Line between PCs and devices is fading

Microsoft expects to see its embedded platforms appear in more appliances and other business kit in future, as the lines blur between devices and PCs. Many devices are becoming more powerful and being integrated into enterprise infrastructure alongside the PC workstations used for more typical productivity purposes, the company said.

While many devices are simple appliances, others such as projectors are becoming more intelligent as the cost of processing power falls. These devices are increasingly being connected to networks to consume data, but also to publish information back to the network, according to Dave Baker, embedded developer evangelist at Microsoft’s developer and platform group.

Microsoft’s embedded platforms consist of Windows CE, which underlies Windows Mobile and was given a refresh late last year, and XP Embedded (XPE), a modular version of the firm’s desktop platform that can be stripped down to just those components required for a particular application.

XPE already powers many thin-client terminals in enterprise environments, but a variant of this called Windows Embedded for Point of Service (Wepos) is also found in retail sales terminals.

“Retail is often overlooked in IT, but many shop floors are the equivalent of a complete business network, and this is a very challenging environment,” said Baker.

For this reason, many devices running embedded platforms are designed to work offline, or cope with intermittent network connectivity. However, it is also possible for administrators to control such devices with management tools designed for PCs.

“XPE can be managed via SMS, and an SMS client comes with Wepos, but stores often don’t want to have to manage these devices [because of the cost and effort] ­ they just harden them and leave them running,” Baker said.

While devices are increasingly based on PC technologies, they face a different set of challenges, often needing to operate reliably without user intervention for lengthy periods of time. “The first thing is that a device needs to be secure, as kit such as ATMs are often deployed in an environment where it is impossible to physically secure them,” said Baker.

As yet there are few devices running embedded versions of Windows in a typical enterprise environment. Routers and other network appliances tend to be based on Linux or proprietary platforms, but Baker said that a growing number are now based on Microsoft software.

“Linux is popular because it’s open source, and so a device vendor can take it and turn it into what they want, but you may not want this in an enterprise environment,” Baker said, as it may be troublesome to support in future. Meanwhile, developers can target devices based on Microsoft’s embedded platforms using the same Visual Studio and .Net Framework used for desktop Windows applications, he added.

In the future, there will be a modular version of Windows Vista optimised for embedded applications, according to Baker, and many devices will become more PC-like in their capabilities. “We could move towards a spectrum of hardware where PCs are just one end of this, blending the two categories so that the PC is just seen as a high-end device,” he said.

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