REDMOND, Wash. — June 6, 2012 — Today at the annual Computex
conference in Taipei, Microsoft’s Steven Guggenheimer, corporate vice
president of the company’s Original Equipment Manufacturer Division, took the stage to demonstrate the breadth of innovation occurring across Microsoft and throughout the Windows ecosystem.
A lot of the buzz this year centers on a new category of business solution called intelligent systems,
where specialized devices connect with back-end technologies such as
servers and databases. By using devices to extend enterprise IT all the
way out to the point of operation, more and more organizations are using
intelligent systems to extract richer levels of data, drive greater
efficiency, increase customer loyalty and identify new opportunities for
business revenue. Already companies in retail, healthcare, automotive, manufacturing
and other industries have built solutions based on this concept, and
are creating unprecedented levels of operational intelligence.
As part of Microsoft’s road map
to support the market for intelligent systems, the company announced
today that version two of its community technology preview (CTP) for
Windows Embedded Standard 8 is now available for download. By evaluating the CTP 2,
OEMs can start evaluating how Windows 8 technologies can help them
evolve their intelligent systems solutions, while ensuring the
investments they’re making today will carry forward to Windows 8.
“Together
with our partners, we have committed ourselves to developing and
launching the intelligent systems approach to enterprise IT,” says
Windows Embedded general manager Kevin Dallas. “Windows Embedded
Standard 8 enables OEMs and enterprises to create specialized devices
within intelligent systems leveraging the power of Windows, including
features that will become available with Windows 8.”
Since the release of the first CTP for Windows Embedded Standard 8 in March, more than 6,000 developers have downloaded the software and begun to evaluate and build with it. The number of partners enrolled in the Windows Embedded Partner Program
has doubled as more companies begin to understand the potential of
developing solutions to take advantage of dedicated hardware and
software in the form of intelligent systems.
According
to Dallas, companies across industries have been using the initial CTP
to develop a new generation of devices that can connect and participate
within an enterprise IT infrastructure. The announcement today builds on
that momentum by offering new capabilities and enhanced performance.
“The
big benefit for organizations is that now you can create devices with
the confidence that they are able to leverage the powerful enterprise
and IT pro tools offered by Microsoft,” Dallas says. “This is the
foundation for building intelligent systems, and it’s available today.”
Microsoft
entered the embedded marketplace more than 15 years ago and continues
to drive the development of platforms that provide a small and
customizable operating system footprint for devices spanning a broad
range of silicon choices and a variety of industries — and these devices
will continue to be supported by the Windows Embedded Compact platform.
In parallel,
Microsoft also delivers platforms that provide the power of Windows to
create specialized, differentiated enterprise devices within intelligent
systems, including digital signage, kiosks, point of service, medical
devices, thin clients and others. Looking ahead, these devices within
intelligent systems will be supported by the Windows Embedded wave of
products built on Windows 8 technology, allowing them to be integrated
with Microsoft’s core enterprise solutions such as Microsoft SQL Server,
System Center and Forefront.
