Windows Embedded Automotive (formerly Microsoft Auto, Windows CE for Automotive, Windows Automotive, and Windows Mobile for Automotive) is a discontinued

operating system An operating system (OS) is system software that manages computer hardware and software resources, and provides common daemon (computing), services for computer programs. Time-sharing operating systems scheduler (computing), schedule tasks for ...

that was part of the

Windows Embedded Windows IoT, short for Windows Internet of Things and formerly known as Windows Embedded, is a family of operating systems from Microsoft designed for use in embedded systems. Microsoft has three different subfamilies of operating systems for em ...

family and based on

Windows CE Windows CE, later known as Windows Embedded CE and Windows Embedded Compact, is a discontinued operating system developed by Microsoft for mobile and embedded devices. It was part of the Windows Embedded family and served as the software foun ...

for use on computer systems in

automobile A car, or an automobile, is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of cars state that they run primarily on roads, Car seat, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport private transport#Personal transport, peopl ...

s. The operating system is developed by

Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company, technology conglomerate headquartered in Redmond, Washington. Founded in 1975, the company became influential in the History of personal computers#The ear ...

through the Microsoft Automotive Business Unit that formed in August 1995. The first automotive product built by Microsoft's Automotive Business Unit debuted on December 4, 1998 as the AutoPC, and also includes

Ford Sync Ford Sync (stylized Ford SYNC) is a factory-installed, integrated in-car communications and entertainment system, in-vehicle communications and entertainment system that allows users to make hands-free telephone calls, control music and perform ...

, Kia Connect, and Blue&Me. Microsoft's Automotive Business Unit has built both the software platforms used for automotive devices as well as the devices themselves. The current focus is on the software platforms and includes two products, Microsoft Auto and Windows Automotive.

History

The Windows Embedded Automotive operating system was originally shipped with the AutoPC that was jointly developed by Microsoft and

Clarion Clarion may refer to: Music * Clarion (instrument), a type of trumpet used in the Middle Ages * The Register (music), register of a clarinet that ranges from B4 to C6 * A Trumpet (organ stop), trumpet organ stop that usually plays an octave abov ...

. The system was released in December 1998, and referred to the operating system itself as "Auto PC". Microsoft's Auto PC platform was based on Windows CE 2.0, and had been announced in January of that year. On October 16, 2000, Microsoft officially announced the next version of the platform. This version of the operating system was renamed to "Windows CE for Automotive" and had new applications preinstalled like the Microsoft Mobile Explorer. On October 21, 2002, Microsoft announced that the platform would be renamed to "Windows Automotive". The version added support for development using the .NET Compact Framework. Windows Automotive 4.2 reached

General Availability The software release life cycle is the process of developing, testing, and distributing a software product (e.g., an operating system). It typically consists of several stages, such as pre-alpha, alpha, beta, and release candidate, before the fi ...

on June 1, 2003 and Windows Automotive 5.0 reached GA on August 8, 2005. With the release of

, Microsoft renamed the platform from "Windows Mobile for Automotive" to "Microsoft Auto". Microsoft again renamed the operating system as "Windows Embedded Automotive", and updated its version to 7 on October 19, 2010. This is the latest in MS Auto category, and is based on the

platform. Windows Embedded Automotive 7 reached GA on March 1, 2011. In December 2014, Ford announced that the company would be replacing Microsoft Auto with

BlackBerry Limited BlackBerry Limited, formerly Research In Motion (RIM), is a Canadian software company specializing in secure communications and the Internet of things, Internet of Things (IoT). Founded in 1984, it developed the BlackBerry brand of Interactiv ...

's QNX.

References

External links

Windows Embedded Automotive official website
{{Microsoft

Windows Embedded Automotive Windows Embedded Automotive (formerly Microsoft Auto, Windows CE for Automotive, Windows Automotive, and Windows Mobile for Automotive) is a discontinued operating system that was part of the Windows Embedded family and based on Windows CE for us ...

Windows CE Discontinued versions of Microsoft Windows Embedded Automotive