Is it possible to work at Raspberry Pi Pico using Windows 10? My question specified is: do I have to install any Linux distro, for example Raspbian, to be able to work at it? Do I also need to use SD card to work with it?
Just want to receive feedback, cause I'm confused and also kinda new to embedded systems
I may share my experience so far, I'm not an expert and this list does not claim to be complete at all.
The pi pico can be programmed by using
Picomite Basic (found here: https://geoffg.net/picomite.html) which doesnt need anything installed on the PC except a terminal program (I am using Tera Term)
MicroPython (never used it myself, afaik Thonny - found here: https://thonny.org/ is the preferred IDE )
C/C++/ASM This is what I am using, the SDK is available for Windows, Linux and Raspbian (MacOS maybe too?), an excellent guide on how to install it and how to use it is found here: https://datasheets.raspberrypi.com/pico/getting-started-with-pico.pdf
Arduino The Pico can even be used as an arduino device too, a good point to start is here: https://github.com/earlephilhower/arduino-pico
Keep in mind, that the interpreted languages (basic and python) are easier to handle (no big SDK or framework need to be installed on the PC, copying code to the pico is a relative easy step) but at a cost of speed. If you need a lot of cpu power, compiled languages are by far the better choice
To answer your questions, yes, no, and no. You should be able to get going on Windows 10 with just the raspberry pi pico and a micro USB to USB cable.
I got started with mine this weekend - seeing the on-board LED blink finally made me so happy. The official getting started guide pointed me at this script for getting started on Windows.
It set up docs, examples, visual studio code, and more for me. Between its README and chapter 9 of the getting started guide ("Building on MS Windows"), I was able to get my little light blinking :)
Good luck to you on your embedded journey!
As an alternative, an in addition to @Tommylee2k's helpful insights, you can develop and run Python software for a Pico with absolutely no software needing to be installed on a Windows PC.
At its most basic level, you press the BOOTSEL switch and insert the Pico's USB cable into your PC, and the few MB of space on the Pico appear in your Windows File Explorer as a USB disk drive.
You then write your microPython software using any text editor you prefer. All these general purpose modules are available. And all these Pico-specific modules are available.
You then copy (drag and drop) your Python script to the Pico disk drive and save it as main.py.
The Pico will then run that script on every subsequent power-up. Of course you can re-attach the Pico to your PC and edit the file at a later date.
That is adequate and simple enough. If you want a REPL and friendly editor and console logging and other developer-friendly features, you can install Thonny for free and code more effectively but it is not actually absolutely necessary. It's a bit like driving a car without ABS, without an automatic gearbox and without aircon - it can get you from A to B without problems but there are easier and more comfortable methods.
