Microsoft announced a new version of its operating system for automotive applications such as navigation, infotainment and communication systems in cars.

The operating system version is the latest shot of Microsoft to drive Windows in slowly, but consistently developing market for computer software and hardware manufacturers in the car manufacturing industry. According to the company, the fifth generation offers a virtual memory that has been expanded to 96 MByte and enables more complex 3D graphics and advanced navigation displays as well as power management features and faster cold-boot times improve performance.

A new "Automotive User Interface Toolkit" is designed to connect to core applications program and assist manufacturer in creating user interfaces without programming additional code. According to Microsoft, The AUITK also offers easy-to-use modification and viewer features, improved debugging, expanded custom control support, 3-D solutions, and improved animation functionality.

Now in its seventh year, the Windows automotive platform has grown up to support popular standards that may become useful in telematics solutions in cars. Features include Bluetooth, 802.11, UPnP, USB, XML, and SOAP, Microsoft said.

Consumers can expect computer systems to trickle down more and more into mainstream cars. While luxury sedans such as Mercedes' S-class already integrate more than 70 microprocessors that run more than 100 applications, mainstream models are quickly adopting the technology. A completely new trend this year will the increase in storage capacity in cars: Seagate for example announced that it will introduce 2.5-inch harddrives with a capacity of 20 and 40 GByte for automotive applications in the third quarter of this year.


Source : TomsHardware

Great, now we'll get a car with BUGS straight away from the factory!!!! LOL!!!

(in reply to WinThusiast)

Exactly....

Soon, gas stations all across the world will also offer special connectors which you will attach to a car while filling your reservoir...and it will scan your cars (M$ based offcourse) OS for any viruses and other spyware and stuff (You will notice that your car was infected, by your cars power being reduced to some 50HP instead of original 150HP...)....and delete them on-the-fly....(also OS Update and other "high tech" procedures could be done there instantly)....

Where this world is going to....huhhhhhhh...soon we will get chips (again with M$'s OS inplanted into our brains)

Take care people....

(in reply to MP3Mogul)