ESPER FIREBOLT
Your hardware still has plenty of life, so why let a date on Microsoft's calendar force you to replace it? Firebolt converts your x86 fleet from Windows to Android, on the machines you already own. No rip-and-replace. No forklift refresh. The same hardware, running an OS with a future.
Every Windows fleet has an expiration date. Microsoft sets it, Microsoft moves it, and sooner or later the build you're running lands on the wrong side of it — no more patches, no more support, a security liability bolted to your front counter. Windows 10 IoT is the one forcing the conversation today. There will be another.
Firebolt is Esper's engagement for separating those two events. It converts the x86 hardware currently running Windows over to Esper Foundation, our custom Android OS. The systems you bought, the kiosks you mounted, the terminals bolted to your counters: they stay. The out-of-date OS goes.
Firebolt isn't a download you run yourself, and it isn't one identical process bolted onto every device. It's a scoped conversion — Esper looks at your specific hardware and peripherals, tells you what your fleet can actually do, and prices the work to match. And it isn't one-and-done: once converted, your fleet becomes part of Esper's device management infrastructure, with security patches delivered through Foundation's OTA pipeline. You end up on Android. You keep the fleet.
What Esper Foundation gives you
A proven, secure OS purpose-built for dedicated use cases — not a repurposed consumer build.
Powered by the Esper device management platform — remote control of the whole fleet from one place.
Kept secure and up to date through built-in, customer-controlled OTA updates — you decide when they ship.
Everyone's watching the Windows 10 IoT end-of-life date. There's a second countdown most fleets haven't clocked yet — and it's on a different timer.
The obvious deadline. When the support window closes, the included patches stop — and paying to extend them is a shrinking, increasingly expensive runway, not a fix. A fleet running an unpatched OS on the front counter becomes a security liability. This is the clock forcing the conversation today.
A Secure Boot certificate from 2011 is being retired between late 2026 and spring 2027. Devices that never got the newer certificate firmware can be left exposed once the old one is revoked — a risk that runs on its own timer, independent of the Windows end-of-life date.
Two timers, one answer that isn't "wait and see." Foundation doesn't depend on the Windows Secure Boot chain, so converting a device steps around that second problem instead of inheriting it.
When Windows 10 IoT Enterprise LTSB 2016 goes end-of-life, extended security updates look like the easy button. They aren't a plan — they're a meter running while you sit in the parking lot.
The structure tells the story: extended support is time-boxed, covers security patches only, and the cost climbs every year you stay on it — enroll late and you pay for the years you skipped, too. For IoT devices specifically, there isn't even a published price: extended support on the IoT SKU is set by your device manufacturer, and it may be steep or unavailable. Either way, the shape is the same — the cost of standing still goes up every year, and it never buys you off the treadmill. And LTSB 2016 isn't the end of it: the 2029 release hits its own end-of-life not far behind, so this is a plan to make now, not later.
Keeps you on the Microsoft lifecycle, and its hardware requirements often force the exact device replacement you were trying to avoid.
A full capital refresh of a fleet that was working fine — new devices on the loading dock to solve a software problem.
The only path off Windows that runs on the hardware you already own — where your software has an Android build. And it sets you up cleanly for your next hardware refresh cycle, on your timeline.
Firebolt fits the shape of your decision, not the other way around. Ready to commit the whole fleet? We do a clean install — Windows gone, Esper Foundation in, done. Still working out budget, timeline, or whether this is the long-term answer? There's a path built for exactly that: keep Windows on the disk as a safety net while Android proves itself in production.
A clean install of Esper Foundation on the hardware — nothing new on the loading dock. For a factory-imaged rollout or a fleet that's already decided, that's the whole story. Built for accounts ready to commit for the long haul, with the strongest security posture Foundation offers.
Windows and Android on the same device — you choose which one boots, remotely from the Esper console, no technician in the field after the first install. Windows stays intact on disk, so if a pilot doesn't hold you roll back. The partition never left. Built as a genuine bridge — the right call if you need real runway while you sort out what's next, not just a hedge. Supports Android up to version 13.
Two different commitments, both real. Which one's right depends on your fleet and your timeline.
Test Android in your lab and pilot stores before you scale.
Pilot holds, you advance. It doesn't, you roll back — the Windows partition never left.
Expand through the remote-management tooling you already run, Windows still as a safety net.
Once Android has proven itself, wipe Windows and complete the move.
Within this path, you graduate to a bigger rollout — never to a different tool. One note: Firebolt is an Esper-assisted, scoped engagement, not a self-serve download. Whether your fleet is eligible depends on your specific hardware and — just as important — whether your POS or kiosk software has an Android version. Some platforms are Windows-only today. We'll tell you exactly what your fleet can do before you commit to anything.
The deadline is real and it's coming for every Windows fleet on its own schedule. But it's a software deadline — and software is the one thing you can change without a purchase order for a thousand new machines. Tell us what your fleet is running. We'll tell you what it takes to convert it.
Firebolt is an Esper-assisted, scoped engagement. Share a few details and we'll scope your conversion.
It starts with a conversation about your fleet — what hardware you're running, what OS build it's on, what software your devices run, and what your migration window looks like. From there, Esper validates your specific devices and scopes the conversion. Use the form on this page to kick it off.
Firebolt is the engagement — and the associated technology set — Esper uses to move your fleet onto Esper Foundation, our Android OS. You're not buying a standalone installer — you're converting your hardware onto Foundation and managing it through Esper from that point on, on an ongoing subscription. A Firebolt flip requires both Esper Foundation for Android and an Esper Deploy (MDM) subscription; Firebolt and Foundation aren't available as standalone products without Esper MDM.
Firebolt is scoped and priced to your specific hardware and peripheral configuration rather than sold at a flat per-device rate, so the honest answer is that it depends on your fleet. We'll scope it with you. For a cost comparison against staying on Windows or buying new hardware, use the calculator.
It depends on fleet size, hardware mix, and whether you convert straight to Android or pilot on dual-boot first. Because conversion to Foundation is managed remotely after the initial install, timeline is driven by your rollout pace — not by how many stores a technician can physically visit.
Often on the hardware — that's the point. But eligibility has two parts: the device image and whether your POS/kiosk application has an Android build. Windows-only software (some enterprise platforms still are) can't be converted in place. Esper confirms both during evaluation.
Yes. The dual-boot path is built for exactly this — run Android on a pilot group in production while the rest of the fleet stays on Windows, with the Windows partition preserved so you can roll back. Expand once you're confident.
Firebolt is an Esper-assisted engagement, so our team validates hardware and stands up the migration. After conversion, the fleet runs on Esper Foundation and is managed through the Esper console — remote OTA, provisioning, and lifecycle control included.
Both the team that owns the hardware and the fleet (operations or IT leaders) and the team that owns what runs on it (engineering leaders, plus whoever owns the POS/kiosk application relationship). The conversion touches budget and rollout risk on one side and OS and application behavior on the other.