Windows 365 puts the PC in the cloud for $31 a month

Windows 365: $31 a month for a 4 GB cloud PC

A worker opens the browser on their iPad, types in their credentials, and there it is: the same Windows they always use, with the same apps, the same files and the same settings they left at the office. No tower, no local drive. This is the scenario Microsoft is putting up for sale with Windows 365, the service that moves the PC to the cloud and launches on August 2.

What Windows 365 is and how it works

The service moves Windows 10 and Windows 11 onto Azure, Microsoft's cloud infrastructure, and streams it to virtually any device. All you need is a modern web browser or the Microsoft Remote Desktop app to connect, whether from a Mac, an iPad, an Android phone or a Linux machine. The data lives in the cloud, not on the device, so the session picks up right where you left off, and everything runs under Zero Trust principles.

The company sells it in two editions, Business and Enterprise, both built on Azure Virtual Desktop, with twelve possible configurations. These range from a machine with a single CPU, 2 GB of RAM and 64 GB of storage to one with eight CPUs, 32 GB of RAM and 512 GB. "With Windows 365 we are creating a new category: the cloud PC," summarized Satya Nadella, Microsoft's chairman and CEO, who compares the move to what SaaS previously did to software.

The base price: $31 for a modest machine

A leaked image revealed the rate for one of the most basic Windows 365 Business configurations: $31 per user per month (around 26 euros). In return, two CPU cores, 4 GB of RAM and 128 GB of storage, with 10 Gbps download and 4 Gbps upload speeds. The even smaller option comes with one core, 2 GB of RAM and 64 GB.

With those numbers, the cost per employee multiplies quickly at any mid-sized company, according to one participant's calculation. And the model makes no distinction between a month of heavy use and one of just a few hours: you pay for availability, not actual consumption.

Is Windows 365 more expensive than Citrix or Amazon?

That is the sticking point. Citrix already offers virtual desktops accessible from the browser, and its top-tier service costs roughly the same $31 ($25.50 on a three-year contract). Amazon, for its part, charges about $35 for two cores, 4 GB of RAM and 50 GB. The calculation participants are working with compares all three rates and sees Microsoft failing to stand apart from its direct rivals at the entry-level configuration.

The eternal rental and the fine print

The underlying objection is not technical but about ownership. The suspicion running through the debate is that the user buys nothing: they pay while they use it and, if they stop paying, they lose access. That antiestéticar ties into a digital life carved up into subscriptions —Netflix, Spotify, Game Pass, HBO— which, one participant argues, will end up adding up to 200 euros a month with no one actually owning anything.

For businesses, the opposite argument is making the rounds: a purchased PC lasts for years and pays for itself quickly, does not depend on a good connection, and keeps working when the network fails or the cloud goes down. It remains to be seen how many firms will swap depreciated hardware for a monthly fee per head.

The detail that grates: those basic PCs promise 10 Gbps download speeds, something any desktop would envy, to run two cores and 4 GB of RAM. The power of the connection does not hide the modesty of the machine.