News
Microsoft Releases Windows Embedded Standard CTP
In a bid to modernize the embedded version of its Windows software, Microsoft
this week has released the community technology preview (CTP) of a newly revamped
version set to ship by year's end.
Windows Embedded Standard will replace Windows XP Embedded, Microsoft officials
said at this week's Tech-Ed conference in Orlando, Fla. The new version boasts
several new key technologies from Redmond, among them Microsoft's new Silverlight
rich interactive application runtime, Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) 6.1 and
support for the .NET Framework 3.5.
Also noteworthy about the new Windows Embedded release is its intended audience.
While the key consumers of Windows Embedded are OEM suppliers of single-function
devices, by announcing the release at Tech-Ed Microsoft is also reaching out
to enterprise development shops that can benefit from developing applications
to devices such as point-of-sale systems, ATM machines and kiosks.
"In the future, enterprises [will] want to connect the embedded devices
onto the same infrastructures as PCs," said John Doyle, Microsoft's senior
product manager for Windows Embedded.
The move should help enterprise development shops coalesce their programming
resources to build out applications already intended for Windows onto embedded
systems, according to Rob Enderle, principal analyst of the San Jose, Calif.-based
Enderle Group.
"A lot of these shops have a deep pool of folks that can develop on Windows,"
Enderle said. "Microsoft is positioning Windows Embedded as a full-featured
offering that is better targeted at folks that otherwise might not have used
it.
Critical to that is the RDP 6.1 support, which is key to providing connectivity
to Windows Server 2008 and Vista, Doyle said. The Windows Embedded release will also support Microsoft's Network Access Protection, its new platform for controlling
access to systems on a network via a client PC's identity. It is designed to
comply with enterprise governance and policies.
The CTP is available here.
About the Author
Jeffrey Schwartz is editor of Redmond magazine and also covers cloud computing for Virtualization Review's Cloud Report. In addition, he writes the Channeling the Cloud column for Redmond Channel Partner. Follow him on Twitter @JeffreySchwartz.