Microsoft has announced some significant updates coming to its Windows for IoT platform. All the changes will arrive over the company months and will focus on Microsoft's plans to connect Windows 10 IoT Core and Windows 10 IoT Enterprise next year.
By integrating the two service together, Microsoft will significantly cut down the size of both products. As the company works towards that goal, it will release several major new features during the remainder of this year.
In a blog post referencing Build 2020 announcements, Microsoft points to the following features coming to Windows IoT:
“Improved OS capabilities, silicon support expansion and cloud capabilities. New OS capabilities will include OS size reduction of up to 40%, which can enable smaller-footprint devices. New cloud capabilities will include over-the-air (OTA) updates and capabilities to run Linux workloads on Windows through support for Linux Containers with Azure IoT Edge on Windows.”
Ongoing Windows 10 IoT Core Support
It's worth noting the combination of Core and Enterprise IoT solutions will retain the Windows 10 IoT Enterprise branding. It's an interesting change from Microsoft because the company previously stated IoT Core and IoT Enterprise were for different types of workloads.
However, IoT Core features will fold into Enterprise. Furthermore, Microsoft is not abandoning Windows 10 IoT Core. In fact, the company says it will continue to build tools for the service until support ends on January 2029.
Microsoft partners will also continue to support for Windows for IoT, including ASUS and Avent enabling system on chips (SOCs) on NXP's I.MX8 processors with Windows 10 IoT Core.
