Windows Embedded (Think Kiosk)

Today Microsoft released some more details on their road map for releasing the VNext of Windows Embedded.  Normally I don’t get interested in these things because grocery stores, airlines, GPS and others have shown how terrible of a user experience they can provide.  Embedded stuff always used to be kind of a world of its own but I think with Windows 8 we are seeing things come back together.

You can read the full press release here but here are a few key points I found interesting…

-  According to analyst firm IDC, the market for intelligent systems will swell substantially in the next few years, from 800 million units today to more than 2.3 billion by 2015.

-Windows Embedded Enterprise v.Next, providing full Windows application compatibility and the power of Microsoft’s premium operating systems on embedded devices, will be available for use in a number of different devices, such as ATMs and kiosks, a quarter after Windows 8 is generally available for PCs

- Windows Embedded Standard v.Next will support the ARM architecture, in addition to continuing support for the Intel x86 and x64 architectures

Like I said I normally don’t pay much attention to Windows Embedded but I think with some of the changes happening, the similar application models/compatibility – the potential is there to make this interesting.  Maturing of the touch interface and Kinect also have impact here.  I wouldn’t expect a better checkout experience at your local grocery store real soon, but there might be hope.