POSReady 7 vs. WES7 / Win7

There are 2 key differences between POSReady 7 and Windows® Embedded Standard 7:

Templates – Windows® Embedded POSReady 7 has no installation templates like Windows® Embedded Standard 7. So it will be installed with all packages included in POSReady 7. WES7 is more modular.

Drivers - Windows® Embedded POSReady 7 installs during setup all drivers on the target system. WES7 is only installing the selected or detected drivers. POSReady is more flexible in adding peripherial devices in the field. 

There are 3 key differences between POSReady 7 and Windows® 7 Professional:

Licensing differences – Windows® 7 Professional is licensed to support general purpose PC applications,  including Office Automation software such as Microsoft Office. Windows® Embedded POSReady 7 is an embedded operating system, licensed for use on dedicated devices that provide only POS functionality. No activation is needed for POSReady.

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® 7 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. POSReady can be worldwide exported.

Functionality differences – While much of the functionality of Windows® Embedded POSReady 7 is the same as with Windows® 7 Professional, hardware requirements for Windows® Embedded POSReady 7 are lower than for Windows® 7 Professional. Additionally, Windows® Embedded for Point of Service provides support for over 36 different languages and/or multilingual user interface (MUI) language support (5 languages allowed to be installed at any given time).