Microsoft is releasing a mini PC designed specifically to access the cloud version of Windows. The $349 Windows 365 Link is a compact, fanless system that will connect local monitors and peripherals to Windows in the cloud. Microsoft plans to bring it to market next year as a companion to the Windows 365 cloud suite, helping companies transition employees to virtual machines. The concept is described as the first move toward a new type of “boot to cloud PCs” that offer little in the way of versatility, but are cheap, easy to operate and secure.

“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,” Pavan Davuluri, Microsoft’s head of Windows and Surface, tells The Verge, emphasizing the focus of Link is “the Windows 365 part of it.”

In a blog post, Microsoft describes Windows 365 Link as “the first Cloud PC device purpose-built by Microsoft to connect securely to Windows 365 in seconds.”

In 2021 Microsoft debuted its Windows 365 service as “a whole new category of cloud computing,” that let employees “securely stream their Windows desktop experience from the Microsoft Cloud to any device.”

The uptake was swift, and as a result Microsoft says it sees companies “rethinking their endpoint strategy to improve user productivity, enhance security, increase IT efficiency, and advance sustainability.” Windows 365 Link is another step to help advance those goals.

“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,” The Verge writes, emphasizing “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.”

“Is this the future of desktop computing?” asks Windows Central, which says the device is expected to be released in April. Specs include output to up to two 4K displays, with “three USB-A ports, one USB-C port, an audio jack, an ethernet jack, DisplayPort, and an HDMI port,” in addition to support for Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3.

It is a compact 120 x 120 x 30 mm, “making it significantly smaller than the new Mac mini,” Windows Central notes, adding that “the tiny chassis houses an Intel processor with 8GB RAM and 64GB storage.”

“The device’s local processing capabilities enable high-performance video playback and conferencing, including high-fidelity Microsoft Teams meetings,” Microsoft explains in the blog post, which teases that the company is “also working to support high-fidelity meetings with partner solutions such as Webex by Cisco.”