Microsoft Details Unified Windows Device Platform, A Single Universal Driver Can Be Deployed Across Windows 10 Devices

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Windows Ecosystem

At WinHEC conference, Microsoft detailed the unifiedĀ  Windows 10 device platform to silicon, hardware, and device partners about the advances they are making to simplify building Windows devices, drivers, and apps. Windows 10 now allows hardware manufacturers to develop a single universal driver that can be deployed across all Windows 10 device families (e.g., PCs, phones, IoT). Also, they are releasing new tools and techniques to reduce the cost and complexity of imaging and manufacturing Windows 10 devices. To make it easy for testing, Microsoft has made in-market and new hardware development boards to support Windows 10 and Windows universal drivers. Apart from this, Microsoft is releasing a new IoT edition for small devices that is tuned to run Windows universal apps and drivers and is royalty free to makers and device builders.

With Windows 10, we have factored the core OS components that are required on every form factor into a common platform that is part of every Windows 10 edition. For each Windows device family (e.g., PCs, phones, Xbox), we augment that common platform with device family-specific components, functionality, and experiences that allow Windows to exploit what is unique about the deviceā€™s capabilities. We also augment that common platform with the functionality required to support that device familyā€™s applications and drivers ā€“ your PC apps and peripherals still work when you upgrade to your PC to Windows 10.

For the user, this approach to engineering Windows means that their experience of Windows 10 is exploitive of the unique hardware capabilities and characteristics of each device. Your Windows 10 phone can have the unique characteristics that make for a great phone (like making a phone call), while your Windows 10 PC can support the familiar user experience that is optimized for mouse and keyboard. Moreover, your Windows Phone apps continue to work on Windows 10 phones, and the catalog of Windows desktop applications that has been growing for over two decades continues to work great on your Windows 10 PC.

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