I had the pleasure of attending the DEMO MANIA session on Windows Embedded Standard 2011, also called “Quebec” or plain Windows 7 Embedded.

Due to the fact that it was a DEMO session, the amount information given were minimal and the visual presentation was in focus.

The embedded team has come up with a treat for all of us technical guys. They have prepared Windows 7 for embedded devices, and in such a way that when you boot up for the first time, a menu appears to let you chose which Device drivers you need for the system (the ones it did not find it self). After this, the system let’s you pick and chose your desired configuration, meaning that you now have a chance to deselect IE, or just the parts of IE you don’t want… And off course not only IE, but every little piece of Windows 7 you select and deselect as of your likings (That is WOW!). In Short it is a full Windows 7 with all features, (silverlight etc.) where you deselect features to make it fit your device and wishes.

I got a hold of an early preview version of Windows Standard 2011 and when I got home, I immediately started to install the version onto my Asus Eee 901 just to see the how it worked! And you can really optimize a laptop with this kind of version :-)

But…. It was brought to my attention that it was illegal to install Windows Embedded Standard on a Notebook, and therefore I have now erased it, and cannot show any pictures of my progress with the adventure (I will not even explain about it).

Windows 7 Embedded Standard 2011 as OS for Windows Mobile?

But with all of this power at your hands, and the statements from Microsoft that the future of their mobile phones will run on at least 1GHz processors…. Hmmm wouldn’t be weird if Microsoft didn’t use this as a new operating system (OS) for Their Mobile products too?? Let me answer that! Yes it would.. With this product at their hands, Microsoft is finallly able to have – One Operating System For All platforms – A vision they had for years, and a vision Mr. Steve Balmer talked about on his last visit in Denmark.

And here is the more technical information:

Processor Architecture
Support for multiple processor architectures
· x86
· x64

Tools
Improved developer experiences:
· Wizard experience with Image Build Wizard (IBW)
· Advanced experience with Image Configuration Editor (ICE)

Componentization
The right level of granularity to build special-purpose devices
· Hundreds of feature packages based on latest innovations for Windows 7
· Embedded enabling features such as Enhanced Write Filter, File Based Write Filter, Registry Filter, Hibernate Once Resume Many, and Custom Shell to fulfill embedded-specific requirements
· Large number of driver sets for compatibility with growing set of device hardware and peripherals

Application Compatibility
Applications and drivers for Windows 7 can work on Windows Embedded Standard 2011 without difficult, expensive, and time-consuming porting effort

Enterprise Connectivity and Manageability
Support for Active Directory, Domain Join, Group Policies, Network Access Protection, and IPv6 to enable connectivity and manageability with Windows Server, System Center Configuration Manager, System Center Operations Manager, and Windows Server Update Services

User Experiences
Rich, interactive user experiences with Windows Aero and Windows Touch and Gesture. A stable framework Windows Presentation Foundation for building new and innovative experiences.

Video resources

 http://channel9.msdn.com/posts/Charles/Windows-Embedded-Past-Present-and-Future/

Websites

 http://windowsembedded.com

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/windowsembedded/ce/default.aspx

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/windowsembedded/standard/default.aspx

Blogs

Olivier Bloch - http://blogs.msdn.com/obloch/

http://blogs.msdn.com/mikehall

http://blogs.msdn.com/jcoyne