Is Windows Embedded an OS you can install

Windows XP for Embedded Systems is an edition of Windows XP that contains the full feature set of Windows XP Professional, but has restrictions on licensing that require the resulting device to boot directly into the original equipment manufacturer's application.
As of April 2008, this edition is marketed as part of the "Windows Embedded Enterprise" brand, which includes both this release and its successor, Windows Vista for Embedded Systems.
[edit]Windows XP Embedded


Screenshot of Windows XP Embedded Evaluation running several Windows components.
Windows XP Embedded, commonly abbreviated "XPe", is a componentized version of the Professional edition of Windows XP. An original equipment manufacturer is free to choose only the components needed thereby reducing operating system footprint and also reducing attack area as compared with XP Professional. Unlike Windows CE, Microsoft's operating system for portable devices and consumer electronics, XP Embedded provides the full Windows API, and support for the full range of applications and device drivers written for Microsoft Windows. The system requirements state that XPe can run on devices with at least 32MB Compact Flash, 32MB RAM and a P-200 microprocessor. XPe was released on November 28, 2001. As of October 2008, the newest release is Windows XP Embedded Service Pack 3.
The devices targeted for XPe have included automatic teller machines, arcade games, slot machines, cash registers, industrial robotics, thin clients, set-top boxes, network attached storage (NAS), time clocks, navigation devices, etc.[29] Custom versions of the OS can be deployed onto anything but a full-fledged PC; even though XPe supports the same hardware that XP Professional supports (x86 architecture), licensing restrictions prevent it from being deployed on to standard PCs. However, Microsoft has made at least one exception to this rule. Some Dell notebooks contain an embedded XP installation as part of the MediaDirect 2.0 feature. It is worth noting that all such laptops also have a standard OEM install of Windows in addition to the XP embedded installation.
Microsoft has announced that Windows Embedded Standard 2009 will succeed XPe by the end of 2008. Windows Embedded Standard 2009 is derived from Windows XP Embedded since Microsoft does not yet have a componentized version of Windows Vista. [30] Windows Embedded Standard 2009 includes Silverlight, .NET Framework 3.5, Internet Explorer 7, Windows Media Player 11, RDP 6.1 and Network Access Protection. [31] Microsoft however is also developing a componentized version codenamed Windows Embedded Quebec, containing Windows Vista features such as Aero, SuperFetch, ReadyBoost, BitLocker Drive Encryption, Windows Firewall, Windows Defender, Address Space Layout Randomization. [32] It will be available in x86 and x64 versions and targeted for release in 2010. Reportedly, it will have a larger footprint (~ 300 MB) compared to 40 MB of XPe and will also require product activation.[32]
[edit]Features


A BT Internet payphone loading Windows XP Embedded.
Componentized OS
Write Filters
XPe includes feature components known as write filters, which can be used to filter out disk writes. The volumes can be marked as read-only using these filters and all writes to it can be redirected. Applications in user mode are unaware of this write filtering. XPe ships with two write filters:
Enhanced Write Filter (EWF)
EWF protects a system at volume level. It redirects all disk writes to a protected drive to memory or a separate disk. EWF is extremely useful when used in Thin Clients that have flash memory as their primary boot source.
File Based Write Filter (FBWF)
FBWF allows the configuration of individual files as read/write on a protected volume.
USB Boot
XPe adds a USB boot option to Windows. An XPe embedded device can be configured to boot from a USB drive.
CD Boot
An XPe device can be configured to boot from a CD-ROM. This allows the device to boot without the requirement of having a physical hard disk drive as well as provides a "fresh boot" every time the image is booted (a property inherited by the fact that the operating system is being booted from read-only media). One drawback to this technology is updating or servicing the image requires the complete process of setting up the runtime image to be completed once again from start to end.
Network Boot
An XPe device can be configured to boot from a properly configured network. Synonymous to CD Boot, Network Boot removes the requirement of having the physical hard drive as well as providing the "fresh boot" behavior. One bonus to Network Boot though is the ability to service the already setup image. Once the image is updated the image is simply posted to the RIS Server and once clients are rebooted they will receive the updated image.

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsembedded/en-us/products/wexpe/default.mspx