Jaa

Windows CE is NOT dead!

  • Artikkeli

I am just back from the Embedded Systems Conference in San Jose, CA and I (again) had to answer these same questions again and again: “So is CE really dead?”, “Now you killed CE, how are you addressing the ARM-based platforms?”, “How is it that you are still using Visual Studio 2005?”, “So Windows Embedded products are all different SKUs of the same product, right?”…

Here are some signs that make people think this way:

  • Windows Embedded CE 6.0 OSDesign tools are still integrated into Visual Studio 2005, not even 2008…
  • Visual Studio 2010 does not support Smart Device development (that is the support for developing native and .Net CF applications for Windows CE and Windows Mobile/Phone)…
  • Next version of Windows Embedded CE has been delayed several times…
  • Windows Phone 7 doesn’t clearly states what is the underlying OS…

So let me say this: Windows CE is NOT dead. Our devs are heads down finalizing Windows Embedded Compact 7 that will ship soon and that Microsoft will support over the next 10 years (at least). Windows Embedded team is investing a lot in adding new features, creating new tools to support these new features, analyzing the Embedded market really seriously… Does that sound like a dead product? Definitively not.

By the Way, Windows Phone 7 is based on the Windows Embedded Compact 7 core

You will hear more from me and the Windows Embedded team during the next couple of months and you will understand what I am talking about :-). Lots of good things are coming. Stay tuned.

Comments

  • Anonymous
    May 03, 2010
    Its good to hear some good news about CE, Lets wait for the updates in a copule of months as promised by obloch.  

  • Anonymous
    May 03, 2010
    The fact that the question is asked in the first place is the real problem.  Many in the industry are questioning Microsoft's commitment to embedded and mobile operating system software. If Microsoft is serious about embedded systems, Microsoft needs to do a better job getting the word out.

  • Anonymous
    May 03, 2010
    My wish list for Windows CE is simple--I'd love to see netbooks with Windows CE which could run digital audio workstation software that includes a piano roll/step sequencer and VST plug-in synthesizer support. Then one's netbook could be one's mobile recording studio.

  • Anonymous
    May 03, 2010
    pingback: http://geekswithblogs.net/WindowsEmbeddedCookbook/archive/2010/05/03/windows-ce-and-the-compact-framework-are-dead.aspx

  • Anonymous
    May 04, 2010
    How is Windows Embedded Compact 7 different from Windows 7 for x86? Is Microsoft planning to bring a "full" Windows to ARM Cortex processors? I guess it's not going to be open-source and it's not going to be free? What do you think about Android and Chrome OS?

  • Anonymous
    May 04, 2010
    @Tom: Definitively agree with you. I think the Windows Embedded group is definitvely trying to get the right info out at the right moment. Not always easy with all what's going on in different MS teams. Things are evolving fast in what I think is the right direction. Stay tuned for more info. -Olivier

  • Anonymous
    May 04, 2010
    @Charbax You are asking how Windows Embedded CE/Compact is different to Windows. Windows Embedded CE and its next version, Windows Embedded Compact 7 are not based on Windows binaries (vs. Windows Embedded Standard which is a componentized embedded version of Windows). Windows CE has been developped from scratch with a different OS architecture and driver model ensuring hard real time and very small footprint. Windows CE is also disigned to run on different CPU architectures (x86, MIPS, SH, ARM). The other big difference is that you compile Windows Embedded CE when you design a CE OS. I cannot comment on your other questions. -Olivier

  • Anonymous
    May 04, 2010
    Couldn't agree more. The best features around WinMo is customization. I can make my phone look any way I want, install any apps I want, and run them in the background when I want. It looks like MS is creating an environment which will hopefully lead to the end user being able to use these phoens easily without any hassle. Reactions: http://bit.ly/winphone7-marketplace-examined

  • Anonymous
    May 04, 2010
    So does this mean that an update to VS 2010 will allow you to write WinCE7 software?

  • Anonymous
    May 04, 2010
    The question is will you support ARMv6 optimizations? Updated compiler & linker? ARMv4 is history, ARMv5 is old and ARMv6 is current. Also, Platform Builder still does not support Visual Studio 2008, let alone 2010. Come on!

  • Anonymous
    May 04, 2010
    It's all because of Microsoft's nonsensical naming. Windows Embedded Standard 7 is NT-based and Windows Embedded Compact 7 is the real CE. Why create this extreme confusion? Windows CE should be called just that: Windows CE 7.0 or Windows Compact 7. Remove "Embedded" from one of the names and you'll see people getting less confused.

