Microsoft Launches Windows Embedded Compact 7 CTP

And the award for Most Boring And Non-descriptive Press Release Title 2010 goes to Microsoft for “Microsoft Outlines Business Opportunities for Hardware Makers Across Windows Platform“. The press release itself appears to be about as interesting as watching paint dry, until you reach that small part where it says Microsoft has released the first community technology preview of Windows Embedded Compact 7 (1).

I have to admit that I lost track of Microsoft’s insane product naming schemes a long time ago, but if I have my facts straight, Windows Embedded Compact 7 (2) is simply the latest version of what was once called Windows CE. There’s also Windows Embedded Standard, which has nothing to do with Windows CE but is in fact the follow-up to Windows XP Embedded. You’re not the only one who’s confused.

“The Windows platform creates tangible opportunities for our hardware partners to diversify their product portfolios and deliver rich computing experiences across a broad range of devices,” says Steve Guggenheimer, corporate vice president of Microsoft’s OEM division, “The Windows Embedded Compact 7 (3) toolkit will allow for richer customer experiences on a variety of specialized devices. We look forward to continued collaboration with our hardware partners to bring the very best experiences to customers worldwide.”

That’s what we call non-descriptive press talk some poor communications “expert” poured his heart and soul into. Now, let’s toss that nonsense aside and look at what Windows Embedded Compact 7 (4) has to offer compared to the previous version, Windows CE 6.0.

Well, the press release isn’t particularly helpful there, either, so if you don’t mind, I’m just going to have to rely on our good anonymous friends over at Wikipedia who gives a nice and clear overview of the new features coming in Windows Embedded Compact 7 (5).

  • Dual Core CPU Support (SMP, ARMv6)
  • WIFI Positioning System
  • Bluetooth 3.0 + HS
  • Cellcore
  • DLNA (Digital Living Network Alliance)
  • DRM technology
  • Media Transfer Protocol
  • IE8 Rendering Rich Media Plug-Ins
  • NDIS 6.1 support
  • UX C ++ XAML API using technologies like Windows Presentation Foundation and Silverlight for attractive and functional user interfaces
  • Advance touch and gesture Input

Even though Guggenheimer was busy trotting out the unicorns to promote Windows Embedded Compact 7 (yes, I’m in a bet that I will be able to spell that name out fully ten times in one article – I’m at 6), he still had the time to hold a “Yo mamma is so fat” contest with Google’s Android. He called Android tablets an “experiment”, and that he expects “Microsoft’s support for Windows 7 will be seen as more valuable over time”. He cites the netbook world as an example. Note that he isn’t talking about Windows Embedded Compact 7 (7), but Windows 7.

We’ll see. Everybody who’d pick Android as their tablet operating system, please raise your hand. Now, everyone who’d pick Windows 7 as their tablet operating system, raise your hand. Without actually counting any hands, I’m pretty sure the former just won this one.

Oops. Windows Embedded Compact 7 (8). Windows Embedded Compact 7 (9). Windows Embedded Compact 7 (10). There, ten times. I guess the person I’m betting with forgot that I get to write whatever I want up here.

28 Comments

  1. 2010-06-01 5:42 pm
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  2. 2010-06-01 6:12 pm
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      • 2010-06-02 11:45 am
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  3. 2010-06-01 6:17 pm
  4. 2010-06-01 6:23 pm
    • 2010-06-02 10:37 am
      • 2010-06-02 2:00 pm
  5. 2010-06-01 7:03 pm
    • 2010-06-01 7:25 pm
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      • 2010-06-02 10:42 am
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  6. 2010-06-01 7:34 pm
  7. 2010-06-01 9:01 pm
  8. 2010-06-02 2:50 am
  9. 2010-06-02 7:59 am
  10. 2010-06-02 11:39 am