Microsoft Announces New Mac Mini Desktop PC, But It's Online-Only

On Tuesday, Microsoft announced a new product called “Windows 365 Link” that is essentially a desktop PC similar in size to Apple's M4 Mac mini, which was released a few weeks ago. However, while the Mac mini is a full-fledged computer, Microsoft’s alternative runs entirely in the cloud.

Microsoft now has a Mac mini competitor — sort of

The device was announced at Microsoft Ignite 2024, a conference aimed at developers and IT professionals. From the outside, it looks like the latest Mac mini, at least in size. It’s a small black box with a few ports on the back. Inside, however, the two computers are significantly different.

Despite being almost as small as an Apple TV, the Mac mini is a full-fledged computer powered by M4 or M4 Pro chips. On the other hand, Windows 365 Link has very light specs. This is because the device streams Windows over the cloud rather than running a local operating system.

Microsoft sees Windows 365 Link as the perfect device for enterprise customers. Instead of spending money on big, expensive hardware, the idea is to have a super small, much cheaper device connected to the internet to stream Windows with the power of a much better computer. Essentially, a computer for running cloud virtual machines.

There aren't many details on the specs. All we know at this point is that the internal hardware has 8GB of RAM, 64GB of storage, and an undisclosed Intel processor. Again, the specs don't matter much since the built-in hardware is only used to stream what's in the cloud.

Justin Hassler's top comment

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The thing is, Windows 365 is at least 4 years old, and this is just the first device Microsoft has built for the service. With a subscription costing around $350 per year, plus $350 for the device, after 3 years you might as well have bought a $1,500 PC to begin with… That price needs to be brought down significantly.

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On the back of the Windows 365 Link is a USB-C port, along with two USB-A ports, a DisplayPort, HDMI, and Ethernet. It also has Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3 for wireless connectivity.

As The Verge explains, Microsoft believes the new device offers security benefits for IT consumers, since all data is encrypted in the cloud, and there’s nothing stored offline that can be stolen or hacked. Of course, that also means the PC is useless when there’s no internet connection.

Windows 365 Link will be available next year for $349. It also requires a Windows 365 subscription, which starts at $28 per month.

While the idea sounds interesting, it's hard not to compare it to the Mac mini, which costs just $250 more but has much better hardware (and runs a local operating system). As I recently wrote here at 9to5Mac, the latest Mac mini is the ultimate desktop computer for most people. “Powerful, sleek, compact, and great value.”