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Windows CE
Wordmark of Windows CE (in versions 4.x and 5.0)
Developer	Microsoft
Written in	Assembly, C[1], C++, C#
Source model	Closed-source Source-available (through Shared Source Initiative)[2]
Initial release	November 16, 1996 (1996-11-16)
Final release	8.0 (Embedded Compact 2013) / June 13, 2013 (2013-06-13)[3]
Supported platforms	x86, 32-bit ARM, (SuperH[4] up to 6.0 R2, MIPS and PowerPC were also supported)[5][6][7][8][9][10]
Kernel type	Monolithic
License	Commercial proprietary software
Succeeded by	Windows IoT
Official website	msdn.microsoft.com/embedded
Support status
Not supported, see § Releases for details.

Windows CE, later known as Windows Embedded CE and Windows Embedded Compact, is a discontinued operating system developed by Microsoft for mobile and embedded devices. Originally targeted solely at handheld computers, Windows CE evolved into a component-based, embedded, real-time operating system. It was part of the Windows Embedded family^[11] and served as the software foundation of several products including the Pocket PC, Auto PC, Windows Mobile, Windows Phone 7 and others.

Unlike Windows Embedded Standard, Windows For Embedded Systems, Windows Embedded Industry and Windows IoT, which are based on Windows NT, Windows CE uses a different kernel.^[12] Microsoft licensed it to original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), who could modify and create their own user interfaces and experiences, with the operating system providing the technical foundation to do so.

Earlier versions of Windows CE worked on MIPS and SuperH architectures, but in version 7.0 released in 2011—when the product was also renamed to Embedded Compact—support for these were dropped but remained for MIPS II architecture. The final version, Windows Embedded Compact 2013 (version 8.0), released in 2013, only supports x86 and ARM processors with board support package (BSP) directly.^[13] It had mainstream support until October 9, 2018, and extended support ended on October 10, 2023; however, license sales for OEMs will continue until 2028.^{[14][15][16][17]}

Windows CE is optimized for devices that have minimal memory; a Windows CE kernel may run with one megabyte of memory.^[18] Devices are often configured without disk storage, and may be configured as a "closed" system that does not allow for end-user extension (for instance, it can be burned into ROM). Windows CE conforms to the definition of a real-time operating system, with a deterministic interrupt latency. From Version 3 and onward, the system supports 256 priority levels^[19] and uses priority inheritance for dealing with priority inversion. The fundamental unit of execution is the thread. This helps to simplify the interface and improve execution time.

The first version – known during development under the code name "Pegasus" – featured a Windows-like GUI and a number of Microsoft's popular apps, all trimmed down for smaller storage, memory, and speed of handheld devices.^[20]

Many platforms have been based on the core Windows CE operating system, including Microsoft's AutoPC, Pocket PC 2000, Pocket PC 2002, Windows Mobile 2003, Windows Mobile 2003 SE, Windows Mobile 5, Windows Mobile 6, Smartphone 2002, Smartphone 2003, Portable Media Center, Zune, Windows Phone 7 and many industrial devices and embedded systems. Windows CE even powered select games for the Sega Dreamcast^[21] and was the operating system of the Gizmondo handheld.

A distinctive feature of Windows CE compared to other Microsoft operating systems is that large parts of it are offered in source code form. First, source code was offered to several vendors, so they could adjust it to their hardware. Then products like Platform Builder (an integrated environment for Windows CE OS image creation and integration, or customized operating system designs based on CE) offered several components in source code form to the general public. However, a number of core components that do not need adaptation to specific hardware environments (other than the CPU family) are still distributed in binary only form.

Unlike Windows NT, whose drivers are based on the Windows Driver Model or Windows Driver Frameworks, Windows CE's drivers are based on the Windows CE Driver Model.^[22]

Windows CE uses WCELDR as its second stage boot loader in x86 platforms; or uses EBOOT as its boot loader in ARM platforms. Windows CE uses manufacturer-prebuilt Registry to manage hardware devices.^[23] On the startup process, NK.BIN boot image or NK.EXE kernel is loaded by the WCELDR or EBOOT bootloader.^[24][25]

Although Windows Embedded Compact 7 supports multi-core, the NT kernel was used for Windows Phone 8 instead of the CE kernel.^[26]

Windows CE 2.11 was the first embedded Windows release to support a console and a Windows CE version of cmd.exe.^[27]

Logo of Windows CE, from 1996 (versions 1.0 to 3.0)

Logo of Windows Embedded CE, from 2006 (version 6.0)

Logo of Windows Embedded Compact, from 2013 (version 8.0)

Windows Embedded Compact was formerly known as Windows CE. According to Microsoft, "CE" is not an explicit acronym for anything, although it implies a number of notions that Windows developers had in mind, such as "compact", "connectable", "compatible", "companion" and "efficient".^[28][29] The name changed once in 2006, with the release of Windows Embedded CE 6.0, and again in 2011, with the release of Windows Embedded Compact 7.

