David McNamee
06-30-2004, 03:56 AM
<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/2004/jun04/06-28DerivativesPR.asp' target='_blank'>http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/2004/jun04/06-28DerivativesPR.asp</a><br /><br /></div>This is pretty big news for makers of Windows CE-based devices. Licensees are now permitted to go to production with any changes they make to the Windows CE 5 source code. The licensees will also retain the intellectual property rights to those updates. They are also <i>not</i> required to share any source code changes with Microsoft or other partners.<br /><br />"Our new commercial derivatives licensing is all about providing device makers with even greater flexibility to innovate for the vast range of embedded device scenarios where the Windows CE software platform can be leveraged," said Ya-Qin Zhang, corporate vice president of the Mobile and Embedded Devices Division at Microsoft. "We believe that the ability to ship commercial derivatives, with no obligation to share customizations, will greatly appeal to device makers -- all of whom want to maintain the rights to their competitive advantage."<br /><br />This does not apply to Windows Mobile licensees. Windows Mobile is itself a derivative work of Windows CE. Manufacturers using Windows Mobile are not permitted to make changes to the OS.<br /><br />This new model should encourage manufacturers to optimize the OS for their own platforms and lead to Windows CE showing up in a wider range of form factors.