14 DAY TRIAL // Because the next iteration of Windows Embedded Compact has been cooking for quite some time now, suffering a few delays, questions have emerged around the possibility that Microsoft might nix the platform. Olivier Bloch, Microsoft Embedded technical evangelist, underlines that nothing could be further from the truth. Not only is Windows CE not dead, but baking time is almost over. Microsoft is currently working to wrap up the development process for the successor of Windows CE 6.0, and a release is expected soon.
“Windows CE is NOT dead. Our devs our heads down [sic] finalizing Windows Embedded Compact 7 that will ship soon and that Microsoft will support over the next 10 years (at least). Windows Embedded team is investing a lot in adding new features, creating new tools to support these new features, analyzing the Embedded market really seriously… Does that sound like a dead product? Definitively not,” Bloch states.
Further proofs that Windows Embedded Compact 7 is being built and will be offered to customers are the two operating systems that have it at the foundation. “By the way, Windows Phone 7 is based on the Windows Embedded Compact 7 core,” Bloch adds. At the same time, there is another product that has Windows Embedded Compact 7 at the core, namely Windows Embedded Automotive 7, which is expected in the future.
The fact that the latest version of Windows Embedded has been rebranded to contain the number “7,” comes to represent the evolution of the platform and not any connection with Windows 7. Windows Embedded Compact 7 is the successor of Windows CE 6.0, therefore the “7” but is in no way using Windows 7 code, such as Windows Embedded Standard 7 for example, formerly codename Quebec, and Windows Embedded Standard 2011.
Still, there seems to be plenty of Windows 7 to go around, and certainly, Microsoft is not shy when it comes down to riding the wave of success of the latest Windows client. But, in all fairness, Windows 7 is a solid release, top notch in terms of reliability, stability, performance, compatibility, security, etc., so it might not be such a bad idea that the Redmond company use the OS in order to overhaul additional platforms.
UPDATE: Extensive changes to correct erroneous statements that Windows Embedded Compact 7 is connected to Windows 7. It is not!