Windows Embedded 8.1 Industry now generally available

Posted By Cuong Pham
Windows Embedded product manager

At Windows Embedded, we’re excited to be part of Microsoft’s announcement today: the general availability of Windows 8.1. This latest chapter in the Windows evolution takes Microsoft, our partners and customers, and consumers to new heights across a world of devices. It’s the realization of value driven by increased productivity and ultra-connectivity that extends from our personal lives to our workplaces, from the cities we live in to global business and beyond.

With the release of Windows 8.1 and Windows Embedded 8.1 Industry, Microsoft achieves a tremendous milestone: The simultaneous availability of the latest Windows technologies across a wide array of hardware for consumers and for businesses, from the convenience and mobility of tablets and 2-in-1s, to the productive experience expected from laptops and all-in-ones, to ATMs, POS terminals, sonograms and other specialized industry devices.

We celebrate the increasingly elegant and compelling Windows devices that are at the heart of creating experiences that keep pace with our lives, and we at Windows Embedded are excited to extend that commitment – powering these experiences on specialized industry devices that deliver unmatched value to the enterprise via intelligent systems. When these industry devices—those “things” in the Internet of Things—are connected, they unleash enormous potential through “big data” (i.e. data aggregation, data-processing and decision-making activities) that take advantage of the information potential emanating from the device. From POS devices in retail, to medical sonogram machines in healthcare, to automated, interconnected global manufacturing solutions—these devices provide businesses with real-time access to critical information.

It’s the same anywhere, anytime access to critical information that consumers demand of their devices; one part of the sweeping arc of connectivity and mobility that Microsoft’s bold vision creates. Windows 8.1 and Windows Embedded 8.1 Industry are the new technologies that power that vision as it touches your life—from the smartphone that’s always with you to the multi-story robots that assembled your most recent car.

Read more about how Windows Embedded 8.1 Industry is bringing Windows 8.1 innovations to industry devices, and get an overview of updates to the Windows Embedded platform here. Read more about Windows Embedded 8.1 Industry’s new technical features here. You can also download the evaluation version today.