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Microsoft releases Windows 10 preview for Raspberry Pi 3

Redmond plans pre-loaded WinPi for thing-makers

Microsoft has announced a cut Windows 10 IoT Core for the Raspberry Pi 3.

The new Insider Preview of Windows 10 IoT Core, yours for the downloading here, supports the new Pi.

Windows 10 IoT Core is a long way short of full Windows comparable to Windows Embedded rather than efforts like Windows 8.1 with Bing intended to run on very cheap hardware. So don't go getting excited about the chance to cook up a fleet of very cheap Raspberry Pi PC replacements.

Some may, however, be excited that Microsoft says it's signed up for the Raspberry Pi customisation program and plans that “OEMs will now be able to build versions of the Raspberry Pi that meet their unique requirements, use the open source BSP that Microsoft has released and deploy with Windows 10 IoT Core.”

BSP? That'd be the Board Support Package that Microsoft makes available to help support deployments of single-board computers.

Microsoft's keen to be associated with the Pi mission of teaching computing to kiddies. But Redmond also has its own interests to advance, namely that that Windows 10 IoT Core provides hooks a-plenty to Azure, with the cloudy service offering all sorts of as-a-services that thing-makers can use to collect and crunch data.

Supporting the Raspberry Pi 3 therefore also supports Microsoft's ambitions to bite deep into the Thingernet. And to make Windows 10 an OS for which one can contemplate coding almost anything. ®

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