14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft used this year's Mobile & Embedded DevCon event to announce the availability of the first beta for Windows CE 6, the next generation of its industry-leading, real-time software used to build customized operating systems for devices such as Internet Protocol (IP) set-top-boxes, Global Positioning System (GPS)-based devices, and industrial automation and medical devices.
The redesigned operating system kernel architecture supports significantly more simultaneously running processes, from 32 up to 32,000 simultaneous processes, each of them running in a 2GB virtual memory address space.
This allows developers to incorporate larger numbers of more complex applications into intelligent devices that offer more advanced multimedia, Web services and wireless networking than before.
Additionally, Windows CE 6 provides continuity of features and functionality from previous generations of Windows CE, allowing device makers to utilize their previous investments in user interfaces, applications, middleware and drivers.
"With Windows CE 6, not only do we now have a single unified tool that allows us to develop software for embedded operating systems and applications, we have a more powerful and flexible kernel that serves as a platform for next-generation device requirements," said Chris Tacke, Windows Embedded Most Valuable Professional, and principal partner at OpenNETCF Consulting LLC, also referring to the Visual Studio 2005 plug-in aimed at developers.