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Is there any reason you can't use a PI3? The PI4 has more horsepower and memory, but unless you specifically need that, a PI3 may work.
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I had considered that but in my mind the Pi3 is on its way to being yesterdays product.
I am surprised to see that some of the systems we put in 25 years ago are still in regular use and spares are still being ordered so I am reluctant to put in something that may be obsolete in the near future. Hence the consideration of a generic PC platform and (rather foolishly maybe) an OS that will have a few years of support 
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If you can use the Pi3B that would work. I set up Windows 10 IoT Core on mine and loaded up a small UWP app on it using the official raspberry pi 7" touchscreen. It worked great. If not, here are the development boards that Microsoft recommends:
Suggested Prototype Boards - Windows IoT | Microsoft Docs[^]
Windows 11 IoT seems to be just enterprise only from what I gathered. I couldn't seem to find a non enterprise version like they did with 10.
From what I remember with my small test app, it had to be a UWP app and I also installed Windows 10 IoT Core Dashboard app on my development machine. Integration and debugging with Visual Studio also worked well.
Edit:
For Windows IoT Enterprise (the newest one) here is the documentation page for hardware:
SoCs and Custom Boards for Windows IoT Enterprise | Microsoft Docs[^]
From there it seems like VIA Technologies provides both x86 and Arm boards: VIA Embedded Boards - Speed Up Your Development Time[^]
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Thanks for tyour comments and links especially the documentation page on the latest hardware (Dated 10/04/2021 for anyone else reading this thread).
Lots of homework to do now.
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Personally, I have yet to find an actual need for them. I mean, yeah you can run a version of Windows on it, but do you really need that?
I've found that I do not. I can get away with most controllers using much cheaper arduino compatible offerings, like an ESP32 including the fancy touch screen.
But I guess it all depends on what you need/want.
At most I'd probably use a Raspberry Pi but although I have one, it's collecting dust for lack of need.
Maybe I'm not the best person to ask, and I know elephanting nothing about what you are doing, but this is just my own experience.
Real programmers use butterflies
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If I was starting from scratch I'd agree with you 
Sadly in an industry dominated by PC's running customised software there is not a lot of options.
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Thanks, an interesting link!
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May I ask why it HAS to be specifically windows?
I used to use Windows capable boards, but there is a minimum x2 price hike compared to other options. Subsequently I have standardized on Raspberry Pi's with a Linux distro that best suite my needs at the time.
Nothing succeeds like a budgie without teeth.
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It has to be Windows because the machine control software and its entire infrastructure has already been developed for a Windows environment and we just maintain it under licence. Porting it to Linux is a different project and for a different team, we are not in charge of those rules, we simply build the system and keep the customer satisfied.
Personally I fully agree new developments should be using Linux where appropriate, the modern SBC's pack a punch its going to take a while to shake off Windows but it will happen.
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what IO ports do you need?
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A couple of serial ports, two USB2 ports and Ethernet, (WiFi is not necessary) I intend to use a touch screen for normal operation so a keyboard and mouse will only be plugged in by a service engineer. Currently a discrete PC that goes with the system uses FTDI USB to RS232 converters.
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oh ok, i was gonna say something like a intel compute stick, but would need to usb dongle convert a bunch of things off it.
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It's is a good suggestion though!
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I bought a small windows capable board some time ago. It had linux installed but I put windows 10 IOT on it and got it working but because it had a small disk I had problems with windows update taking up all the disk space all the time. So I gave up on it. I will put linux on it again when I have more time. So my advice to you is that whatever board you get make sure you have a least some gigabytes for windows update 🤭
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Thanks for that!
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Thanks, I have a Pi 4 and a son who is at a lose end, I will get him to try this.
The slight issue is that if it not officially supported we cannot use it in the actual machine but I do appreciate the links.
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how about some of the PC104 rugged units, they should last quite a long time, many of them support windows 10
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I had not considered this form factor and it would probably future proof the machine.
Thanks very much for the suggestion!
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I had had a similar need. I really liked the Lenovo M75N IOT, but they have been difficult to get, so we've been using the Quieter2 from MeLE. It's about $260 from Amazon, has no moving parts, can run Windows 11 (it comes with a Windows 11 pro license, but I've installed Windows 10 Pro and it still activates). Getting the drivers for Windows 10 was a little annoying, but so far we've been really happy with how they've run. Because the storage is EMM, I would recommend getting a M.2 SSD and installing Windows on that, but it's probably not totally necessary. I have six of these currently running in an industrial application connected to a Touchscreen, barcode scanner, and a [Omron] PLC via a USB to Serial adaptor.
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Thanks very much  I like that Lenovo what a pity about the supply issue.
Your set-up is quite similar to my application, touchscreen, serial comms to the machine and Ethernet for firmware updates so your advice is spot on for me.
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I use a fanless ITX board with onboard processor with Win10 for Excel development and application maintaining: 4x2GHz and 8GB Ram with a used SSD. To keep it cheap I use a pico power supply - consider how much power you need. Here the sources from my notes (2019):
board 4x2,08GHz 50€
https:
+ 8GB DDR3 53€
https:
+ Pico 28€
https:
+ externes 12V Netzteil (60W) 8,39€
https:
https:
today, compare the prices! US vs. EU/FRG
Shop by Category | eBay[^]
and
Einkaufen nach Kategorie | eBay Deutschland[^]
cwp42
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