This post outlines the investments Microsoft is making to simplify the configuration and management of kiosk devices, improving Windows 10 as a kiosk platform for IT organizations. Our investments in kiosk and Firstline Worker scenarios are part of a bigger mission to simplify IT in the modern workplace.
You see kiosks everywhere you go: in airports, supermarkets, movie theaters, restaurants, banks, and many other places. Kiosks have many forms and functions. What most people don’t realize is that many of them are powered by Windows.
Windows has long been the platform of choice for kiosk devices because of its security capabilities, the availability of applications, enterprise software assurance support, and a broad ecosystem of device and peripheral partners. Today we see a growing number of IT organizations developing and deploying their own kiosk solutions using standard hardware and, in some cases, repurposing existing hardware.
We use the term “kiosk” as an umbrella term for a broad category of devices, but it generally boils down to two main scenarios:
Both usage scenarios have a few requirements in common:
In the past year, with every Windows feature update, we’ve introduced significant improvements to our kiosk capabilities:
For more information, see Set up a kiosk or digital signage on Windows 10. You can also watch a quick demo on setting up a kiosk using Microsoft Intune or using a provisioning package.
With the upcoming release of Windows 10, version 1803, we are taking the next steps in our efforts to make kiosks even more capable – and easier to deploy and configure. Some key assigned access enhancements include:
We are excited to complete the circle of support for classic Windows desktop apps and UWP Store Apps with a new Kiosk Browser app. The Kiosk Browser app is built on Microsoft Edge and can be used to create a tailored browsing experience. Kiosk Browser is great for presenting interactive web apps and digital signage content. Kiosk Browser can be configured to navigate to a default URL without showing any UI. When used with other types of kiosks, it can be configured with a list of allowed URLs and the UI elements that should be presented (e.g. navigation buttons). It can also be configured to automatically clear user data between sessions.
To ensure IT has control, Kiosk Browser can only be configured through provisioning or an MDM provider such as Intune. Please refer to our documentation for more information on how to deploy and configure Kiosk Browser.
The Kiosk Browser is available in the Microsoft Store for Business for you to try out yourself
This post would not be complete without sharing some of our future plans. We will continue to make it easier for IT departments to manage, configure, and deploy Windows 10 kiosks for customers and Firstline Workers, and plan to include the following capabilities in a future Windows 10 feature update:
To learn more about Windows kiosks, check out our Windows kiosk documentation. I encourage you to try out the capabilities and leave a comment below if there are other enhancements and scenarios you would like from the platform.
Continue the conversation. Find best practices. Bookmark the Windows 10 Tech Community.
Looking for support? Visit the Windows 10 IT pro forums.
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