Pocket PC and WinCE

[terryspicer]

I'm new to the Pocket PC world and anxiously awaiting my Axim. My question is this (which might sound silly, but I come from a Palm environment). What is the difference between Pocket PC and WinCE? I was under the impression that they were one and the same. Am I wrong?

[Derek]

I believe ppc2002 and windowce are like xp and 2000 repectively...

[Double-Trinity]

Good analogy... Win CE came out earlier, and later it "split" as the handheld "clamshell" mobile devices were cleared, to make room for th enewer pocket PCs, the earliers pocket ones used the CE that the handheld PCS did (well, a little different), but then those got phased out of the market, and PPC 2002 remains, but many winCE apps still work, and for this reason it is referred to that interchangably I guess.

I'm new to pocket PC's as well and have owned 2 Palms the last being a Palm V that I litterly wore the buttons off of. I love my AXIM. I have had a few rough spots ggetting acquainted with it but to me half the fun is learning how things work and figureing out the ins and outs. I have been a little disapointed in some of the built in software but have found a lot of support in this group. I have found a lot of free stuff and have only "bought" one item. There are plenty of e-books and the AXIM is really a much better device for them than the Palm ever was.
I have seen a number of complaints about it being bulky but I think it is jsut right an dwith out the carrying case it sits easily into my dress shirt pocket. My next step is to get a wireless hub and card for home. Sorry to ramble but I really am happy with my Axim and I hope you enjoy yours as much as I do mine.

[Raynne413]

WinCe is what the older Pocket PCs were back in the time when they were called Palm computers or something like that. Although the operating system is still WinCE it is just a newer version. My first handheld was v2.11 and I think the new ones are version 3.something. :)

[wmm]

WinCE is the operating system that runs on Pocket PCs and other small/embedded devices (like auto radios, TV set-top boxes, video game systems, etc.) Pocket PC is a hardware specification and a set of applications that form a minimum configuration for a handheld device to carry that name, and part of that specification is running WinCE (a newer version, of course, than in the original handheld devices).

The confusion comes from the fact that WinCE, in its early days, only ran on handheld devices and so the name became synonymous with those devices. Then Microsoft broadened the range of hardware and environments in which WinCE was deployed and thus needed additional terminology for the handheld units: Handheld PC (HPC), HPC Pro, Palm-sized PC (PsPC), and Pocket PC.

[delradie]

Okay, here goes. I don't work for Microsoft but I am a developer getting into the mobility field. Here's my understanding of the WinCe/PocketPC/HandheldPC situation.

Microsoft, rather than starting from scratch each time a new type of device needs an OS, have a piece of software called Platform Builder which allows them to create an operating system, such as PocketPC, from the full range of components defined in Windows CE (currenty at version 4.1, dubbed CE.Net).

From the base of WinCE individual vendors build their specific operating system, or platform as MS like to call it. Depending on what components from WinCE are used it is decided what the OS label is. The main ones at the moment are (by no mean a complete list):

PocketPC
PocketPC Phone Edition
Pocket PC for Smartphones
HandheldPC
CE for Automotive

In addition subsets get used for custom (ususally true embedded devices) and the label gets left as Windows CE

The main rule of thumb for most devices is: If it has a touchscreen as its main input device its PocketPC, if it has a built in keyboard its HandheldPC. If the system its running on is built into something else (e.g. incar GPS, settop box etc) it'll probablly just be labelled CE

This is probably clear as mud, as its taken me quite a while, lots of reading, and discussion with various people to figure this out. Hope it does help though

[Timdjohn]

Well I used the 2nd release of Win CE on my first Palm-PC, the Nino 300. the version was 2.1 as 2.0 was for handhelds only. I later upgraded to the Philips Nino 500 Win CE 2.11 which suporrted color screens. later was the release Win 3.0 which most called Pocket PC or PC 2000. and know we have the release 4.1 called Pocket PC 2002. I belive they are merging the .NET name for the next release, most likely next year.

Version 1.0 in 1996?
2.0 1997
2.01 1998
2.11 1999
3.0 2000
4.01 2001

Tim