Mr. Loncaric, which Windows 10 IoT versions are available and which are particularly important for Congatec?
Loncaric: There is Windows 10 IoT Enterprise for different use cases, such as machine control, retail applications or ATMs, as well as 'Windows 10 IoT Mobile Enterprise' and the 'Core Edition'. The Enterprise editions are used on our motherboards, for example, when they are used in shop-floor terminals, industrial vision systems or in diagnostic stations for imaging procedures in medical technology. However, if they are used in dedicated systems, such as cash register systems, they are often configured with individually tailored OS features. The same applies to HMIs/GUIs and many other applications where the user only uses their specific front end. And the Windows 10 IoT Mobile Enterprise Edition is ideal for mobile end devices that are equipped with our Qseven and SMARC small form factors, for example.

What are the special features of the IoT versions?
Loncaric: The operating system offers a wide range of security technologies such as Secure Boot, BitLocker, Device Guard and Credential Guard to ensure that devices are fully protected from switch-on to switch-off. Regardless of whether only a specific app is to be started or access to unauthorized USB peripherals is to be blocked: Windows 10 IoT provides the necessary functions for each specific device environment. In addition, the otherwise mandatory Windows activation can be switched off so that commissioning can also be carried out in closed network environments without any problems.

We have also equipped our new industrial Thin Mini-ITX motherboards with Intel Atom, Celeron and Pentium processors with a SIM card socket to offer IoT application developers seamless integration into remote IoT applications from the hardware and driver side. Windows 10 IoT creates the important prerequisites for this to be done very efficiently and securely from the operating system side too.

Customers also benefit from uniform operation with universal apps for the heterogeneous device environments typical of IoT. For example, machine and plant manufacturers only need to program their apps once in order to operate them on all end devices with Windows 10 IoT. Such universal apps then run on the powerful panel PC, the low-power HMI and also on ARM-based mobile devices such as tablets or smartphones without any further adjustments. The drivers for peripheral devices are also identical for all hardware platforms with Windows 10 IoT.

Which Congatec products are covered by Windows 10 IoT support?
Loncaric: The software support applies to all boards and modules with Atom, Celeron, Pentium, Core and Xeon processors from Intel as well as AMD embedded processors from the R and G series. We offer Computer-on-Modules in the COM Express, Qseven or SMARC form factor. Our industrial Thin Mini-ITX motherboards and Pico-ITX single-board computers as well as individual carrier board designs for the modules are worth mentioning.

What else new did Congatec show at embedded world?
Loncaric: We have comprehensive connectivity on our SBCs as well as optional integrated WLAN on our SMARC 2.0 module and comprehensive Windows IoT support. What was still missing was an embedded API that would enable our customers to access the most important data and functions of our hardware so that OEMs and operators could orchestrate their distributed systems centrally. We presented just such an API at embedded world. These new functions of our boards and modules will significantly change the way our customers bring their systems into the field and manage them centrally.