Windows CE 6.0 Released To Manufacturers

[Ed Hansberry]

<a href="http://blogs.msdn.com/mikehall/archive/2006/09/17/760076.aspx">http://blogs.msdn.com/mikehall/archive/2006/09/17/760076.aspx</a><br /><br />Windows CE is the underpinning of Windows Mobile. Microsoft has just released 6.0 to their OEM partners, and I am sure the Windows Mobile group has had a few of the betas to play with and are ready to incorporate it into an upcoming Windows Mobile release. New features include:<br /><br />• Support for 32,768 processes in 2GB of memory. Current versions support 32 processes in 32MB of virtual memory. No more running out of memory with a lot of apps/processes/Today screen plugins starting at boot time.<br />• Operating system processes, like GWES, device driver manager and file system manager have been moved to the kernel, which should improve performance.<br />• New user mode and kernel mode driver model. Previous versions only supported user mode drivers.<br /><br />I don't know when CE 6 will make it to the core of Windows Mobile. Pocket PC 2000 had CE 2.x under the hood, Pocket PC 2002 had CE 3.x, both Windows Mobile 2003 and 2003SE had 4.x and Windows Mobile 5 has CE 5.

[gwinter]

I don't know when CE 6 will make it to the core of Windows Mobile. Pocket PC 2000 had CE 2.x under the hood, Pocket PC 2002 had CE 3.x, both Windows Mobile 2003 and 2003SE had 4.x and Windows Mobile 5 has CE 5.

Ed, just a correction. Both PPC2000 and PPC2002 are based on CE 3.x.

[msafi]

I feel as if WM5 is just starting to settle down. I can't believe they are releasing the new version of CE already. I'm not saying no to improvements, but with each new release the applications need to be recompiled and bugs need to get sorted out and all that stuff.

Anyway, I don't think Photon will be released soon. How much time was between the release of WCE 5 and WM5? Long time I think.

[mscdex]

I feel as if WM5 is just starting to settle down. I can't believe they are releasing the new version of CE already. I'm not saying no to improvements, but with each new release the applications need to be recompiled and bugs need to get sorted out and all that stuff.

Anyway, I don't think Photon will be released soon. How much time was between the release of WCE 5 and WM5? Long time I think.

Well, the launch date for CE6 hasn't even been mentioned yet, so that in itself means it could be far off from now. Then like you said, there's a considerable time gap between the core release of CE and the PPC/WM counterpart.

[Ed Hansberry]

Ed, just a correction. Both PPC2000 and PPC2002 are based on CE 3.x.
you are right. :oops:

[BelgiumGuy]

Hi all,

I was wondering why no new WM5 devices came out with more than 64Mb of RAM. Could this 32Mb limit be an explanation for that.

Is the short 64Mb ram a limit of WM5 ?

Al the best from Belgium.

Pascal

[Duncan]

Hi all,

I was wondering why no new WM5 devices came out with more than 64Mb of RAM. Could this 32Mb limit be an explanation for that.

Is the short 64Mb ram a limit of WM5 ?

In short - no. Both the Axim X50v and iPAQ hx4700 have 128MB RAM and each was upgradeable to WM5 (even if those were problematic/buggy). The 64MB thing seem to be one of keeping costs down.

[Horus]

Hi all,

I was wondering why no new WM5 devices came out with more than 64Mb of RAM. Could this 32Mb limit be an explanation for that.

Is the short 64Mb ram a limit of WM5 ?


There are three reasons for 64MB RAM...
1) Battery consumption. Keeping 128MB refreshed takes a lot more battery than 64MB.
2) Cost. The cost of the RAM, the cost of battery capacity to support it.
3) In WM5, storage was moved from RAM to flash. This means that you no longer have to share your RAM between app execution and storage. If you had 128MB pre-WM5, half of it, by default, was being used as storage anyway. In WM5, you actually get the RAM for execution (OS, drivers, apps, etc.).

[Nurhisham Hussein]

In short - no. Both the Axim X50v and iPAQ hx4700 have 128MB RAM and each was upgradeable to WM5 (even if those were problematic/buggy). The 64MB thing seem to be one of keeping costs down.

He's talking about RAM Duncan, not ROM ;)

I was wondering why no new WM5 devices came out with more than 64Mb of RAM. Could this 32Mb limit be an explanation for that.

Is the short 64Mb ram a limit of WM5 ?

Not a limit per se - the iPaq 2470 (with WM5 update) has 128MB RAM memory. It's more a case of the shift in memory model from the RAM based version seen in pre-WM5 devices to the persisitent storage method in WM5. In the WM2003SE and older OSs, RAM was used for both storage and program execution - in WM5, RAM is used exclusively for program execution.

Therefore (the rationale goes), less RAM is required for normal usage as you no longer have to provide for that storage space. The second reason is more reasonable - RAM needs power to maintain its contents. The more memory you have, the more juice it takes to keep going even when the device is "off" (in suspended mode). BTW, that's why you won't see devices with more than 128MB RAM, unless battery technology improves a great deal. Combined with the switch to persisitent storage (and the chance for vendors to save some money;)), 64 MB RAM has become the norm.

Personally, I'd love to see a few devices with 128MB RAM myself - some programs/files really need it, like large databases.

[Duncan]

In short - no. Both the Axim X50v and iPAQ hx4700 have 128MB RAM and each was upgradeable to WM5 (even if those were problematic/buggy). The 64MB thing seem to be one of keeping costs down.

He's talking about RAM Duncan, not ROM ;)

So am I. The X50v has 128MB of RAM (though I did get myself muddled with the hx4700 - I'd forgotten it had ROM and RAM reversed from the norm - if only there was a convenient place to go to check the specs ;)). Even without the hx4700 the Axim is enough to prove that there is no RAM limit stopping 128MB of RAM in WM5.

As I recall there was another iPAQ, which had 128MB ROM and RAM, that was also given a WM5 upgrade.

Not a limit per se - the iPaq 2470 (with WM5 update) has 128MB RAM memory.

That one in fact...!

[Nurhisham Hussein]

Hate to correct you again Duncan, but the x50v has the same memory configuration as the hx4700 - 64MB RAM, 128MB ROM.

BTW, you can check most PDA specs here (http://www.pdadb.net/index.php).

[Duncan]

Hate to correct you again Duncan, but the x50v has the same memory configuration as the hx4700 - 64MB RAM, 128MB ROM.

BTW, you can check most PDA specs here (http://www.pdadb.net/index.php).

Blimey - you're right...! That'll teach me to correct a correction without double checking I was remembering right first...!