Microsoft's $350 Windows 365 Link cloud client is now available

In context: The "thin client" concept is almost as old as computing itself, dating back to the first terminals used to access mainframe computers in early multi-user systems. Today, thin clients are primarily used in the enterprise market to simplify the management of employees and off-site operations – and Microsoft clearly wants a piece of that.

Microsoft announced the Windows 365 Link in November and is now beginning to offer the new device to customers in select markets. Link is the first custom system the company has built specifically to access cloud computing resources within the Windows 365 ecosystem, though third-party manufacturers have been offering similar systems for quite some time.

From a hardware perspective, the Windows 365 Link is a compact, purpose-built device designed to do just one thing: connect users to Microsoft's cloud infrastructure. It cannot perform any productive tasks without first accessing a Microsoft cloud account. However ...