They'll make whatever sells subscriptions at this point.

Don't buy, only subscribe. From media to software and now to hardware and OS. No more license keys you can reuse, no more owning what you pay for, just live services and ever-rising subscription costs that can change at any time for any reason and neuters your ability to take legal action against them while they do it.

Silence critics, control available options, capture profit - that's the name of the game. They'll sell this to businesses as 'take your PC anywhere' like you couldn't already do that and then they have a hunk of plastic and silicon they need to pay out the nose for until they finally give it up. And they'll have to give it up because it literally can't run anything else on the available hardware. I'm sure folks will hack it apart but like, what's the point?

Was it the future of Windows when they did this the last bunch of times? The Wyse Winterm came out in 1993. It was a huge failure then and every iteration of the same same thing since has also failed.

What makes this version different? Branding? The fact that some of the OS/software doesn't boot over the network? That you have to have a working Internet connection and not just a working local network and boot server (LOL)?

No business wants this. No consumer wants this. There is no "added value" in this device. It literally only runs software made by Microsoft and even then, only software that runs through Azure.

What office worker literally only needs Office 365? I mean, you can get away with a whole lot just in the browser but if you're going to do that why bother with this device? Just use ChromeOS stuff (and never be locked in to Microsoft's stuff).

The future of windows is /dev/null

It is not even a thin client for Azure. It is a physical front end for one specific, Azure based VM product. It doesn't even support AVD which would have made it interesting for lab and classroom setups and given it a bit more utility.

There are two questions. Is it cheap, and can it be hacked to run Linux instead?

Yup. SaaS with nice regular subscription revenues.

Have fun trying to flash another os when the servers shut down.

a weird trash can you have

This product is not for you, individual consumer. This is for corporations who don't want the overhead of managing individual PCs and everything that can go wrong with them, instead relying on virtual workspaces and roaming user profiles.

That'd be a Chromecast TV stick, just with Azure?! How much is the hardware? I'd say this sells if it's priced right. Let's say $20 for the box plus $120 anually for a base subscription including Office 365. With optional extras like gaming that'd be on top. Plus extra storage fees and a bit of upselling, it'd be a viable business model, in my eyes.

Edit: It's $349 plus a currently unknown subscription: https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2024/11/microsoft-builds-a-349-mini-desktop-but-only-for-accessing-windows-in-the-cloud/

Everything Microsoft has been doing for years now is aligned in the direction of jamming as many subscription services down our throat as they can manage, whether we want them or not. They are not alone in this by any stretch. Cloud based hardware definitely fits neatly into the current tech zeitgeist.

IIRC this concept was predicted in Gates' book "The Road Ahead" ... in 1995.

Just the reemergence of the thin client that was all the shit back in the day.. the pendulum will swing back.

Username checks out

I believe amazon has something similar for their workspaces. This isn’t a new concept.

Just missing a giant Galvin Belson signature

No lol.

*thin client.