Windows Embedded Compact 7 RTM now available for download

Windows Embedded Compact 7 has hit RTM and is now available for download. Win EC7 is Microsoft's version of Windows that's aimed at the embedded market, but the multi-touch OS has been heralded by some as Microsoft's other tablet platform.

The Win EC7 'Evaluation Edition' 180-day trial is available here, and comes packing 'everything you need to build a broad range of small footprint devices.' You'll need Visual Studio 2008 SP1 installed, along with .NET 3.5, but the portable operating system comes with:

• support for ARM v7
• SMP (symmetric multiprocessing) support for x86 as well as ARM and MIPS
• Internet Explorer based on IE7 with 'performance updates' from IE8
• Flash 10.1 support (requiring an Adobe OEM license)
• Siverlight
• Multimedia player with customizable UI

While Win EC7 was meant to be released to manufacturers before the end of 2010, it's better late than never. You might even see Win EC7 joining the plethora of mobile operating systems powering a few tablets in the near future. Let's just hope it's a little more optimized for the touchable small-screen than full-blown Windows 7.

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