Virtual desktops · Basic plan
Replacing an aging desktop or laptop
The hardware refresh that does not involve buying hardware. The machine in front of you only has to run a browser.
The machine that is getting slow
It boots slowly, the fan is loud, there is a Windows update it keeps failing, and replacing it means a purchase order, a wait, a day of setting up, and moving everything across. The usual answer is a new PC. The other answer is to leave the old one exactly where it is and stop asking it to do the work.
A Basic desktop is a Windows 11 machine with ten gigabytes of memory and eight virtual cores, opened in a browser tab. The old laptop draws the screen and nothing more, which it can do for years yet.
What the refresh looks like
- Sign up. The login arrives by email and the desktop opens in a browser.
- Install the programs you use, with administrator rights and no approval step.
- Copy your files across - the desktop has an 80 GB system drive and a 40 GB data drive.
- Keep using the old machine as the screen. When it finally dies, any other machine with a browser takes its place.
Sizing
Basic is the right package for replacing an office PC because it replaces the whole workload, not part of it. If the old machine was mainly used for browsing and mail, Light does the job for less. If it was struggling under a large accounting file or a heavy application, Standard is the one that fixes the reason it was struggling.
The plan for this: Basic
10 GB of memory, 8 virtual cores, 80 GB system drive and 40 GB data drive, for $18.95 a month, on a server-class host that keeps the desktop quick from any device. The other three packages are the same desktop with more or less memory and processing power.
Common questions
How old a machine can I use as the screen?
Anything that runs a current browser. The desktop does the work; the local machine only has to display it and send the keyboard and mouse.
Can I move my files and programs across?
Files copy across through the browser session or a cloud drive. Programs are reinstalled on the desktop - you have administrator rights, so it is the same installer you used before.
What about the Windows license on the old PC?
It stays with the old PC. The desktop ships with its own pre-activated Windows 11 license inside the monthly price.
Start on Basic this afternoon
Sign up, check your email, open the link. A fast Windows 11 desktop on a server-class host, with no contract and no minimum term, and support included around the clock.
