Windows Embedded CE 6.0 (Win Embedded Compact)

Naming and Branding

• The name is now Windows Embedded CE 6.0
• Changing branding colour from orange to blue

Redesigned Architecture

• Redesigned unified Kernel.
• Support now up to 32'000 processes
• 2 GB of Virtual Memory per process
• Kernel-mode drivers for performance
• User-mode drivers for robustness
• Device Emulator now ARM-Code based.

New Licensing Structure

• CE 6.0 licenses are now downgrade capable for same SKU (i.e.: CE 6.0 Prof for CE 5.0 Prof and CE 4.2 Prof)
• No more file-viewers and Pocket-IE components
• No more IEEE1394, P2P and Remote DCOM support
• No more Professional-Plus licenses
• Active Sync can now be distributed with CE 6.0

Better Tools

• Platform builder designed as a plug-in for Microsoft Visual Studio® 2005. Use your existing development skills to build both an operating system and an application. A full Visual Studio 2005 Professional is now included in the Platform-Builder package with no price increase!
• Updated catalogue functionality
• Updated compilers
• New integrated device emulator

Better Support

• Ten-year extended support
• Worldwide partner base and community collaboration
• Free evaluation kit to evaluate and test your system for 180 days

Faster Development

• End-to-end development portfolio to help you easily configure, build, and ship new devices
• Integrated development emulator eliminates having to use multiple tools from various sources
• Several hundred test components ready to use
• More source code access to help you debug, test, and make changes to an operating system image

Enabling New Business Opportunities

• The Cellcore Stack component helps devices establish data and voice connections over cellular networks
• The Windows Media Connect and Digital Video Recording components help devices consume media from Windows XP-based PCs and record, pause, and rewind live video streams
• The Windows Network Projector component will make it easier for meeting attendees to give a presentation from a Windows Vista based PC

• Unified Kernel
• Critical OS components moved into kernel space
• Improved system performance
• Increased security features and robustness
• High degree of backwards compatibilityt

Platform Development Tools

Platform Builder for CE 6.0 (a plug-in for Visual Studio 2005) is an integrated development environment (IDE) for building customized embedded operating system designs. Platform Builder comes with all of the development tools needed to design, create, build, test, and debug your project.

The integrated ARM based Emulator helps you easily to test your CE image without having a hardware platform.

Application Development Tools

To write applications for CE 6.0, Microsoft offers a familiar set of programming languages that use managed or unmanaged code. Visual Studio 2005 takes full advantage of the .NET Compact Framework, which uses public Internet standards to enable integration with new and existing applications running on any platform. Supported languages include Visual C++, Visual C#, and Visual Basic.

Windows CE Development Process

We can divide between the device OS development and the application development. To start with the device development, you need a BSP (Board Support Package) from a board manufacturer or start with a built in standard BSP. All needed drivers, configurations and settings are stored in the BSP. The more complete a BSP is, the less work you have to do! You can test your image via the device emulator. Don't forget to choose the emulator BSP as well in your project. After you have finished the OS design, you can export a SDK (Software Developmet Kit). The SDK contains the API-Set (Programmer Interface) supported through your CE Image. An application developer can now install this SDK to write applications for your CE Image and test it as well on the emulator first.