in the same designated location.
The device is simple and safe. It runs a stripped-down operating system called Windows CPC, has no native applications or native users, and has strict application control policies that cannot be deactivated. It automatically downloads updates in the background and installs them overnight.
Microsoft’s Windows 365 Link supports dual 4K monitors.
Microsoft
one Intel The chip runs inside the computer, which comes with 8GB of RAM and 64GB of storage. The hockey puck-like packaging weighs less than a pound and can sit on a desk or even be mounted behind a computer monitor.
The version comes three years after Microsoft launched Windows 365which allows employees to access their customized virtual desktops on any device. Desktop virtualization, including the early Microsoft product Azure Virtual Desktop, take off When the coronavirus pandemic hit in 2020, workers were stuck at home.
In July 2023, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said Azure Virtual Desktop and Windows 365 jointly generated $1 billion in revenue for the first time in fiscal 2024.
Dell and HP Both companies sell thin client PCs that connect to virtual desktop infrastructure. Organizations can configure them using Windows or proprietary operating systems.
Melissa Grant, senior director of product marketing at Microsoft, said Windows 365 Cloud Link is a “good alternative” to thin clients.
watch: Microsoft’s Brad Smith says, “In many ways, China is close to or even on track to catch up.”
