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flux@microsoft.com

Douglas Boling

Out of the Pocket

t's been over a year since I discussed the newest and smallest OS in the Windows pantheon, Windows CE. At the time, the only products that supported Windows CE were a series of seemingly identical palm-top computers called Handheld PCs (H/PC). While the H/PC was a gallant first try, the best thing that could be said was that the OS showed promise. Well, in a year, things have changed. Windows CE has grown in both function and size, and has been extended across three product lines.       The latest and most interesting of the new product lines is the Palm-size PC, a tablet PDA that runs Windows CE. This new line was introduced at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in January and is supported by a number of hardware manufacturers such as Philips and Casio. As might be inferred by its name, the Palm PC is quite similar to the Palm Pilot. The units have similar dimensions, a similar portrait mode screen, and a pen-based GUI interface. Underneath this first impression, there are a number of differences. While the Palm Pilot's strength is simplicity and a killer sync process, the Palm PC has additional hardware features such as an infrared port, a compact flash memory slot, and a voice recorder.       The Palm PC runs a slimmed-down version of Windows CE 2.0. The pocket applications of H/PC fame were either dropped or radically rewritten for the different environment of the Palm PCs. The InkWriter application replaces Microsoft® Pocket Word, while Microsoft Pocket Excel is dropped entirely. The Pocket Outlook™ organizer has been rewritten to work better with the smaller screen.       On an entirely different front, Microsoft announced the Auto PC. I used to chuckle at the mantra, "Windows Everywhere!" Not any more. There are some interesting applications: GPS navigation systems, mobile email, and so forth. And don't worry about hitting a bridge piling while trying to mouse over to the volume icon, for this version of Windows comes with a voice recognition command engine in place of a GUI desktop. Since units are not out yet, it will be interesting to see how this product is accepted by the marketplace.       What is more interesting to the hacker in me is the Auto PC's voice recognition driver. The beauty of Windows CE is that divergent products, such as PDAs and car stereos, have the same underpinnings and therefore can exchange technology. The voice recognition stuff written for the Auto PC could be quickly ported to the Palm PC and H/PC product lines. Now that could be interesting.       The original H/PC team hasn't stood still. At Fall Comdex, Microsoft, along with hardware vendors, released the second iteration of the H/PC, currently codenamed Mercury. The new boxes all sport 640X240 screens in both color and black and white. In general, the systems all grew a bit, which isn't really a bad thing since the H/PC boxes have always been too big for a pocket yet too small for typing on the micro keyboards.       Windows CE, now in its second revision, sports new features such as printing support, OLE automation, and an improved desktop. The applications loaded with the new machines have also been improved. Pocket Word now has a much-needed spell checker. Pocket Excel now zooms out to take up the entire screen, making more cells visible. The organizer has been renamed Pocket Outlook to emphasize the link to its larger desktop counterpart. And a new pocket application, Pocket PowerPoint® Viewer, allows users to view converted PowerPoint slides on their H/PCs.       The link between the PC and the H/PC has also been improved. The old H/PC Explorer program for your desktop PC has been replaced by a Mobile Devices folder that is a namespace extension of the Windows desktop. It includes an upgraded synchronization module called Active Sync™. This new Mobile Devices folder supports both H/PCs and Palm PCs.       At a more basic level, the Windows CE 2.0 API supports a far larger subset of the desktop Win32® API. As with Windows CE 1.0, programmers develop Windows CE-based apps using a Visual C++® for Windows CE add-in. For the less sophisticated programmer, the H/PC now supports a Java VM as well as a Visual Basic® runtime DLL. While the entire Windows CE API is not supported across all three platforms, programming for one product line is, for the most part, like programming for the other two.       Windows CE has now been pushed into a smaller box and into the car. I wouldn't expect the Windows CE team to rest on its laurels with just these three lines. Microsoft has announced that Windows CE will be used in set-top boxes, and WebTV® is supposed to be moving to Windows CE. Already rumors are spreading of a version of Windows CE designed for larger, subnotebook platforms. Imagine a notebook with a great screen and a real keyboard that would last 12 hours on a charge. That just might hit the spot for the road warrior.

From the April 1998 issue of Microsoft Interactive Developer.