Windows 10 for IoT gets its own October 2018 update

Kip Kniskern

NXP floor

For consumer enthusiasts like the readers of this website, it’s sometimes hard to get too worked up about IoT and AI and machine learning. But building out a safe, fast, manageable, and upgradeable system for a new world of connected devices is important and will affect us, even if it’s not as approachable as a new Surface.

With the release of Windows 10 October 2018 Update, Microsoft has also announced a “major step forward” for Windows 10 IoT, bringing with it some new servicing choices, better integration with Azure IoT Edge, more choices for hardware including NXP processors, improvements to special purpose connections such as to kiosks or digital signs, and better Azure IoT Device and Intune support.

Builders on the edge can now choose one of two servicing paths, to either keep their IoT devices updated with the latest innovations at a semi-annual pace, just like Windows 10, or as a long-term servicing channel, with 10 years of security and quality updates but no new features, useful for devices in the field that need to “just work.”

Microsoft is committed to bringing safe and robust computing to “the edge,” that place where smart devices connect us to information coming from all sorts of sensors and monitors, and it’s building out a system, with Windows 10, with Azure, and with an emphasis on that edge, including IoT, AI, and machine learning. How we build the connected world we’re destined to live in will be important, and Microsoft is working to make it as safe and robust as it can. For more information on building IoT solutions, you can visit windowsondevices.com