Fast Track Migration to Microsoft ® Windows® XP Embedded with Embedded XPert

Do you use Microsoft® Windows® XP Professional in your Embedded product?

Do you know you could save money by switching to Microsoft® Windows® XP Embedded?

For example, if you use 1,000 licenses we could potentially save you $50,000!

Do you know that mainstream support for Windows XP Professional will not be available to anyone except OEMs after 31st January 2009.

Still not convinced?!

By switching to Windows XP Embedded will keep your products in production for longer!

How does it work?

MPC Data’s Embedded XPert package is a fixed priced service for those who already have product running on the Windows XP desktop platform but are now looking to secure the cost savings, resilience and extended product support life of XP Embedded. The service gives assurance on meeting time to market goals while working to a fixed or agreed budget cost.

Why XP Embedded?

Mainstream support for Windows XP Professional is set to end for everyone except OEMs on 31st January 2009. If your dedicated product uses the full desktop XP operating system, you should now be considering your options. Unlike its’ desktop counterpart, XP Embedded will continue to be fully supported by Microsoft until 2015. It is an obvious candidate for dedicated single use products where cheaper licensing costs mean it is a more cost effective platform than the current Vista operating system. XP Embedded is more resilient than the desktop version of XP and requires less processing power than Windows Vista. Its’ smaller disk footprint will also be attractive where small persistent storage media are employed.

MPC Data’s Embedded XPert service will allow you to realize the benefits of this migration without the need to develop the expensive in-house skills usually associated with such a design change. It offers a low risk option of managing platform evolution, allowing you to continue to focus on your core product expertise.

Embedded XPert Overview

An MPC Data Engineer will work with you to produce a platform tailored to your product needs. Using the tools provided by Microsoft’s Embedded Studio, your target hardware will be analyzed to produce a supporting component definition. This will be used to produce a new platform configuration specific to your hardware. Our dedicated Engineer will include the components required by your application together with any specified custom configuration.

MPC Data will discuss with you the details of creating a file system image of your platform, licensing details and your intended method of platform deployment. Initial testing will be performed to confirm that all client applications run successfully on the new image. A 'Golden Image' ready for replication, will be provided when this initial test phase is deemed satisfactory.

It is expected that the client will conduct further testing based on their knowledge of the required behavior and typical usage scenarios. The Embedded XPert service includes a 90 day warranty to help resolve any issues revealed during testing.

Embedded XPert Package

You will be allocated an Engineer for the course of the service. At the beginning of the project they will work with you to:

Check that all target hardware and working application software required for the development is available and working on the desktop platform.
Specify a list of all the software packages (including versions and service packs) required by your application. Where these are not existing components within the Embedded Studio’s database, appropriate installation packages will need to be supplied.
Specify a list of hardware which the platform is required to support and one for which support may be explicitly removed. This will allow the Engineer to reduce and optimize the target platform’s disk footprint.
Obtain a XPe license key. MPC Data will be happy to proceed with development without a valid license key, in which case the deployed image will expire after 90 days. However, subsequent inclusion of a valid license key in the configuration will incur additional costs.

Your MPC Data Engineer will then work through the following procedure at MPC Data’s Head Office, to produce your custom XP Embedded configuration:

The XPe engineer will use the TAP or TA tools to analyze the target hardware provided by you.
The output of this hardware analysis will be used to produce a macro hardware component. The information you supply will be used to remove unnecessary hardware support dependencies from this specification.
Any new components created as a result of the analysis will be added to the Embedded Studio’s database and included in your custom configuration using the Target Designer tool.
Any system software components needed to support the target hardware will be added to your configuration using Target Designer.
Embedded Enabling Features, such as Enhanced Write Filter or Device Update Agent may be added at this stage. However, requirements in this area should be discussed with the XPe Engineer as their inclusion can have significant effects on the behavior of the system.
System software components applicable to your application will be added to your configuration using Target Designer.
Create components for any of your own custom drivers/applications using Component Designer, add the components to the database using Component Database Manager and then add them to your configuration.
Specify any custom settings to deploy the configuration.
Verify the integrity of the configuration.
Build a file system image from your configuration using Target Designer.
Run the First Boot Agent on the newly created system image and perform initial platform testing.
Discuss final deployment options with you and provide system image for your initial testing.

Beyond Embedded XPert

As your application matures you may need to make changes or further enhancements to your XP Embedded platform. MPC Data offer long term partnerships with their clients and can provide further support as required, to match these expectations.

The Next Step

The cost of the Embedded XPert service is £4800 + VAT, subject to contract.

To arrange your Embedded XPert package, contact MPC Data on 01225 710600 or
email us at windows@mpc-data.co.uk .