  • Anonymous
    May 05, 2010
    It's too bad that Windows Embedded CE 6.0 OSDesign tools arent' integrated into VS 2010. Having to support Embedded development on TFS 2005 has been painful and we would love to move to TFS 2010. For all intensive purposes...Embedded CE development has been so painful we've been seriously examining the alternatives. You mention more details coming "soon"..."soon" is honestly too late. We need details and bits from Microsoft yesterday if we're to beleive MS doesn't have CE on just life support.

  • Anonymous
    May 05, 2010
    @Sam, @Ismail Donmez, @Dev Tools When I say soon, I mean really soon. Answers to your questions will come next month or so with details on the tools, the CPU families support, and so on. Let the dev team finish their work.

  • Anonymous
    May 09, 2010
    C++ also used to be a "first class PL for .Net" just a couple of years ago and nowadays it's completely banned from Microsoft Mobile OS and even on desktop MS doesn't provide Intellisense support for C++/CLI. From the outside it really looks like desktop Windows kernel is going to replace CE as mobile OS offering and people on Windows CE team might not even know ;-). It's not only me; people started to look for the way out of Microsoft toolchain. I agree that Microsoft naming is terrible. It's very easy to search on the Web for programming topics about Android or iPhone or, to some extent, Maemo. But for Windows "Real" Embedded (not Standard) you have to search for topic several times with one of the following added "EVC, Pocket PC, PPC, Smart Devices, Platform Builder, WinCE, Windows CE, Windows Mobile, Windows Mobile 6". This further complicates programming for Windows CE.

  • Anonymous
    May 10, 2010
    Congratulations on WES 7. From the products that I've seen your working on it's going to be great and I'm really looking forward to see what you're able to do with Aero. Thanks!

  • Anonymous
    May 11, 2010
    The comment has been removed

  • Anonymous
    June 30, 2010
    this is the most confusing set of acronyms I've seen in a long time.  Coupled with an extensive list of promises.  I can't even imagine how confusing this must be for a new comer.

  • Anonymous
    June 30, 2010
    @owen Maybe I should not use the acronyms, you are right. Is it still so confusing if I say: Windows Embedded Compact     (Componentized, real time, small footprint, ... Compact) Windows Embedded Standard     (Modular Embedded version of Windows ... Standard) Windows Embedded Enterprise   (Windows SKU for Embedded OEMs in the Enterprise industry) Windows Embedded Server         (Windows SKU for Embedded Server Appliances) Windows Embedded POSReady (Point of Services optimized version of Windows) Windows Embedded Automotive  (Embedded OS for Automotive) Windows Embedded NavReady   (Embedded OS for navigatino devices (GPS)) -Olivier

  • Anonymous
    July 16, 2010
    The comment has been removed

  • Anonymous
    July 16, 2010
    @David Windows Embedded products life cycle is at least 10 years (with an optional additional 5 years). Older versions are not "shut down", they are replaced by newer ones. Usually, given the release rate, a previous version will still be supported about 7 years after a new version is released. The fact that the latest version of Microsoft desktop and Web applications developers tool (Visual Studio) does not support Smart Devices Development (meaning CE and Mobile) does not mean Microsoft is shuttin down older versions of Windows CE. As a matter of fact the tools used to develop on these versions (Visual Studio 2005 and Visual Studio 2008) are still available and supported. Olivier

  • Anonymous
    July 19, 2010
    The comment has been removed

  • Anonymous
    July 20, 2010
    The comment has been removed

  • Anonymous
    July 25, 2010
    The comment has been removed

  • Anonymous
    August 16, 2010
    A lot of developers are very jittery about what Microsoft will do with CE and as a result many are planning exit strategies form WinCE to Linux etc. Some of them will be heartened by the statement that Microsoft will support CE for at least ten years. Hearing that from Random Joe Blogger is not enough. Can we get that guarantee from senior management?

