According to Andy Allred, a member of Microsoft's XPe product team, the primary goals in Feature Pack 2007 are to improve the developer's experience, and to enable new capabilities and Microsoft technologies for embedded devices. The most "interesting aspects" of the feature pack, according to Allred, are:
- New embedded enabling features (EEF) such as file based write filter and registry filter
- Native USB boot capability
- Enhancements to the Enhanced Write Filter (EWF) and Hibernate Once Resume Many (HORM) functions
- Several requested bug fixes to tools such as the Target Designer, CMI, Import Framework, and SLX/XML usability
- A New command line tool that replicates Target Designer and allows builds to be implemented in scripts
- "Tons of work" on component dependencies to reduce footprint, including removing dependencies to the full Internet Explorer component
- New components added to the database to address more "application compatibility challenges"
- New macro components to allow installation of other Microsoft technologies in the runtime
- All security patches for XPe-SP2 rolled up to the Feature Pack repository
Download instructionsTo download the XPe SP2 FP 2007 CTP ISO image, follow these instructions provided by Andy Allred of the Windows XP Embedded Team:
- Visit Microsoft Connect with Internet Explorer (note: Firefox won't work!) and sign in with, or register for, a "Windows Live ID"
- Following the sign-in process, you'll be asked for an Invitation ID; enter 123-BC7M-6GVK, and click "Go"
- Users who have not previously registered with Microsoft Connect may be required to register before continuing
- The final step is to complete a User Profile survey for the program
Live Chat August 15thThe XPe product team will be hosting an MSDN
Live Chat on August 15, in which XPe CTP reviewers will have an opportunity to "meet the developers, test engineers, and program managers of Feature Pack 2007 to get your comments and questions heard and answered," according to the team.
Related stories:
