Is Microsoft Pleasing Embedded Developers?

Darryl K. Taft,

With more smart devices hooking onto the Internet, Microsoft has had to raise its  game in what it offers to embedded developers, says the company’s Kevin Dallas

Microsoft will announce the Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 Professional Edition with Microsoft Developer Network (MSDN) Embedded subscription and Windows Embedded Developer Update service at the Embedded Systems Conference (ESC) Silicon Valley 2009 this week. The company also will announce expanded software-plus-services offerings for the Windows Embedded platform.

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What do the new offerings do for developers, and how committed is Microsoft to the Windows Embedded developer community? eWEEK asked Kevin Dallas, general manager of the Windows Embedded business unit at Microsoft.

The new offerings add developer services to the Windows Embedded platform, he told us, providing a cost-effective support for developers.

“The first step in executing on the comprehensive Windows Embedded services vision is continuing our investment in developers, helping them to create smart, connected, service-oriented devices,” Dallas said.

“We knew we needed a better strategy to empower developers to build applications,” for the increasing numbers of smart devices connected to the Internet, said Dallas. “Today, if you want to build a connected device it’s quite challenging. This new offer gives developers the ability to access our full software portfolio and participate in the industry’s largest developer network.”

Microsoft offers a single subscription to a variety of operating systems, in Visual Studio 2008 Professional Edition with MSDN Embedded. The subscription includes the Visual Studio suite of software development tools and the following Windows Embedded platforms and technologies:

  • Windows Embedded CE, a 32-bit native, componentised, hard real-time operating system designed for small-footprint devices
  • Windows Embedded Standard, the next generation of Windows XP Embedded for advanced enterprise devices
  • Windows Embedded NavReady 2009, which provides innovative technologies to help build devices optimised for portable navigation
  • Windows Embedded POSReady 2009, a flexible operating system designed to seamlessly connect point-of-service (POS) solutions with peripherals, servers and services

MSDN Premium subscribers also get access to the MSDN Embedded, Dallas said.