It also opens the door to buy the more affordable Windows Compact 2013 General Embedded Runtime COA sticker license, apply this Compact 2013 COA to the device, and still load the older CE7, CE6, and or the CE5 image. This newly updated PEG changed the downgrade rights section and opened the door for OEMs to purchase the most current high-end version for a family of products and then downgrade to the older edition. This downgrade allowance was the only option until March 2022, when Microsoft updated the Program Execution Guide (PEG). Microsoft stated that an OEM could purchase the specific CE7 Pro license for all existing projects and gain downgrade rights to keep loading their older CE5 or CE6 image. In 2018, Microsoft created and published the Windows CE7 Pro Downgrade Rights document that provided an option for OEMs that needed to keep using the Windows CE5 and Windows CE6 products in effect. What if an OEM wants to keep shipping their CE6 product past the EOL date? A look back at Windows Embedded Compact over the years Windows Embedded Compact Versions OEMs should plan well ahead of this date and make sure they have sold and shipped all their devices with the older COA sticker license before the EOL date. The COA sticker license for the product becomes completely worthless on the day it goes EOL.

OEMs are prohibited from shipping their devices with the COA sticker license of a product past the EOL date.

Last Time Buys are not an option for IoT embedded products. In most Microsoft OEM channels, when a product goes EOL, you perform a “Last Time Buy”, stocking up on the product so you can continue selling and shipping well past the EOL date. With this change, many OEM customers preferred to stay with the older CE products until they reached end-of-life (EOL).įor the OEM and IoT Embedded channels, EOL for a product is managed very differently than other Microsoft channels. In 2015 Microsoft transitioned to the Windows 10 IoT Core products without the “real-time” feature. The CE family continued until 2013 when the last edition was released. The CE family of products all received 15 years of life, allowing them to standardize products knowing that the CE product will always be available. Many OEM customers have created embedded devices that run on Windows CE products and have manufactured these devices for many years. Windows CE products are optimized for smaller devices with low minimum hardware requirements, and most importantly, it is the only true “real-time” operating system that Microsoft has produced. While it is assumed that the initials “CE” stand for Compact Edition, it has no explicit meaning. Microsoft Windows Embedded CE 6.0 launched on November 1, 2006, and it was the first CE edition that added the name “Embedded” into the product’s official name.

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