Today at the annual Computex conference in Taipei, Microsoft?s Steven Guggenheimer took the stage to announce the version two of the company's community technology preview (CTP) for Windows Embedded Standard 8, now available for download.

A lot of the buzz this year centers on a new category of business solution called intelligent systems, where specialized devices connect with back-end technologies such as servers and databases. By using devices to extend enterprise IT all the way out to the point of operation, more and more organizations are using intelligent systems to extract richer levels of data, drive efficiency and identify new opportunities for business revenue.

As part of Microsoft's road map to support the market for intelligent systems, the company announced today that version two of its community technology preview (CTP) for Windows Embedded Standard 8 is now available for download. By evaluating the CTP 2, Microsoft s OEMs can start evaluating how Windows 8 technologies can help them evolve their intelligent systems solutions.

Microsoft says that since the release of the first CTP for Windows Embedded Standard 8 in March, more than 6,000 developers have downloaded the software and begun to evaluate and build with it.

According to Dallas, companies across industries have been using the initial CTP to develop a new generation of devices that can connect and participate within an enterprise IT infrastructure.

In the second CTP, Microsoft is introducing additional capabilities and performance enhancements, including security features, management, identity and connectivity:

- Targeted and consistent device configuration with lockdown features to meet enterprise needs

- Multitouch, rich applications, Windows Internet Explorer and other Microsoft technologies

- Technologies such as mobile broadband to help devices stay connected