After taking more than a few people by surprise with the original announcement, the promise has been kept, and finally, the giant from Redmond delivered. Its BUILD conference left many things to review, including Continuum and the support aimed at iOS and Android, but now it is the turn of Windows 10 IoT Core, whose technical preview is already available on Raspberry Pi 2 and MinnowBoard MAX.
Windows 10 not only represents a giant change for Microsoft technically and economically, but also politically. Ten years ago, saying that Redmond would be willing to offer a special version of Windows at no cost for developers would have belonged to a science fiction script. But this is 2015, and the world has changed. Mobile devices have multiplied by the millions, competition is much tougher on all fronts, and the truth is that Microsoft is still in damage control with Windows 8.1. The mission of Windows 10 is to correct past mistakes, renew the influence of the Windows brand and win over users, old and new, even if that means entering unknown territory like DIY and development platforms.
Windows 10 IoT Core preview is here
In February, both the Raspberry Pi Foundation and Microsoft dropped the bomb: Windows 10 would come to the Raspberry Pi 2 through a tailor-made edition called IoT Core. Almost three months later, the announcement became reality. All those interested in evaluating Windows 10 IoT Core on their brand-new Raspberry Pi 2 can obtain an image at no charge by entering its dedicated portal on GitHub (link below) and following the instructions. Microsoft offers images for the Raspberry Pi and the MAX variant of the Intel MinnowBoard, while in the case of Galileo, the available resources are for previous editions of Windows. The download requires creating an account on Microsoft Connect (I guess it is possible to use any compatible Microsoft account as a replacement if you already have one), while writing the image must be done on an 8-gigabyte SD card on a computer (or a virtual environment) with Windows 10 Preview installed (build 10069 or higher).
Once the image is loaded, the Raspberry Pi 2 will need a couple of minutes to finish the setup. What can you do inside Windows 10 IoT Core? Unless you are a developer, the answer is not much. Its interface actually resembles the famous universal applications that will be a fundamental resource for the master plan of Windows 10. The rest is in the hands and minds of the creators, whether enthusiasts or professionals. I understand that some users have their doubts, but the arrival of Windows 10 to the Raspberry Pi and the MinnowBoard MAX is good news, and it only confirms everything both platforms have achieved so far.
