by Jason Southern – Channel Manager
Launched in 2015, the migration to Windows 10 is still underway, including for IT professionals and point-of-sale (POS) hardware manufacturers.
Faster, smoother and more secure, the new version of Microsoft’s operating system enhances the potential, capacity and performance of your hardware, IT infrastructure and POS terminals.
At AURES, the latest version of Windows 10 (Windows 10 IoT Enterprise LTSB 2016) will eventually replace the previous versions, Windows 7 and Windows 8.
This is a professional platform for which licences are reserved exclusively for Microsoft hardware manufacturers and OEM partners. It is particularly suited to all retail sectors, industry, and health and finance professionals.
Windows 10 IoT Enterprise is a logical development within the Windows Embedded family that meets the latest omni-channel selling and mobility requirements and enables the creation and configuration of global, intelligent and perfectly (inter-)connected hardware solutions.
A major advantage for points of sale and points of service (POS) is that the new platform can be quickly and easily installed on all of the store’s connected communication tools (POS terminals and PCs, tablets, touch-screen terminals, store personnel and customer smartphones, etc.), and guarantees total compatibility. This ensures faster and smoother information flows and transactions, thereby enhancing both sales performance and customer satisfaction. Maintenance of the entire IT infrastructure is also significantly smoother and easier.
Thanks to Windows 10, a SANGO terminal or YUNO system will be able to communicate and interface seamlessly with the SWING tablet, iRUGGY and all AURES POS devices and accessories.
A further advantage of Windows 10 is that it is a fully multilingual solution offering a limitless range of languages. This facilitates integration within storesand points of service required to manage EPOS deployments on an international scale (unlike the previous operating system versions, which were more restrictive in this sense).
By switching to Windows 10, you will also step up the security of your EPOS infrastructure: the creation of gesture-based controls, for instance, allows you to set operating system limits and restrict certain user applications. Customised security also enables specific USB ports, internet access, etc. to be blocked.
Offering excellent value for money, the LTSB version (Long Term Servicing Branch) of the Microsoft Windows 10 IoT Enterprise licence selected by AURES for its hardware guarantees 10-year stability for the solution deployed (no feature updates are needed during this period), while security updates are managed automatically by the platform.
The AURES Group is fully geared up for this migration thanks to the prior development of Windows 10-compatible motherboards for its entire range of POS terminals and systems. Today, it delivers around 30% of its OS requests in Windows 10, compared to 4% at the end of 2016.
Reminder of the life-cycle of previous Windows versions (General Embedded):
| Microsoft OS Version | Product Distribution End Date | End of extended support (including security updates) |
| Windows Embedded POS Ready 2009 (all versions) | 02/11/2024 | 04/09/2019 |
| Windows Embedded POS Ready 7 (amm versions) | 09/10/2026 | 10/12/2021 |
| Windows 7 Professional for Embedded Systems | 09/30/2024 | 01/14/2020 |
| Windows Embedded 8/8.1 Industry pro for Retail Systems | 04/30/2028 | 07/11/2023 |
For more information on Windows 10 and AURES hardware, contact us.