Unsurprisingly, much of their efforts have been devoted to controlling robots, such as this rover, this air hockey playing automaton and this wheeled bot. Microsoft's IoT team and Pi-owners have been busy building since the preview of Windows 10 IoT Core was released for the Pi and other IoT boards in May this year. This aim of lowering the barrier to building appliances is complemented by the Pi's low price and ability to control a range of hardware via its general-purpose input output (GPIO) pins. However, Microsoft is primarily pushing Windows 10 IoT Core - which can run on hardware with or without screens - as an OS that makes it easier to create IoT devices. While the Windows Store has faced criticism for the poor selection of apps on offer - there are still a wide variety of apps that could be ported - although the performance on the Pi's smartphone-oriented hardware may vary. Existing Windows Store apps for Windows 8 machines should also be able to be converted into Universal Windows apps, without 'much effort', according to Microsoft.

Windows 10 on the Pi should be able to run any Universal Windows app. Universal Windows apps adapt their look and feel depending on which device they are running on - scaling back features where they are not supported by a particular platform but without breaking the app. These are apps that are written to run on many different types of devices - PCs, phones, tablets, Xboxes and IoT-related machines like the Pi. What it will run are Universal Windows apps. Windows 10 on the Pi won't run traditional Windows desktop applications with a graphical interface, such as Microsoft Word or Internet Explorer, as these are incompatible with the Pi's ARM-based hardware. If you're looking for that on the Pi you're better off sticking with something like the Linux-based Raspbian. Which apps will it run?Īs mentioned, this isn't a replacement for your Windows desktop. Apps are loaded onto the Pi from a Windows 10 desktop machine.

The system will only display the interface of a single app at a time, although additional software can be run in the background. Instead, Windows 10 IoT Core will show users a single full-screen Universal Windows app. A fresh install of Windows 10 on the Raspberry Pi doesn't boot to the familiar Windows desktop. It's not Windows as most people understand it.

It's primarily designed for developers and hardware hackers who want to prototype IoT appliances using the Pi.

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