Computers from the French, a thousand at most (8)

I believe the answer is:

desktops

'computers' is the definition.
(desktop is a type of computer)

'from the french a thousand at most' is the wordplay.
'from the french' becomes 'des' (French for 'from the').
'a thousand' becomes 'K' (synonyms).
'at most' becomes 'tops' ('I'll be five minutes tops').
'des'+'k'+'tops'='DESKTOPS'

(Another definition for desktops that I've seen is " Working surfaces".)

I've seen this clue in The Times.

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