What is "Windows XP Embedded"?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Todd
  • Start date Start date
T

Todd

Hi All,

On a Point of Sale (POS) system I am trying to upgrade,
the software vendor states:

System Requirements
...
Compatible Operating Systems:
Windows XP Professional SP3, WEPOS (Windows XP Embedded for POS),

What is "Windows XP Embedded for POS" and where is it purchased?
(I have access to regular XP-SP3-OEM)

Many thanks,
-T
 
Todd said:
On a Point of Sale (POS) system I am trying to upgrade,
the software vendor states:

System Requirements
...
Compatible Operating Systems:
Windows XP Professional SP3, WEPOS (Windows XP Embedded for POS),

What is "Windows XP Embedded for POS" and where is it purchased?
(I have access to regular XP-SP3-OEM)
Click to expand...

Windows XP Embedded
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_xp_embedded#Windows_XP_Embedded

WXP Embedded is minimalized install of that OS because, after all, you
don't need to run Hearts, Paint, Wordpad, and other bloatware on your
electronic cash register.

Depending on just WHAT you have for hardware for your POS terminal, you
could do a full install of Windows XP but I don't know if you can use an
upgrade version to move away from an embedded version. You might have
to buy a full retail or OEM version rather than an upgrade version.

You didn't say to WHAT you intended to upgrade or migrate. You're
posting in a Windows XP newsgroup, so why would you blow away the
Windows XP (embedded) on your POS for a full retail or OEM version of
the same Windows XP? Why would you want all that fluff on your POS
system? It's supposed to be for your business, not to play Solitaire.

Is the shop or jobber that built your POS device no longer in business
or no longer supporting what they sold you? Is that why you're doing
your own support and thinking of replacing a minimalized version that is
optimized for a POS system to wanting to add a lot of non-business bloat
to it? There's some logic missing and why I can't see why you are
trying to move from Windows XP to Windows XP.
 
Todd said:
Hi All,

On a Point of Sale (POS) system I am trying to upgrade,
the software vendor states:

System Requirements
...
Compatible Operating Systems:
Windows XP Professional SP3, WEPOS (Windows XP Embedded for
POS),

What is "Windows XP Embedded for POS" and where is it purchased?
(I have access to regular XP-SP3-OEM)
Click to expand...

As VanguardLH said, Windows XP Embedded is a minimized install of
Windows XP, and the Windows XP Embedded for POS is optimized for and
includes drivers for Point of Service applications. WEPOS must be
purchased through a Windows Embedded Distributor; it is not available
through retail channels.

What/why exactly are you upgrading, and why aren't you going through
your POS vendor? Generally, WEPOS updates are available through the
VAR / OEM for your hardware, which is often the vendor of the POS
software as well. Just as often, the software vendor is better able
to service and support your POS if you stick with equipment (both
hardware and OS) that they have provided, making any savings on going
to a third party for either minimal at best... In other words,
without knowing a bit more about the exact circumstances it is hard to
provide any real constructive advice.
 
WEPOS must be
purchased through a Windows Embedded Distributor; it is not available
through retail channels.
Click to expand...

Exactly what I was looking for. I need to purchase the POS terminal
directly from a POS seller.

Thank you!

-T
 
Todd said:
Cool. Then I could use it to upgrade a w2k POS system. The two
POS terminals are really old (8+ yrs), so it may be the better
part of wisdom just to get new ones. But, the quality of
hardware has gone down the toilet since then, so ...
Click to expand...

This isn't just a "drop the CD in and install it on the POS terminal".
You install the development toolkit on a separate PC, design the XP
Embedded image by including the components and services you need,
include the componentized device drivers for the POS terminal (from
either using a Target Analyzer or driver package from the OEM), build
the image and deploy to the boot device. Here's an overview:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd143251(v=winembedded.5).aspx

Also, images that are built with the eval version expire (after 90
days I think) and the entire toolkit expires after 120 so you won't be
able to build a permanent image.

Food for thought...
 
This isn't just a "drop the CD in and install it on the POS terminal".
You install the development toolkit on a separate PC, design the XP
Embedded image by including the components and services you need,
include the componentized device drivers for the POS terminal (from
either using a Target Analyzer or driver package from the OEM), build
the image and deploy to the boot device. Here's an overview:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd143251(v=winembedded.5).aspx

Also, images that are built with the eval version expire (after 90
days I think) and the entire toolkit expires after 120 so you won't be
able to build a permanent image.

Food for thought...
Click to expand...

Thank you! Sound like it is better to just buy the whole thing
put together for you by a POS vendor.

-T
 
Are you sure that "POS" stands for "Point of Sale"? :-)

---- Sorry, I just couldn't resist ----
Click to expand...

Okay. Scratching my head. Whatever do you mean. Hmmm.
Oh! NO NO NO NO. I am asking about XP. You must
of thought I meant Vista/7

:-)

Humor from the I.T. Crowd:

-T
 
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