POS-X ION TP5 Pro

There are a number of factors that are important to keep in mind when purchasing a point of sale computer, including what type of business it will be for, what software will be used on it, what peripherals will be used with it, and where in the business it will be located. For a more detailed overview, check out our video on this topic: [Read More]

IoT stands for Internet of Things and it is a special version of Windows 10 that limits the OS to the essential features and removes things such as Windows Marketplace that wouldn't be necessary for a computer serving a function such as a Point of Sale Terminal.

Programs designed for Windows 10 will work on Windows 10 IoT, you install it the same way you would on the Pro/Home version. [Read More]

First of all, these different acronyms are associated with variations on the Windows operating systems, most likely found on an all-in-one POS computer or system.

"IoT" originally refers to the "Internet of Things", which is a broad term for all the devices in our world that connect to the internet (aside from desktop computers) and run on desktop-level operating systems. In this scenario, "Windows 10 IoT" simply means it's a version of Windows 10 built specifically to be loaded and used on a mobile or All-In-One device. It is a rebranding of their previous terms "Windows Embedded", "Embedded Compact" (CE), or "Windows Mobile" (WM); and the desktop-based "POSReady" versions.

"LTSB" and "LTSC" mean "Long-Term Serving Branch" and "Long-Term Serving Channel", respectively. Both of these versions are merely variations that don't receive updates as often as your standard personal computer running Windows 10. Instead of getting full feature updates each month or so, these systems won't require updates from 2-3 years, giving you a stable and unchanging system for smooth, long-term usage without having to reinvent the wheel each time an update can potentially mess with your system and interrupt your work. To keep your system safe, The LTSB OS does still receive security updates on a monthly basis. LTSC is simply the more current version of this variation, and more or less replaces the LTSB designation.

And finally
"POSReady 7" is very similar to the IoT version of Windows, and indeed is replaced directly by the IoT family. This is a version of Windows made specifically for an All-In-One Windows-based POS computer. It has locked-down features and is embedded (there's that term again) into the hardware to be ready for POS program to be installed and used. This version of POSReady (there are others, but mainly obsolete now) is based on the more popular and stable Windows 7 iteration of the Windows operating system. As mentioned above, while you may find equipment out there running this version of Windows for POS, it has been replaced by the IoT family of operating systems. [Read More]