Windows CE was originally announced by Microsoft at the Computer Dealers' Exhibition (COMDEX) in 1996 and was demonstrated on stage by Bill Gates and John McGill. Microsoft had been testing Pegasus in early 1995 and released a strict reference platform to several hardware partners. The devices had to have the following minimum hardware specifications:

• SH3, MIPS 3000 or MIPS 4000 CPU
• Minimum of 4 MB of ROM
• Minimum of 2 MB of RAM with a backup power source, such as a CR2032 coin cell battery
• Powered by two AA batteries
• A physical QWERTY keyboard including Ctrl, Alt, and Shift keys
• A LCD of 480×240 pixels with four shades of gray and two bits per pixel with touchscreen that could be operated by either stylus or finger
• An IrDa transceiver
• Serial port
• PC Card socket
• Built-in speaker

Devices of the time mainly had 480×240 pixel displays with the exception of the Hewlett-Packard 'Palmtop PC' which had a 640×240 display. Each window took over the full display. Navigation was done by tapping or double tapping on an item. A contextual menu was also available by the user pressing the ALT key and tapping on the screen. Windows CE 1.0 did not include a cascading Start menu, unlike Windows 95 and Windows NT 4.0, though Microsoft later released the Windows CE 1.0 Power Toys that included a cascading menu icon that appeared in the system tray; also bundled were several other utilities, most notable were a sound applet for the system tray, enabling the user to quickly mute or unmute their device or adjust the volume and a 'pocket' version of Paint.

The release of Windows CE 2.0 was well received. Microsoft learned its lessons from consumer feedback of Windows CE 1.0 and made many improvements to the operating system. The Start menu was a cascading menu, identical to those found on Windows 95 and Windows NT 4.0. Color screens were also supported and manufacturers raced to release the first color H/PC. The first to market was Hewlett Packard with the HP 620LX. Windows CE 2.0 also supported a broader range of CPU architectures. Programs could be also installed directly in the OS by double clicking on CAB files. Due to the nature of the ROMs that contained the operating system, users were not able to flash their devices with the newer operating system. Instead manufacturers released upgrade ROMs that users had to physically install in their devices, after removing the previous version. This would usually wipe the data on the device and present the user with the setup wizard upon first boot.

In November 1999, it was reported that Microsoft was planning to rename Windows CE to Windows Powered.^[30] This name only appeared in brand in Handheld PC 2000 and a build of Windows 2000 Advanced Server for network-attached storage devices (which bears no relation to Windows CE). Various Windows CE 3.0 products announced at CES 2001 were also marketed with the "Windows Powered" umbrella name.^[31]

Timeline of Windows CE development

Often Windows CE, Windows Mobile, and Pocket PC are used interchangeably, in part due to their common origin. This practice is not entirely accurate. Windows CE is a modular/componentized operating system that serves as the foundation of several classes of devices. Some of these modules provide subsets of other components' features (e.g. varying levels of windowing support; DCOM vs COM), others which are separate (bitmap or TrueType font support), and others which add additional features to another component. One can buy a kit (the Platform Builder) which contains all these components and the tools with which to develop a custom platform. Apps such as Excel Mobile (formerly Pocket Excel) are not part of this kit. The older Handheld PC version of Pocket Word and several other older apps are included as samples, however.

Windows Mobile is best described as a subset of platforms based on a Windows CE underpinning. Currently, Pocket PC (now called Windows Mobile Classic), Smartphone (Windows Mobile Standard), and Pocket PC Phone Edition (Windows Mobile Professional) are the three main platforms under the Windows Mobile umbrella. Each platform uses different components of Windows CE, plus supplemental features and apps suited for their respective devices.

Pocket PC and Windows Mobile are Microsoft-defined custom platforms for general PDA use, consisting of a Microsoft-defined set of minimum profiles (Professional Edition, Premium Edition) of software and hardware that is supported. The rules for manufacturing a Pocket PC device are stricter than those for producing a custom Windows CE-based platform. The defining characteristics of the Pocket PC are the touchscreen as the primary human interface device and its extremely portable size.

CE 3.0 is the basis for Pocket PC 2000 and Pocket PC 2002. A successor to CE 3.0 is CE.net.^[38] "PocketPC [is] a separate layer of code on top of the core Windows CE OS... Pocket PC is based on Windows CE, but it's a different offering." And licensees of Pocket PC are forbidden to modify the WinCE part.^[39]

The Smartphone platform is a feature-rich OS and interface for cellular phone handsets. SmartPhone offers productivity features to business users, such as email, and multimedia abilities for consumers. The SmartPhone interface relies heavily on joystick navigation and PhonePad input. Devices running SmartPhone do not include a touchscreen interface. SmartPhone devices generally resemble other cellular handset form factors, whereas most Phone Edition devices use a PDA form factor with a larger display.

• Benchmarking Real-time Determinism in Microsoft Windows CE
• A Brief History of Windows CE, by HPC:Factor with screenshots of the various versions
• "Site hosted by Windows CE". Archived from the original on March 11, 2005. Retrieved July 23, 2006., Archived copy of website hosted by Handheld PC
• Windows XP Embedded on MSDN
• Mike Hall's Windows Embedded Blog