Microsoft Announces Windows CE Platform Builder

Microsoft Corp. released the Windows CE Platform Builder at this week's Embedded Systems Conference (ESC) West show in San Jose. This platform builder enables a clean separation between the two main software activities involved in embedded system development: operating system (OS) design and application development.

Through this Windows CE tool, OS specialists can define a customized configuration of Windows CE based on the modular nature of the operating system. Through the export software developer's kit (SDK) feature, designers can also use this platform builder can generate an SDK for each custom embedded platform. This SDK exports all the functionality of the embedded system needed by application-level programmers. The SDK is also used in combination with Windows CE toolkits for the Visual Basic development system, Visual C++, or the Visual J++ development system for Java to create the application-level software for the embedded system.

Windows CE Platform Builder also includes wizards and classes, which handle much of the low-level work in order to speed time-to-market during embedded systems design.

Windows CE Platform Builder contains the componentized Windows CE OS version 2.11; Visual C++ 6.0 cross-compilers and integrated development environment (IDE) optimized for embedded development; and all the tools needed to support designs based upon a broad range of semiconductors, including x86, Pentium II, MIPS, Super-H, PowerPC and ARM/StrongArm processor families.

The Microsoft Windows CE Platform Builder can be ordered through any authorized Microsoft OEM distributor and is scheduled to ship in December. The toolkit will also be available through selected retail channels for an estimated retail price of $999.