Microsoft has unveiled the first update to Windows CE 6.0 for over 13 months this week with the RTM of "Release 2" of Windows Embedded CE 6.0 on the 14th November.

WECE 6.0 is a significant evolution to the original 6.0 release which arrived back in September of 2006 delivering improvements in networking, typography, OEM base hardware support (BSP) and general driver support amongst others. Highlights from the new release include:

• Native Serial ATA (SATA) drivers
• Full formal SD 2.0 compatibility
• Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) 6.0
• Security, performance and display enhancements to MSIE CE 6.0
• Auto-Scripted Proxy Server support
• Windows Media Player 11 Internet Explorer Control for Audio/Video Playback
• Enhanced web servers & network device discovery for Windows Vista

Windows Embedded CE 6.0 R2 is available to purchase as an update to the Visual Studio/Platform Builder 6.0 release, and is being shipped as the de facto CE version by partners as of this week.

More comprehensive information on the new and updated features in the platform and core operating system can be found on the Windows Embedded product site, in addition to which interested parties can also find registration point where the 45 minute cyber-launch event can be viewed online which officially accompanied the release.

If all that wasn't enough, budding embedded systems developers can download a free, 120-day evaluation version of WECE 6.0 R2 to allow for reviewing and testing of the product.

View: Windows Embedded CE 6.0 R2 Launch Event Sub-site
View: Windows Embedded CE 6.0 Evaluation Registration

View: Windows Embedded Product Site