Raspberry Pi 2 launches, and it runs Windows 10
The Raspberry Pi Foundation did what many thought was impossible back in 2012 when they launched a $35 computer not much bigger than a credit card. That board was then improved repeatedly, giving us the current board: the Model B+. However, the Raspberry Pi has an increasing amount of competition, and that competition offers a lot more performance. So today, the Foundation has responded with the surprising announcement of the Raspberry Pi 2.
We weren’t expecting the second version of the board until sometime in 2017, but not only was the new version announced today, it’s available to buy today for the same $35 price point of the B+. Why would you want one? Because it offers 6x the performance of the B+ along with double the memory!
The extra RAM will be welcomed, but it’s that new quad-core Cortex-A7 that’s offering the massive gains in performance. Just as importantly, the Raspberry Pi 2 retains complete compatibility with previous boards. That means any software or hardware produced for the Raspberry Pi 1 will work with Raspberry Pi 2. The form factor is identical and it is still able to run from a 5V micro USB power adapter.
Work will now be done to bring software up-to-date to fully take advantage of the extra performance. However, there’s already a version of Ubuntu available to run on the new board. The Foundation has also been working with Microsoft for 6 months to ensure Windows 10 is compatible, and best of all, Microsoft has agreed to offer it completely free of charge.
The Raspberry Pi 2 puts the board right back up there with the best of the competition in terms of performance. The support of Windows 10 will also help make the Pi 2 an even more popular choice for schools going forward, as most of those networks remain Windows-focused. However, the most clever move is the combination of backwards compatibility, managing to retain the $35 price tag, and pulling off an announcement and availability on the same day.
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DJ OD
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