NEW YORK, Jan. 12, 2004 — Today at National Retail Federation 93rd Annual Convention & Expo 2004, Microsoft Corp. announced that RadioShack Corporation has deployed 8,000 point-of-sale (POS) systems based on the Microsoft® Windows®
XP Embedded operating system in more than 5,000 of the consumer electronic retailer’s company-owned stores. By year end, RadioShack will have deployed a total of 21,000 systems to cash lanes and PC systems. In addition, Microsoft today announced that Circuit City Stores Inc. and Meijer Inc. have deployed POS systems running Windows XP Embedded across their retail chains.
“We are extremely pleased that retailers have recognized the potential of Windows XP Embedded for retail devices,” said Todd Warren, general manager of the embedded devices group at Microsoft. “The rapid deployment experience achieved by retailers is a key differentiator for Windows XP Embedded because it delivers the best of both worlds. Retailers can deploy low-cost, PC-architecture hardware while running rich native and managed retail application software that is easily integrated into existing and next-generation IT infrastructure.”
“We evaluated several operating systems, including Linux, before choosing Windows XP Embedded for the cash lanes and PC systems at RadioShack,” said Ron Cook, vice president of Technical Strategy and Operations at RadioShack. “Typically we have two to three cash lanes per store; if one is down, we can be as low as 50 percent capacity, so reliability is critical to our organization. Windows XP Embedded not only provides the reliability we need, but also a fast deployment of the solution that exceeded our expectations. Windows XP Embedded enabled us to develop a consistent, integrated technology environment across all our store platforms, from operating system to development environment to in-store devices, making it easier to get our solution deployed quickly and reliably.”
“Our goal has been to implement a POS platform that helps us deliver better service to our customers while allowing our sales staff to be more productive. We were encouraged by Microsoft’s strong commitment to the retail industry, and after actively evaluating other operating system platforms we decided on a Windows-based solution as the best overall fit for our store environment, for its reliability, functionality, strong vendor support and ability to flexibly integrate with other key tools used by our store associates,” said Dennis Bowman, chief information officer of Circuit City Stores. “Our new POS devices are intuitive and easy to use and will deliver vast amounts of Web-based and store-specific information to both associates and customers.”
“Windows XP Embedded supports fast user switching, multiuser login and dual-display support features that are crucial to our business,” said Bill Noakes, chief information officer at Meijer. “The operating system also offers reliability that is critical to retail scenarios.”
Windows XP Embedded is a componentized operating system that allows retailers to deploy a smaller operating system image on less-costly hardware. Point-of-sale terminals based on Windows XP Embedded offer broad compatibility with applications developed for Windows, enterprise-class networking and connectivity, and high reliability and security. In addition, Windows XP Embedded supports the key in-store scenarios that retailers demand, including remote booting of the device operating system and ongoing management of the deployed device through Device Update Agent.
RadioShack POS Solution Reliable From Day One
RadioShack’s objectives included finding a cost-effective and reliable solution, deploying that solution quickly, and taking advantage of existing software and hardware investments. The solution consists of Dell Inc. and HP systems deployed as cash lanes and PC systems. RadioShack also deployed the newly released Microsoft Systems Management Server 2003 as the primary management tool with its added capabilities to track assets, deploy applications and manage patches on Windows XP Embedded devices.
Using Windows XP Embedded, RadioShack worked with its information technology team and Microsoft Consulting Services to develop the Windows XP Embedded image, and with Dell and HP to deploy and integrate the system into 8,000 cash lanes in less than 12 weeks, demonstrating that Windows XP Embedded enables a fast and predictable time to market. The integrated, end-to-end toolset helped RadioShack’s development team reduce application creation and integration time compared with previous projects, contributing to the solution’s overall quick time to market. In addition, RadioShack found the cash lanes and PC systems reliable from the first day of operation, enabling sales associates to get up to speed on the systems immediately and spend more time with customers.
About Microsoft’s Smarter Retailing Initiative
The Microsoft Smarter Retailing Initiative helps retailers win today by leveraging current investments, and win tomorrow by easing delivery of new retail experiences. Consisting of Smarter Shopping, Smarter Selling and Smarter Operations, the Smarter Retailing Initiative is designed to close the loop between the retailer’s strategy, the in-store execution and familiar technologies already in consumers’ hands. More information can be found at http://www.microsoft.com/smartretail/ .
About the Windows Embedded Family
Microsoft is the worldwide leader in providing adaptable and scalable platforms for building the next generation of 32-bit, connected Windows Powered devices that enable rich applications and services. Microsoft Windows Embedded is a family of operating system software for use in embedded devices such as automated teller machines (ATMs), consumer electronics, gateways, industrial controllers, kiosks, mobile handheld devices, point-of-sale terminals, set-top boxes, Voice-over-IP phones and Windows-based thin clients. The Windows Embedded family of operating systems consists of Windows XP Embedded, which delivers the power of Windows XP Professional in componentized form for flexible development of reliable and advanced devices, and Windows CE .NET, an advanced, real-time operating system for small-footprint devices. Each of these operating system platforms includes powerful development tools for rapid development of customized devices. More information about the Windows Embedded family of operating systems can be found at http://msdn.microsoft.com/embedded/default.aspx .
About Microsoft
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT”) is the worldwide leader in software, services and Internet technologies for personal and business computing. The company offers a wide range of products and services designed to empower people through great software — any time, any place and on any device.
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