![]() The fact of the matter is that the IoT versions of Windows 10 are replacements for the line of Windows Embedded SKUs that have existed before now. The naming is a nod to the internet of things (IoT) phenomenon, where the reflectors in the roadway and sensors in your refrigerator are all connected to the internet and possess "smart" capabilities. Now Microsoft has decided that if you want to build devices and large machines out of discrete components, what you're really building is a Thing. There were also versions that came with a full pre-built image of Windows Embedded and were mainly for use in otherwise full computers that were deployed in appliance-like settings, such as point-of-sale devices and cash registers, digital signage, or thin clients that booted only to connect to a full user session running on some other machine. You did not have to use all of the features and you could still carve out parts and do any required customization, but you could not opt out of some of the features and pay a cheaper price, either. It also got rid of all of the C, E, and P versioning so if you bought WE8S, then you received authorization to run all of WE8S - and you paid for all of it, too. Windows Embedded 8 Standard (WE8S): This took Microsoft's embedded operating system but pulled it up to Windows 8.P was the most expensive and was essentially identical to Windows 7 from a features perspective. There were three "notches," called, C, E, and P, each of which denoted different additions of features to the base image of Windows Embedded and had correspondingly different prices. Windows Embedded Standard 7 (WES7): Windows Embedded Standard 7 was essentially Windows 7 with different parts ripped out and different levels of customization ability.These were the most recent Windows Embedded versions: Essentially, you wanted a stripped-down operating system so you can fully customize both the hardware and the software in a system, as well as save space on often limited storage media in devices. The modularity also included the ability to customize some parts of the OS that were not open to modification in the full version, like splash screens and filters, so you could insert your own branding or the branding of the machine directly into the OS. How has Windows Embedded worked in the past? Most vendors chose Windows Embedded because, unlike the traditional desktop operating system, it was modular: You could choose which features to install or not install, both to reduce the supportability burden on the vendor (you don't need Solitaire on an ATM, for example) and to reduce the potential attack surface, since laser cutting machines do not generally need IIS web serving capabilities, for instance. A brief history of Windows Embedded to date However, first, a bit of background of Windows Embedded. One indication that Windows Embedded may be on its way out is the introduction of Windows 10 IoT, which Microsoft has started pushing as a replacement. It appears unfortunately stuck in a place where no future has clearly been laid out for it. Here, at the Microsoft campus, despite all of the hullabaloo about Windows 10 and device updates - and the new Creators Update and Redstone versions that will be coming down the pike at an almost breakneck speed - Windows Embedded suffers from an opposite problem. But it seems like Windows Embedded's existence might also surprise a lot of folks up in Redmond. Windows Embedded is a relatively unheralded version of Windows whose existence might surprise you. The operating system that underpins hundreds of thousands of medical devices, automatic teller machines, kiosks at airports and other crowded public places, industrial machinery and control planes, set top boxes, game consoles. The Microsoft operating system that millions of devices and machines are running, typically with a custom application or skin running on top of it so that users don't automatically notice the OS.
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