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Windows IoT and Embedded - What are your experiences?

Started by: User Avatar John Doe Last reply: 2 days ago Views: 15,482 Replies: 215
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Hi everyone,

I'm looking to get more involved with Windows IoT and embedded development. I've been working with traditional Windows applications for years, but this is a new area for me.

I'm particularly interested in understanding the differences in development tools, deployment strategies, and common challenges compared to desktop Windows development. What are your experiences using Windows IoT Core or the newer Windows 11 IoT Enterprise?

Any advice on getting started, recommended hardware, or best practices would be greatly appreciated!

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Hey Jane,

Great question! I've been using Windows IoT Enterprise for a few projects. The biggest shift is realizing it's a more locked-down environment. You don't have the typical desktop experience, and management of applications and updates is crucial.

For development, Visual Studio remains your best friend. Make sure you're familiar with UWP or WinUI for creating UIs, as those are the modern approaches. PowerShell scripting is also very useful for automation and deployment.

Hardware-wise, Raspberry Pi devices are popular for tinkering, but for commercial products, you'll often look at industrial PCs or embedded boards from manufacturers like Dell, Advantech, or Kontron.

Key challenges include ensuring security, managing device lifecycles, and dealing with limited resources on some embedded hardware. Testing on target hardware as early as possible is a must!

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I second what Alex said about the locked-down nature. If you're migrating from Windows IoT Core, Windows 11 IoT Enterprise is a significant step up, offering more features and flexibility, but also requiring more careful configuration. For instance, managing drivers and peripherals can be more complex.

One thing to watch out for is the licensing. Understand the SKU you need and the terms associated with it, especially for commercial deployments. It's different from standard Windows licensing.

For quick prototyping, a MinnowBoard or an Intel NUC can be good starting points that offer more robustness than a Raspberry Pi for certain use cases.

Here's a snippet of how you might set up a background service using C# and .NET on an IoT device:


using System;
using System.Threading;
using System.Threading.Tasks;

public class IoTService
{
    private Timer _timer;

    public void Start()
    {
        Console.WriteLine("IoT Service Starting...");
        _timer = new Timer(DoWork, null, TimeSpan.Zero, TimeSpan.FromSeconds(30));
    }

    private void DoWork(object state)
    {
        Console.WriteLine($"Service performing work at: {DateTime.UtcNow}");
        // Add your actual IoT-related logic here
    }

    public void Stop()
    {
        Console.WriteLine("IoT Service Stopping...");
        _timer?.Dispose();
    }
}

// Example usage:
// var service = new IoTService();
// service.Start();
// Thread.Sleep(Timeout.Infinite); // Keep service running
                        
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