Windows Embedded and Mobile Overview

Embedded platforms are built on embedded OSs but are not always synchronized with them. The current and future versions of the Windows embedded OSs and embedded platforms, and the relationship between each platform and its underlying OS, are shown here.

The current version of the Windows Embedded Standard embedded OS is Standard 7, which is based on Windows 7. The only platform based on Standard is POSReady, which will likely be updated to use Standard 7 in the near future.

The current version of the Windows Embedded Compact embedded OS (formerly Windows CE) is also 7, although Compact 7 is technically a Community Technology Preview (CTP) release (colored gray in the above illustration).

A key platform built on Compact is Windows Mobile, and the current version is Windows Mobile 6.5. Windows Mobile is being renamed as Windows Embedded Handheld; it will likely offer backward compatibility for organization-specific line-of-business applications that were built on Windows Mobile. Microsoft has said that a second version, called V2 in the illustration, will be based on Compact 7.