In a somewhat quiet move, Microsoft has made available the RTM (release to manufacturer) build of Windows Embedded Compact 7, what some are calling its “‘other’ tablet operating system.”
The RTM build can be downloaded here, and will last for a 180 day trial period. Embedded Compact 7 is a version of Windows 7 that can be embedded at the hardware level. The OS supports multi-touch, allowing for touch controls similar to what has become common and known on the iOS platform.
The following list contains the feature set of Windows Embedded Compact 7:
- Support for ARM v7New developer and designer tools
- New technology for creating user interfaces
- New SMP (symmetric multiprocessing) support for x86 & ARM, MIPS
- New multimedia player, with customizable UI
- New version of Internet Explorer (which is based on IE 7 with some “performance updates” from IE8)
- Flash 10.1 support (which requires an Adobe license by OEMs who want to include that feature)
- Silverlight for Embedded support
- Improved Connectivity to PCs, servers (NDIS 6.1 support)
The browser will support both Flash and Silverlight. According to ZDnet, the OS was supposed to RTM before the end of 2010, a deadline that was not met. According to Microsoft material on the matter, Windows Embedded Compact 7 is designed for “Mobile and Smaller footprint, fully-customizable single-function embedded devices.”
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