OS Development (Compact 2013)

3/26/2014

With Windows Embedded Compact 2013, you can create a customized operating system (OS) that contains only the components that your device needs. The build process compiles and links the OS design components, and creates a binary image file that you can then deploy to a Windows Embedded Compact device.

As part of the installation process, Compact 2013 installs the programs and files necessary to build the OS image. It also installs Platform Builder, a Visual Studio add-in that provides an integrated development environment (IDE) for building an OS.

To build an OS run-time image that can run on a Windows Embedded Compact device, you must first create an OS design. The OS design specifies which components to include in the OS for the intended target device. After Windows Embedded Compact builds the OS design, it creates the OS run-time image file. This guide explains how to design and build an OS run-time image that you can then download to a Windows Embedded Compact device.

Before you can begin designing or building an OS design, you must first install required software on your development computer. Your development computer also must meet all hardware requirements. For a list of these software and hardware requirements, see the Prerequisites section of Install Windows Embedded Compact 2013.

In This Section

  • Design an OS
    Describes how to specify and include the components of an OS design.
  • Build an OS
    Describes how to build an OS design into an OS image that you can deploy to a device, and how to optimize the process of building the OS design.
  • Build an SDK
    Describes how to create a new SDK for your OS design.

See Also

Concepts

Developer Guides