Microsoft says Windows Embedded POSReady 7 has been released to manufacturing and will be available next month. The Windows 7-based point-of-sale operating system offers features such as write filter management, a custom shell launcher, 36 different languages, and increased componentization, according to the company.
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Microsoft’s Windows Embedded POSReady 7 was announced in January in conjunction with the National Retail Federation (NRF) show in New York, at which time the first Community Technical Preview (CTP) was released. A second CTP followed in late April, adding some features which are detailed further below.
The OS and software stack for retailers is pointed to replace the currently offered Windows Embedded POSReady 2009 — announced at the 2009 NRF Show — and the previous Windows Embedded for Point of Service (WEPOS). According to Microsoft, Windows Embedded POSReady 7 is based on Windows 7 and benefits from many of its new features, including power management and manageability enhancements.
Microsoft’s Windows Embedded POSReady 7
(Click to enlarge)
When it released the initial CTP in January, Microsoft highlighted “embedded-specific enhancements tohelp lock down public facing devices.” These were said to include:
* write filters forcreating stateless or semi-stateless environments
* suppression of unwanted dialog message boxes
* a keyboard filter for suppressing unwanted keystrokes such as CTRL+ALT+DEL,ALT+F4, Windows+L, and custom-defined keystrokecombinations
The CTP2 release added new write filter management tools that now provide a user interface. It also included the Enhanced Write Filter (EWF) Provider and File Based Write Filter (FBWF) Provider, delivering access to the Write Filter APIs through the Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) layer.
Microsoft says the Providers allow remote management of both EWF and FBWF. We’d guess they’ll also help POSReady 7 work with Windows Embedded Device Management 2011, since this management solution is designed to, among other things, distribute software to embedded devices even when their flash drives had been previously protected by the write filters.
Another key feature added to the CTP2 version of POSReady 7 was its Shell Launcher functionality, which allows replacing the Explorer shell with a custom shell. “Shell Launcher enables you to concentrate onyour custom shell application while Shell Launcher handlesissues such as executing the Run and RunOnce registry keysand restarting the custom shell if it crashes,” Microsoft said in release notes supplied with the revamped OS.
According to Microsoft, Windows Embedded POSReady 7 supports 36 different language packs and allows five to be installed at any given time. It also allows removal of media decoders that might otherwise have needed separate licensing, and has now been designed so that unwanted features can be completely removed from a device using the DISM.EXE command line utility, the company adds.
Further information
According to Microsoft, Windows Embedded POSReady 7 will be available to OEM and volume licensing customers starting on July 1. While the CTP program has concluded, the CTP2 build may still be downloaded on the Microsoft Connect website.
