[scarface_74]

Like others have said this is just a thin client. The concept has existed since the beginning of modern computers.

This is functionally no different than Chromebooks and Google ”imprisoning” hundreds of school districts.

Besides, “the enterprise” has been “imprisoned” by Microsoft for decades. They were never going to switch over to Linux or anything else en masse.

Even companies that did have Macs were still buying Microsoft Office since before Office was even available for Windows.

Also, IT departments love locked down computers and I’ve seen plenty of places that use Citrix with terminals.

[yjftsjthsd-h]

I actually think I agree overall, but...

> This is functionally no different than Chromebooks and Google ”imprisoning” hundreds of school districts.

Chromebooks make it trivial to switch to developer mode and get root, and then even disable write protection and flash arbitrary firmware. Can you do that with these boxes?

[scarface_74]

That’s not the target audience.

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-365/link

> Windows 365 Link is for organizations that have desk-based workers and are using, or are considering using, Windows 365. Windows 365 Link is well suited for enabling secure productivity in shared workspaces such as hot desks, call centers, reception desks, labs, and more.

And on top of that it’s a desktop computer. There are plenty of mini PC’s for about the same price that are more powerful and not locked down.

[yjftsjthsd-h]

I own a decent number of machines that used to be used in businesses or schools before getting replaced and going on the second hand market (often ebay). This works because the hardware can be repurposed, and it significantly reduces ewaste by allowing a device to go through multiple owners. Will these devices be able to do that?

[scarface_74]

If the devices are only functional dumb terminals, why would they need to be replaced as long as they are still functional?

Going by Microsoft’s previous hardware and OS support, you should expect the hardware to be officially supported for over a decade.

The computers that were sold on eBay, couldn’t run the software the school/business needed. As long as these can connect to the cloud, that won’t be an issue

[mixdup]

> I’ve seen plenty of places that use Citrix with terminals.

I doubt very many enterprise level IT departments are running any kind of thin client infra such as Citrix or Horizon or anything else (like, god forbid, Oracle) without maintenance agreements in place on both the software and the hardware side of things so just moving everything left and renting the whole stack instead of having half of it capex and half of it opex isn't that big of a shift in how these things are paid for