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Windows POSReady vs. XP Professional

We know 3 key differences between Windows® XP Professional and Windows® Embedded POSReady (Point of Service / WePOS):

Licensing differences – Windows® XP Professional is licensed to support general purpose PC applications that can include Office Automation software such as Microsoft Office. Windows® Embedded for Point of Service is an embedded operating system that is licensed for use on dedicated devices that provide only POS functionality. No activation is needed for POSReady and WePOS.

Distribution differences - Windows® Embedded POSReady is only available either preinstalled on POS devices from Microsoft OEM partners or as an upgrade on existing POS devices. Windows® XP Professional is available preinstalled on PCs or POS devices, as an upgrade to existing systems, through Microsoft Volume Licensing programs, or direct to the end user by means of retail sales channels.

Functionality differences – While much of the functionality of Windows® Embedded for Point of Service is the same as with Windows® XP Professional, hardware requirements for Windows® Embedded for Point of Service are lower than for Windows® XP Professional. Additionally, Windows® Embedded for Point of Service provides multilingual user interface (MUI) language support for 33 core languages as part of setup, compared to the full language pack support provided by Windows® XP Professional.
 

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Product Comparison Matrix

  XP Professional WePOS XP Embedded Windows CE
Overview Operating system aimed at the desktop user and deployed in retail when a single OS platform is required for the office and the store Retail-optimized operating system for POS devices that is secure and easy to manage, and offers retail device Plug and Play functionality Embedded operating system aimed at upgrading installed POS devices and offering full configurability and advanced security and management features Embedded operating system platform for smaller footprint or mobile POS systems
Device Examples PC-POS system that also provides general purpose PC functionality (i.e., running Microsoft Office) Point of sale terminal, information kiosk, self-checkout Closed POS terminals that runns out of Flash-Disc-Drive. Small-footprint price checker, signature capture device, mobile inventory device
Hardware
RAM Minimum 128 MB, 256 MB recommended Minimum 64 MB, 128 MB recommended Depends on configuration; typical is minimum 64 MB, 128 MB recommended Depends on configuration: typical is minimum 8 MB, 32 MB recommended
Processor Pentium III 400 MHz or better recommended Pentium II 233 MHz or better recommended Pentium II 233 MHz or better recommended x86, MIPS32, ARM, SH4 processors supported
Local Storage (Hard Drive) Supports hard drive, RAM drive - third party Supports RAM Drive, wear-leveling Flash disk, and hard drive; Minimum 280 MB Supports RAM Drive, Flash disk, hard drive; size depends on configuration, can be as small as 20 MB Supports Flash disk, RAM drive, and hard drive; size depends on configuration, can be as small as 300 KB
POS Peripheral Support Unified POS: OPOS or JavaPOS Unified POS: POS for .NET, OPOS, or JavaPOS Unified POS: OPOS or JavaPOS Few native, minimal OPOS
Peripheral support verification by Veritest Yes, with POS for .NET 1.1 add-in Yes No No
Plug and Play retail peripheral support Yes, for PC peripherals; no retail peripherals Yes, for PC peripherals and POS for .NET retail peripherals Yes, for PC peripherals; no retail peripherals Limited
Application Model Support
.NET Yes Yes Yes Yes (.NET Compact Framework only)
Win32 API Yes Yes Yes Yes (limited subset of Win32 APIs supported)
Java Third party JVM required Third party JVM required Third party JVM required Third party JVM required
C/C++ Yes Yes Yes Yes
Visual Basic Yes Yes Yes Yes
Application support verification by Veritest No Yes No No
Broadcast loading of terminals - Remote Boot Requires third party tools Yes Yes No
 
  XP Professional WePOS XP Embedded Windows CE
Management
Setup

Installation CD providing support for:

  • Remote Installation Services (RIS)
  • CD install
  • Network install from floppy
  • Remote boot
  • Plug and Play device installation
  • Networking configuration
  • Unattended installation

Installation CD providing support for:

  • Remote Installation Services (RIS)
  • CD install
  • Network install from floppy
  • Remote boot
  • Plug and Play device installation
  • Networking configuration
  • Unattended installation
 Windows® Embedded Studio – Target Designer Toolkit Windows® CE Platform Builder Toolkit
General systems management approach Systems Management Server (SMS) or third party solutions Systems Management Server (SMS), Device Update Agent (DUA) or third party solutions Systems Management Server (SMS), Device Update Agent (DUA) or third party solutions Systems Management Server (SMS) or third party solutions
Device Servicing Yes Yes Yes Yes
Patch Management / Software Maintenance Utilities Windows Update, Software Update Services (SUS), Systems Management Server (SMS), and third party solutions Windows Update, Software Update Services (SUS), Systems Management Server (SMS), Device Update Agent (DUA) and third party solutions Software Update Services (SUS), Systems Management Server (SMS), Device Update Agent (DUA) and third party solutions Systems Management Server (SMS)
Diagnostic Tools Yes - Watson Technologies Yes - Watson Technologies Yes - Watson Technologies Yes
Key Features Comparison
Windows® Media Player Yes Optional component Available component Available component
Direct X Yes Optional component Available component No; DirectDraw for Microsoft Windows® CE supported
Internet Information Services (IIS) Yes Optional component Available component No
PnP support for retail peripherals Yes, with POS for .NET 1.1 add-in Yes No No
Language Support Full Windows® XP localized language packs available Multilingual User Interface (MUI) support for OS menu items and applications for 33 languages: Arabic, Brazilian, Bulgarian, Chinese Simplified, Chinese Traditional, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Estonian, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Latvian, Lithuanian, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Slovak, Slovenian, Spanish, Swedish, Thai, and Turkish. XP Pro MUI pack support as available component for 25 languages Available component
Retail Device Enumeration and Instantiation Yes, with POS for .NET 1.1 add-in Yes No No
Help and Support Files for OS Yes No Available component Available component
Driver Support for Hardware Devices (Shipped with Win XPSP2) Yes Optional component Available component Available component
Full Code Page and Input Device Support Yes Optional component Available component Available component
Support to Manage Computer Locally Yes Optional component Available component Available component
Management Client Support Yes Optional component Available component Available component
Internet Explorer Yes Yes Available component Available component (limited)