marketplace CE

by Hal Goldstein

Is Windows CE Ready Yet?

I write this on a plane using an HP Jornada 680. The necessarily small keyboard is the most touch-typeable that I have seen in this form factor. The slightly heavy and bulky unit still fits in my pants pocket. I wish I could use AA batteries in a pinch, but the rechargeables do give an international flight's worth of battery life. Compromise was inevitable and HP made reasonable choices in this, my favorite H/PC form factor.

Microsoft still must address critical issues

Hardware improves, but what about Windows CE? According to many users on Windows CE newsgroups and forums, Microsoft still hasn't gotten Windows CE Services right. Microsoft bases its "PC Companion" philosophy for Windows CE on seamless connectivity with the desktop. With the latest Windows CE services 2.2 (available at www.microsoft.com/windows ce), Microsoft has improved things. Still, desktop users with a phone dial-up modem connection, users not possessing a serial port that they can dedicate only to Windows CE connectivity, and many users of Windows NT have experienced serious and time consuming problems with Microsoft's handheld to desktop software. It may not be easy to get it right, but that is what Microsoft gets paid for. At this stage in the product cycle, I don't understand how the device manufacturers, who assume most of the tech support burden, and who must receive customer complaints, tolerate these kind of problems from Microsoft. These aren't obscure bugs. Users with common configurations have trouble.

Alternatives to serial port connectivity

I find serial connections cumbersome at the best of times and frustrating otherwise. Without a second serial cable, in order to use Windows CE services on my home and work computers, I must crawl and squeeze to get to the serial port and screw and unscrew the cable. Furthermore, I must dedicate a serial port on both these desktops for use with my H/PC in order not to disturb the rest of each system.

Why does Microsoft limit file transfer, software installation, and synchronization to serial and IR? Instead, we could use storage space for backup and as a buffer for desktop to H/PC file transfer activities. In other words, let us use a PC card, the Web, or a PC hard disk. Let me swap my PC card between my H/PC, laptop, and desktop to synchronize and transfer files or install software. Alternatively, let me perform those transfer functions accessing storage space on the Web or on my desktop's hard disk using my H/PC modem.

Thankfully, the latest version of Pocket Office applications on the H/PC Pro lets me import and export desktop Word and Excel documents directly into and out of Pocket Word and Pocket Excel. Now, for example, if I'm on the road and a colleague sends me an e-mail with a Word or Excel document as an attachment, I can easily open it in the corresponding Pocket applications. It also means I can copy desktop Office files directly to a PC card, insert the PC card into my H/PC, and open them without any hassle. I'm no longer dependent on Windows CE Services or my desktop PC to translate the files.

Standard operating system may need a standard CPU

Standardization took place in the PC world thanks to Microsoft DOS and Windows operating system software, and because of the x86 Intel processor series. Windows CE offers handhelds an industry standard operating system, but unfortunately for software developers and users, Windows CE can currently run on five different microprocessors, and Microsoft plans to expand this list further. This means that a developer must compile his application for each existing processor, and again for each new processor when introduced. To make matters twice as bad, the developer may need to produce a version for both Windows CE 1.x and 2.x. Microsoft provides tools to Windows CE developers to eliminate a lot of this complexity. However, the myriad of possibilities still result in difficulties for both developers, OEMs, and users.

For example, late in 1998, HP introduced its Jornada 820 H/PC using the new 190 MHz Intel Strong Arm CPU. That meant all software already written and released had to be recompiled for it to work on the Jornada. It is expensive for companies to update software that they distribute using commercial packaging, plus it takes many months for updated versions to reach the consumer through the retail channel. While the 820 was an excellent machine, very little third-party software worked with it when it was first released.

Meanwhile, hobbyists and tinkerers produce excellent freeware and shareware, often in their spare time. These programmers may not have the time or interest to recompile their software every time a new processor appears or a new Windows CE version gets released. Further, it probably is not even possible to update the many existing versions scattered throughout the Internet.

Perhaps, over time, one or two processors will emerge as the defacto standard. However, in the foreseeable future, as competition heats up, we can expect just the opposite. More companies are introducing new processors for Windows CE, each with its own set of advantages and trade-offs.

As always feel free to e-mail Rich or me with your suggestions or comments at rich@ thaddeus.com and hal@thaddeus.com.

Hal Goldstein is Publisher and Executive Editor of Handheld PC Magazine and president of Thaddeus Computing. He has published, edited, and written for five magazines on portable computing since founding Thaddeus Computing in 1985. You can e-mail Hal at hal@thaddeus.com.