Microsoft has released the fourth major version of Windows CE, its specialized, embeddable edition of the Windows operating system (OS) that companies can use to create custom portable connected devices. The new version, Windows CE .NET, adds support for strategic networking protocols and for digital entertainment. It also includes a technology preview of the .NET Compact Framework and the Visual Studio .NET Smart Device Extensions, which are versions of Microsoft’s new .NET development platform and developer tools for portable devices. The .NET Compact Framework will allow developers to create test versions of applications for portable devices using the new platform; however, production versions will have to wait until the final release becomes available.

Improvements to Networking and Digital Media

Connected and portable devices are important both to Microsoft's .NET vision and to the success of Windows CE as an embedded OS. (For background, see ".NET Puts Focus on Embedded Strategy" on page 6 of the July 2001 Update.) CE .NET delivers support for the network protocols that Microsoft thinks are gaining traction in business and (increasingly) in homes, including the following:

802.11 and Bluetooth wireless. CE .NET adds support for the 802.11 wireless local area network (LAN) protocol, including 802.11 zero configuration (which facilitates the configuration of the protocol and allows users to roam between networks without changing configurations), and support for 801.1x and the Extensible Authentication Protocol (EAP) (which significantly enhances security of 802.11 by enabling password, certificate, or other authentication methods). CE .NET also adds support for the Bluetooth protocol for short-range, or personal area network (PAN), wireless communication with peripheral devices such as headphones, modems, and printers. Building on the wireless networking protocols, CE .NET improves communications with MediaSense, which applications can use to detect that a user has moved out of range of the network and to automatically offer an "offline" mode. (For more information on wireless communication for portable devices, see "Wireless Connectivity Options for the Pocket PC".)

Voice and instant messaging. CE .NET includes support for the Session Initiation Protocol (SIP), which offers presence detection, routing, and call handling for many types of real-time communication and collaboration, such as instant messaging and Voice-over-IP. (For details, see "Windows Messenger Moves IM, Conferencing in New Direction" on page 8 of the Aug. 2001 Update.)

Security. CE .NET has support for the widely used Kerberos authentication protocol, which provides a mechanism for mutual authentication between two entities before a secure network connection is established.

In addition to connected personal productivity devices, such as personal digital assistants (PDAs), Microsoft also positions CE as an embedded OS for connected entertainment devices. Therefore, CE .NET improves support for multimedia by adding support for Microsoft’s DirectX APIs (3D graphics and music), DVD video (allowing CE .NET devices to play DVD movies), Windows Media 8 codecs and controls, and for Digital Rights Management (DRM) 7, to protect content and intellectual property.

.NET Compact Framework Preview

To ensure that development of applications for embedded devices continues to parallel development of applications for Windows, Microsoft has included in CE .NET a technology preview of the .NET Compact Framework, a subset of the .NET development platform. (For details, see the Feb. 2002 Research Report, "The .NET Development Platform.")

The .NET Compact Framework and the Smart Device Extensions for Visual Studio .NET bring the advantages of Microsoft’s new development platform to the CE .NET embedded OS, ensuring that developers use the same process, tools, and a logical subset of functions to create applications for CE .NET-based devices as they do for Windows, Web applications, and Web services. It also ensures that devices based on CE .NET can interact with XML Web services.

The technology preview of the .NET Compact Framework included with CE .NET is a subset of the full .NET Framework that Microsoft has determined makes sense for small, portable devices. Like the full .NET Framework, the .NET Compact Framework includes the Common Language Runtime (CLR), which manages the execution of code written in new .NET languages such as C# and VB.NET. The .NET Compact Framework will also include the class libraries that developers need to build embedded applications, including libraries for the following functions:

• Basic application functionality, such as reading and writing data from files and the network
• Reading and writing XML and the Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP)
• Defining user interface (UI) elements and controls for applications such as list boxes and buttons (WinForms)
• Database access (ADO.NET).

Given the role that CE .NET-based devices will play, the .NET Compact Framework does not and is unlikely to ever include the .NET Framework class libraries for server-side application development, such as ASP.NET, or the form controls for Web server-based applications (WebForms).

The .NET development platform, including the subset in the .NET Compact Framework, will improve application development and execution, but the implementation included with Windows CE .NET is a technology preview or, at best, an alpha release. The .NET Compact Framework will likely undergo additional development and refinement as it moves through beta and release candidate stages prior to final release.

Until the final release, which will incorporate details such as which classes are included in the .NET Compact Framework and how Microsoft will deliver the final framework for CE .NET, developers can only use the .NET Compact Framework to design and prototype applications and devices based on CE .NET. For production applications prior to that final release, developers will have to use the existing Windows APIs implemented on CE .NET.

Resources

Windows CE .NET is sold through a network of authorized distributors including Annasoft, BSquare, and VenturCom.

Further information and a free evaluation edition are available at the Windows CE .NET site, www.microsoft.com/windows/embedded/ce.net/default.asp.