Download Windows 10 IoT Core, Released for Raspberry Pi 2, MinnowBoard MAX

Microsoft has finally released the public version of Windows 10 IoT (Internet of Things) edition for the Raspberry Pi 2 and MinnowBoard MAX. This special version of Windows 10 is a stripped down (“light edition“) is officially called Windows IoT Core.

If you are a Raspberry Pi 2 or MinnowBoard MAX enthusiast and you are eager to develop for Windows IoT platform, you should visit the official Windows IoT website to download Windows 10 IoT Core ISO file, meant to run on your development board. To work on your projects, along with Windows 10 IoT you also need to download Visual Studio, Software Development Kits and other tools. You will find links to all of them from the official Windows IoT website.

Windows IoT Core is targeted towards small, embedded devices that does not include any desktop or the typical window interface experience. Windows IoT Core is solely meant for developers to encourage them to develop their own apps using their favorite development board like a Raspberry Pi 2. If you are a developer, you will need a PC running Windows 10 along with Visual Studio 2015 installed on it. For a step by step help to get started with your choice of development board, visit the Windows IoT Dev Center and follow the steps described on that page.

The official change log is too long to list here but here is what you must be most interested to know:

• Improved support for Python and Node.js, including a new Express Node.js project template
• GPIO performance on the Raspberry Pi 2 has improved by 8X to 10X
• Analog-to-digital converter and pulse-width modulation are now supported via breakout boards and ICs
• New Universal Windows Platform (UWP) APIs give apps easy control over system management features like time zone and network connections

On the official announcement blog, some Intel Galileo Gen 1 or Gen 2 board owners asked if they can get Windows 10 IoT or not. They may be disappointed to know that Microsoft have no plans to bring Windows 10 to the Intel Galileo board at this time. The Redmond software giant did confirm that they will continue to support the Windows Developer Program for IoT for Galileo. The official FAQ says, “While there will be no new feature development for the Galileo release we will continue to support this release for as long as significant community activity exists.”

Raspberry Pi 2 and MinnowBoard MAX development board owners can now download Windows 10 IoT Core from the official website here.

Source: Windows Blog