These days, affordable streaming sticks, dongles, and even set-top boxes designed to be plugged into television sets are a dime a dozen. Big players like Amazon, Google, and Apple all offer their own first-party streaming equipment, as does Roku, Nvidia, and even Walmart.
Notably absent from this list is tech giant Microsoft, despite its previous attempts at breaking into the home theater market by way of Windows Media Center. Sure, the company’s line of Xbox home video game consoles are capable of playing back music, movies and TV shows, but that’s not quite analogous to streaming sticks in the traditional sense.
The irony in this status quo is that no company is in a better position to launch its own streaming hardware platform than Microsoft. The company has the hardware know-how via its Surface division, it has the software platform via Windows 11 and its underlying NT kernel, and it has the digital storefront via the (now genuinely impressive) Microsoft Store.
It’s time for Microsoft to make a Windows streaming stick
Surface-engineered streaming hardware would be ideal
I reckon the time is right for Microsoft to get its hands dirty by launching a dedicated Surface Streamer or a Surface TV. Considering how impressive modern Surface hardware is from a fit-and-finish perspective, I have no doubt that the company could build a small HDMI dongle that’s compact, premium, and (relatively) affordable all the same.
Streaming sticks run on low-power ARM-based processors across the board, and this too is a non-issue for modern-day Microsoft; Windows 11 on ARM is in a great place in 2026, both in terms of software compatibility and in sheer performance metrics.
…a dedicated TV Mode for Windows 11 would complement a theoretical Surface TV to a tee.
Speaking of Windows 11, the OS is technologically capable of running on just about anything. The recently-rebranded Xbox Mode proves that the underpinnings of the OS are suitable for non-legacy PC form factors, and that the shell components and startup services that are bloating the platform can be reigned in as needed.
With this in mind, a dedicated TV Mode for Windows 11 would complement a theoretical Surface TV to a tee, complete with a stripped-back user interface, access to the Microsoft Store, and rejigged controls that could then be operated with a standard television remote. Even regular PCs could benefit from access to TV Mode, which would effectively turn every laptop into a plug-and-play streaming center.
I have fond memories of the Media Center PC era
If Microsoft doesn’t want to go down the TV Mode route with Windows 11, I’d love for it to at least bring back its now-defunct Windows Media Center program from yesteryear. Media Center was an in-box app that shipped alongside Windows XP, Vista, 7, 8, and 8.1, and it served as a central hub for browsing photos, managing local movies and TV shows, recording live TV via DVR, and more.
I can envision a rejuvenated Windows Media Center taking off with Windows users, so long as it taps into modern streaming services like Netflix, Disney+, and Amazon Prime Video. The idea of a modernized Media Center app, complete with Fluent 2 Design System principles and WinUI 3 technologies, is one I’d love for the company to eventually explore.
Windows 11’s Xbox application successfully plugs into third-party video game storefronts, and Media Center could very well offer a similar experience but with third-party streaming platforms. Put it together with a bespoke TV Mode toggle within Settings, and you can see the vision start to take hold.
Does Microsoft have what it takes?
If there’s a will, there’s a way
Ultimately, I know Microsoft has a bad track record when it comes to entering new consumer-facing market segments, and that it’s all too giddy to axe product categories that don’t immediately take off. Nevertheless, the tech giant has demonstrated in the past that it can deliver the goods, so long as it has the will to do so.
Microsoft, please don’t give up on the dream of bringing the Windows OS to non-PC form factors, and please consider broadening the scale and scope of your digital storefront to meet customers where they are in today’s age of smart TVs, streaming services, and big-screen app downloads.
A Surface-branded Windows streaming stick, complete with a revitalized Windows Media Center-powered TV Mode, is entirely viable – I just wish Microsoft would stop waiting to make it happen.
