Many years ago, Microsoft realized they would need to develop a lightweight operating system (OS) for non-PC devices.Without a clear picture of the kind of device that would use the new OS, it was difficult for Microsoft to move forward. At the time, futurists prognosticated a great deal about the impact of multimedia on our culture. This resulted in one group at Microsoft wanting to push Windows CE to become heavily multimedia oriented for use in television set–top boxes. A different group wanted to strip NT down to its bare bones and use that as the newWindows CE operating system.
In an attempt to bring some unity of vision to this area, Microsoft brought all these groups together in 1994 under the direction of Senior Vice President Brad Silverberg. This team realized that what was really needed was a new operating system, one that would be compatible with the existing and futureWindows operating systems, but would not necessarily be just a subset of them.This resulted in the development of Windows CE version 1.0, which appeared on the market in late 1996.
The team knew that if they were going to be successful in building a new operating system, it was critical that users not feel they were using a strange, new OS. This meant that the user interface had to mirror the already popularWindows 95 and use a similar desktop of icons as well as the start menu toolbar at the bottom of the screen.
The devices of this time were called hand-held personal computers (HPCs). They were extremely limited in capacity, with very little memory (usually 4MB or less), a small, grayscale screen, and a very limited processor that ran between 33 and 44 MHz. The limited power and storage capacity led to meager adoption of the initial Windows CE device, except among the most hardy computer enthusiasts. The average business user instead tended to adopt the more portable and easy to use competitor to the Windows CE platform, the Palm OS devices, such as the well-known Palm Pilot from 3Com and the Visor from Handspring.
The next generation of the CE platform was version 2.0, which came out in 1998. The devices that ran this operating system generally had double the CPU power and RAM of the earlier devices, and on top of that, many of these featured color screens.
Microsoft hoped that this new version of CE would provide greater competition to the very successful Palm Pilot line of PDAs. Unfortunately, this wasn’t to be, as sales of the Windows CE 2.0 operating system were also very slow. Microsoft had also anticipated the accelerated adoption of portable computer systems in cars. The company had hyped its Windows CE 2.0 operating system as its answer to the expected surge of “Auto PCs” (a hand-held computer installed in any car in place of an existing stereo). Through a voice interface, drivers could request directions to any address in their Pocket Outlook contact list. The adoption of the Auto PC never happened (although some still think that this is yet to come).
Microsoft followed up Windows CE 2.0 with version 2.1, which was primarily aimed at
embedded developers. These developers were building applications that run on specialized devices, with the operating system embedded directly within their hardware. Examples of places where developers would use an embedded version of Windows CE would be customized gas monitors, hand-held inventory tablets, or point of sale (POS) systems. While all this development on Windows CE was going on, Palm OS–based devices continued to gain market share. Things were not looking good for Microsoft’s vision of a hand-held version of Windows.
Then in January 2000, Microsoft releasedWindows CE version 3.0. This product was dubbed the Pocket PC operating system. It overcame many of the limitations of the previous versions and also had the good fortune to come into existence when a new line of powerful processors was poised to come out of the gate. Intel’s StrongARM processor would give the new devices running the Pocket PC OS several times the CPU power of the most powerful Palm device at the time. Many of these devices were also equipped with at least twice, and sometimes as much as eight times, the memory of the most well-endowed Palms.
Sales of these Pocket PC–equipped devices began to pick up. The HP Jornada took an early lead, but the release of the Compaq iPAQ handheld set a new standard. Sales of the iPAQ have soared and show no signs of slowing.
The next chapter in the Pocket PC saga occurred in October 2001. Microsoft released the next version of their Windows CE operating system, dubbed Pocket PC 2002. The Pocket PC 2002 operating system featured an improved user interface, better character recognition options, enhanced Pocket Outlook features, expanded PocketWord and Pocket Excel features, Pocket Internet Explorer enhancements, Terminal Server, and more. A Pocket PC user could now expect more functionality than ever on such a compact device.
In 2002 something amazing happened. The two leaders in the Pocket PC field, HP and Compaq, merged. A great deal of confusion and concern arose among Pocket PC enthusiasts as to what this would mean. Would the HP Jornada line survive? The Compaq iPAQ? Would the two lines be “blended”? This confusion was enhanced by competitive offerings that were now hitting the market from Toshiba, NEC, Dell, and a host of other companies. The result of the HP/Compaq merger was that HP chose to keep the iPAQ line and rebranded it the HP iPAQ. With barely a hiccup, while the merger was occurring, HP shipped the new and improved 3900 series iPAQ. Before year’s end, they shipped the current lineup of the 1900 and 5400 series, demonstrating their continued dominance in this market and their ability to deliver superior products even in the face of increased competition.
What will the future hold for the iPAQ? We will look into the crystal ball later.
The entry of Dell into this space with their Axim Pocket PC has many analysts expecting a price war between these two powerhouses. Such competition usually benefits the consumer, as the companies increase the pace of innovation (to differentiate themselves from the competitor) and at the same time drive prices down. You can expect that, at a minimum, you will continue to see increasingly powerful machines—with longer lasting batteries, better screens, and more expansion capability—for lower prices.
In May 2003 Microsoft released the latest version of their Pocket PC operating system, called Pocket PC 2003. It features enhanced wireless support, improved integration for hardware with integrated cellular phones, more games, and personal software. In addition, many features are designed to make the Pocket PC platform more appealing to enterprises, such as remote provisioning, e-mail configuration, sync setup, device locking, and more. This book will focus primarily on the most recent versions of HP iPAQs that run the Pocket PC 2002 or Pocket PC 2003 operating systems.

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