CE6 Virtual Launch Keynote: Post 3 (Q&A)

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Q: Will the real-time capability of Windows CE be impacted by the new kernel changes?
A: No.  CE6 maintains the same level of real-time capability you are used to having from Windows CE.

Q: Now that Platform Builder is a Visual Studio plug-in, what does the toolkit cost?
A: The toolkit is $999 US like before, but now you get both managed and native capability, which you used to have to buy Visual Studio Pro for.

Q: What's the difference between open source and shared source?
A: With shared source you have to agree to a shared source agreement, but you also get to keep all of your own changes to yourself.  You own the IP.

Q: ... something about licensing and Vista and XP Embedded.  Sorry.  The answer was basically that we're still doing tons of work on XP Embedded.

Q: Why is Microsoft interested in the embedded marketplace?
A: (My vast simplification) There is a lot of business there and the market continues to grow.

Q: What new user scenarios does Windows Embedded enable?
A: Three major ones.  (1) Consumer electronics in the home, including the NMD feature pack features in Windows CE.  (2) Wireless projectors in the workplace, in conjunction with Vista wireless projector connection.  (3) Cellular connection, the inclusion of the WM cellcore component in the embedded CE release.

Q: Why should I care about the XP Embedded feature pack?
A: This release addresses the major feedback Microsoft got from customers about things that XP embedded needs.  Image size reduction, security fixes, USB boot, file based filters, command line build scripting tools.

Q: What do you see for the future of Windows Embedded?
A: The future is as bright as it was 10 years ago.  There are literally billions of devices that will be able to run our operating systems.  These embedded capabilities are becoming the fabric of everyday devices.

The panel discussion is done, but apparently you can continue to submit questions throughout the day and they'll be answered online.  I am sure that is somewhere on the virtual launch web site, https://www.microsoft.com/windows/embedded/ce6launch/default.mspx.

This concludes my live posting of the keynote.  If you've signed up to attend today's virtual launch, don't forget to watch the on-demand talks and go through the online labs yourself!

 

UPDATE: I am adding links to the new eval downloads!

Also the virtual labs are available online to everyone:  https://msdn.microsoft.com/virtuallabs/winxpembed/default.aspx