Back in July we began rolling out the Windows Developer Program for IoT, and today I want to let you know how the program is doing and announce exciting new hardware support.
Program Update
Since we announced the program, your response has been overwhelmingly positive. We’ve shipped almost all of the hardware kits in our inventory and delivered our first servicing release for them. Additionally, we published the Windows image and instructions to enable anyone enrolled in the program to put Windows on their own Intel Galileo board. It’s been great to see the interest as evidenced by the steady flow of OS image downloads.
The principle of openness is core to the Maker movement. We’ve embraced this by working with MS Open Tech to open source the Wiring headers, Wiring implementations, documentation, sample projects, and shield/wiring libraries for Intel Galileo running Windows, and you’ll find all of this on GitHub.
We’ve also been building up a stable of samples showing how to build interesting devices with various shields and peripherals, and we recently added samples showing how to use a SparkFun Weather Shield, Hardware Serial, and Firmata & Cylon. We also worked with Phidgets, Inc. to enable developers to use the same driver that works for Windows Desktop for Windows on Intel Galileo boards.
Intel Galileo Gen 2 Support
While we’ve been running as fast as we can to get all of this done, the hardware has also moved forward. Many people have asked about our support for Intel Galileo Gen 2, and today I’m pleased to announce that we have released a preview image for the Intel Galileo Gen 2 board.
This image delivers Windows on the Intel Galileo Gen 2 hardware, and it includes a number of improvements to the developer experience. These improvements – many of which have been requested by you – include improved performance for the GPIO, SPI, I2C and UART busses.
To recap, we’ve been overwhelmed with how many of you have expressed interest in and become engaged with the Windows Developer Program for IoT. We’ve delivered the ability to install Windows on your own boards, and today we’re releasing our Preview software for Intel Galileo Gen 2. We are truly excited by and appreciative of your involvement, and we can’t wait to see what you will make!