| Microsoft serves up "retail-optimized" OS for POS |
May 24, 2005
[Updated 10:30am PDT] -- Microsoft announced today that its "retail-optimized" flavor of Windows XP Embedded SP2 is now shipping to manufacturers of POS (point-of-sales/service) equipment for the retail and hospitality industries. Windows Embedded for Point of Service (WEPOS) aims to simplify development and deployment of POS systems, and to reduce maintenance and upgrade costs, according to the company.
Unveiled last October, WEPOS is claimed by Microsoft to be the first POS software platform to support peripheral plug-and-play functionality, the feature most requested by retailers, it says. Additionally, the platform supports critical and emerging POS technologies such as RFID, wireless, networking, and multimedia, which have not previously been well supported in the POS equipment industry, according to Microsoft product manager Jason Demeny.
Other key features of WEPOS are its strong default security settings -- a "hardened" Internet Explorer browser, Windows Logon user authentication, buffer overrun protection, for example -- and minimized operating system code size, which collectively reduce system vulnerabilities according to Microsoft.
Microsoft will demonstrate the platform's plug-and-play capabilities at this week's Retail Systems 2005 Conference and Exposition in Chicago, by swapping out a scanner peripheral in the midst of a transaction without loss of data, Demeny said. Peripheral devices generally have shorter lifespans than the POS systems they are connected to, making the capability to easily and rapidly replace faulty devices or upgrade to alternate models or vendors an important feature, he noted.
Another important capability of WEPOS, according to Demeny, is its support for Software Update Services (SUS), as is done with enterprise Windows XP systems. This allows a retailer to use a back-office server to downloads WEPOS updates and deploy them on a set of POS systems overnight, Demeny explained. The use of procedures similar to those of Windows XP will save retailers from having to continually train and maintain two different system administration groups -- one for their enterprise computers and the other for their POS systems -- since the same methodologies and technologies can now be used in both areas of the business.
Broad industry support
Microsoft says that over 40 industry partners are already developing products and services based on the new platform. Among these are Bsquare, offering software licensing and engineering services, and Sygate, which claims to be the first security vendor to support WEPOS. Other partners include Fujitsu Transaction Solutions, Hewlett-Packard, and Micros Systems.
As part of the product launch, Microsoft is also making available an online Windows Embedded for Point of Service Product Catalog where retail and hospitality enterprises can quickly locate retail products, peripherals, and applications that have been verified for compatibility with WEPOS, according to the company.
"Smarter retailing"
WEPOS is the core of a broader initiative known as Microsoft Smarter Retailing, intended to help retailers "dramatically improve how they sell and operate through better access to customer and product information," according to Microsoft. Smarter Retailing enables retailers to reduce costs, run more efficiently, gain greater business visibility, and make better and faster business decisions.
Partner Announcements - 360Commerce -- Participated in the WEPOS beta testing program. The company says its Java-based store and workforce management applications successfully completed the verification testing process.
- Hand Held Products -- The company's line of image-based bar code readers, including the IT3800, IT4600, IT5600, and IT5620, now supports WEPOS. Other products, such as mobile computers and kiosks, support Smarter Retailing by running Windows Mobile or Windows CE 5.0
- VeriTest -- Has been chosen by Microsoft to manage a verification program for WEPOS. The company says it co-developed the product verification requirements and the test methodologies with Microsoft. Vlidations checks for common interoperability issues and ensures that hardware correctly calls appropriate APIs, according to VertiTest.
- Wincor Nixdorf -- Supports WEPOS on its Beetle/S Pentium 4 POS platform.
In a statement issued in conjunction with the Retail Systems 2005 Conference and Exposition in Chicago, Jane Gilson, director of marketing for Microsoft's Mobile and Embedded Devices Division, said: "Windows Embedded for Point of Service is the easy-to-use, retail-optimized software platform that will give back time to retailers and enable them to focus on their No. 1 priority: helping their customers. Together with our industry partners, we are excited to launch this new offering and help revolutionize the point-of-service industry."
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