  • Anonymous
    August 18, 2010
    The comment has been removed

  • Anonymous
    January 05, 2011
    What is actually going on with Windows embedeed CE 7. Just no news.... :-(

  • Anonymous
    January 06, 2011
    @Jose: It is coming! you should hear from us real soon. It has reached RTM internaly and we are preparing the launch. -Olivier

  • Anonymous
    February 03, 2011
    Help! We have some kernel drivers written for Windows CE 6 that we want to try out on a WinPho 7 but we are really confused about how to even get the files onto the WinPho 7 phone. Right now we can copy the files to a CF card and run a program that installs the drivers on a WinCE 6.0 simulator. Works great. But we're not sure how to install thee drivers on WinPho 7 or whether Microsoft will even let us do this commercially. Can you shed some light on this please? Thanks! Shawn

  • Anonymous
    February 03, 2011
    @Shawn What you are trying to do is not a supported scenario. Drivers installation on Windows Phone 7 is restricted to the WIndows Phone devices manufacturers. I am  not sure what you are tryin gto do, but depending on your scenario, you might want to consider using Windows Embedded Handheld as your target instead: www.microsoft.com/.../overview.mspx -Olivier

  • Anonymous
    February 10, 2011
    What about the development IDE? I am upgrading to VS2010 and TFS, which don't support smart device.

  • Anonymous
    February 11, 2011
    @Maxi: This is not in the actual plans of record, you need to keep VS2008 to continue developping for Windows Embedded Compact 7 OS and Applications -Olivier

  • Anonymous
    March 19, 2011
    The comment has been removed

  • Anonymous
    March 21, 2011
    The comment has been removed

  • Anonymous
    May 23, 2011
    if it isn't dead, why you need to consider a title like that?

  • Anonymous
    May 24, 2011
    @Dennis good question indeed :-). Short answer: because people assume it is dead while it is not. As a matter of fact Windows Embedded Compact 7, the new version of CE, has been released a couple months ago. -Olivier

  • Anonymous
    June 01, 2011
    MS won't admit it, but its as good as dead.  Working with CE7 now, they have broken application compatibility badly.  We've been producing apps for years for CE5, CE6, and WM platforms - all broken now on CE7 requiring rework due to API changes.  Little to no support or info online for CE7 developers to deal with these changes.  I find CE7 bugs daily.  They have no ecosystem and the few people who have stuck by MS in this have now been burned by them...

  • Anonymous
    June 02, 2011
    The comment has been removed

  • Anonymous
    June 16, 2011
    Olivier, we heared from Intel they will  not develop any driver for their core i processors for WEC7. I guess this impacts the Intel Embedded Graphics Driver mainly, maybe also Ethernet interfaces in the chipset. What is your opinion to that? What restriction do you expect when running WEC7 on Core i?

  • Anonymous
    July 01, 2011
    @Core I user I have not tried it myself, but I would expect the CEPC BSP to enable running Compact 7 on a corei proc based board. Obviously you would not be able to leverage any of the corei specific features as the integrated GPU...Other than that, I am not sure and wouldn't want to make what would be assumptions. I know Adeneo has a BSP for Atom Series for CE 6 and Compact 7, they might be able to help here. www.adeneo-embedded.com/.../Intel -Olivier

  • Anonymous
    August 10, 2011
    Olivier, Looks like MS has now officially ignored developer feedback and refused to implement support for Windows CE development in VS2010.  This still leaves the future of development on Windows CE uncertain.  It also conveniently removes the suggestion from the Most Voted list on the Connect site as they have closed it as Fixed but the comment indicates a refusal. connect.microsoft.com/.../no-support-for-windows-ce-and-compact-framework-development-in-vs2010

  • Anonymous
    August 16, 2011
    The comment has been removed

  • Anonymous
    February 07, 2013
    Windows Embedded Compact 7 is now dead! Microsoft messed up when they posted their latest update on Feb 04, 2013. You can download the installer, but when you run it, the installer cannot find any of it's files on the Microsoft download site. See the post at: social.msdn.microsoft.com/.../c4804e01-37c2-44e2-844b-344f9b4c3156

  • Anonymous
    March 13, 2013
    So can a Windows 7.0 CE device run apps written for the older Mobile Windows AKA Pocket PC devices?

  • Anonymous
    March 13, 2013
    @Kim Gregory Sorry I just noticed your comment... a bit late. I switched team and I need to be better at following what is going on here. If the issue is still not fixed, let me know so I can ping my previous team and know what's going on.

  • Olivier
  • Anonymous
    March 13, 2013
    @framework4 Short answer is no. Different frameworks versions, different toolset, different OS versions.
  • Olivier
  • Anonymous
    May 02, 2013
    CAN I UPGRADE A CE6 SYSTEM TO CE7 ?