Microsoft is working on a new version of Windows for the next big trend in computing, known as the Internet of Things, it announced Wednesday at its Build conference in San Francisco.
The Internet of Things (IoT) is when everyday items get sensors and computer chips and can join the Internet. This includes things like doors, keys, medicine bottles, appliances, elevators, you name it.
This new IoT version of Windows will run on really small computers that fit in the palm on your hand. Details were sketchy about when this new version of Windows will be released. Microsoft says that a preview of it will be available for programmers in the spring.
The new version of Windows will run on Intel's tiny Galileo computer board, which is similar to the Raspberry Pi computers that run a rival operating system, Linux, or computer boards that are part of a project called Arduino.
Do-it-yourself electronics enthusiasts can use such boards to create their own home-grown gadgets.
Microsoft used a tiny computer and the new version of Windows to build a human-size piano, and showed it off during Wednesday's keynote speech.
The piano is out on display at the conference, where people can tap dance their own songs, just like in the movie "Big."
We gave it it try ourselves and it was really fun. Here's a closeup of the piano:
The piano is running on a palm-size computer — that small silver box.
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