Dec. 1996: Microsoft finally validates the pen with its new Windows CE operating system for handheld computers.
Almost a quarter of a century ago I wrote the following Editor’s column in Pen Computing Magazine. It was a very different world back then. The first PDAs had been introduced, but no none quite knew what to make of them. Apple struggled with its Newton MessagePad. Palm introduced its Pilot. And Microsoft introduced its Windows CE.
Editorial in December 1996 Edition of Pen Computing Magazine:
The big news in the pen computing and PDA world, of course, is Microsoft’s announcement of Windows CE, the company’s first operating environment for handheld computers. Leave it to Microsoft to do things at its own pace. Two years after the ill-fated WinPad project that never saw the light of day, Microsoft finally seems to be ready (and willing) to extend its reach into the promising market of handheld electronic devices.
Microsoft’s initial September 17 announcement — in the form of a press release and a well-attended conference call — was brief and only revealed the basics of the new operating system. They called it a “fairly big” subset of the Windows 32 API for what the company calls “pocketable” devices. Microsoft, you see, doesn’t use the term PDA. PDAs, the folks from Redmond say, were underpowered devices using not-ready-for—primetime technology (specifically, handwriting recognition) and lacking a synergistic relationship with PCs. Instead, Microsoft talks about “Handheld PCs” or “HPCs,” small clamshell devices formally introduced at this year’s Fall Comdex in Las Vegas, and shipping in volume before the end of the year. The first generation of HPCs will be produced by such consumer electronics heavyweights as Casio, Hewlett Packard, NEC, Phillips, and Lucky Goldstar.
Unlike most operating systems, Windows CE is relatively easily adaptable to different chip architectures. Currently supported are Hitachi’s SH-3 RISC processors, Silicon Graphic’s high performance MIPS cores from various vendors, and — according to Microsoft — Intel’s x86 series. Best of all, unlike current Intel-driven mobile computers, you can expect Handheld PC devices to run several weeks on a single set of two AA batteries.
While the initial generation of HPCs will have touch screens and pen input, regrettably they do not support handwriting recognition. Microsoft says that (future) Japanese market HPC products will concentrate on handwriting recognition, but that the technology is “not mature enough yet” for the US market.
We disagree and so do some of the leading handwriting recognition vendors. Advanced Recognition Technologies Inc., already offers handwriting recognition support for the Windows CE platform in the form of smARTwriter for Windows CE. ART intimated getting this to work was not an easy task since Windows CE does not currently have a pen extension API. CIC is also offering its next generation “jot” pen input and recognition technology on the Windows CE platform.
Software availability, of course, is an essential prerequisite of the success of any new OS platform, and Microsoft says that almost 40 companies had announced software for Windows CE. This number could easily mushroom since Microsoft views Windows CE as an extension of its mainstay operating environment into a new class of devices which will eventually include everything from mobile computing to multimedia and entertainment. Windows CE has potential for video support as well and could therefore become the basis for multimedia and interactive applications.
Microsoft stressed again and again a “synergistic” relationship with the desktop as the major design goal of the new operating system. While hinting at “dedicated uses” for Windows CE, the main thrust is clearly directed towards the horizontal, consumer, and business market. Asked who the targeted users are, Microsoft said “anyone who is now a Windows 95 user.” Don’t expect Windows CE-based Handheld PCs to talk to the Mac OS anytime soon…
In a continuation of the terminology wars, Microsoft made it quite clear that it does not see HPCs running Windows CE as PDAs (Personal Digital Assistants). Microsoft’s vision is that the new devices are little PCs that have a synergistic relationship with the desktop. The price of such devices could be at or below $500 and Microsoft, perhaps optimistically, sees a market of a million units per year.
Needless to say, Microsoft’s view isn’t shared by Apple who has been selling Newton MessagePad PDAs for three years. In a conference call just an hour after Microsoft’s initial announcement in September, Apple brought up memories of its (in)famous 1982 “Welcome IBM, really” ad in the Wall Street Journal.
Apple lauded that Microsoft’s entry will “cause significant customer attention to this category,” but emphasized that it created the handheld category, that Apple is now in its 4th hardware generation, has 200 shipping apps, and 300 VARs. Apple dismissed Microsoft’s approach as “evolutionary rather than revolutionary,” saying that it’s just an attempt to “shrink down and make Windows fit into a small form factor.” Carrying over baggage from one generation of computing to the next, Apple reminded, is not always the best approach. The company will continue taking what it calls a user-centric approach with its Newton and Pippin technology base, one targeted at business professionals, education, and healthcare markets.
Apple’s response to the Microsoft announcement was unnecessarily meek given the new products Apple was about to reveal. The most impressive MessagePad 2000, for example, doesn’t have to take a backseat to any other handheld device. By including a fire-breathing 160MHz StrongARM chip into its newest — and best by far — Newton device, Apple finally showed the guts the company used to be famous for. They could have chosen ARM’s competent 710 or 810 processor technology for the new Newton, but they went for the best, the SA-110, a joint production of ARM and Digital Equipment Corporation, and one of the fastest processors in existence, bar none. As a result, the MP 2000 is not 10 or 20 percent but several times faster than the current MP 130. All of a sudden, performance is no longer an issue for the Newton MessagePad. It screams. It flies.
“The handheld consumer electronic market has huge potential, but no one knows yet what shape or form it will take.” — Conrad H. Blickenstorfer, Dec. 1996
Looking beyond the respective rhetoric of Microsoft and Apple, it’s clear that much is at stake. The handheld consumer electronic market has huge potential, but no one knows yet what shape or form it will take. Apple is likely frustrated that its three year technology lead in PDAs is now suddenly in jeopardy, even with its impressive new technology. Microsoft probably realizes that despite its might, Apple’s cautions are true and it’s far from assured that the next generation of handheld electronics was just waiting for a wing-clipped version of a desktop operating system running on what looks like an ordinary pocket organizer with tiny little keys.
Evolution or revolution, that remain the question. Will PDAs or HPCs, or whatever you want to call them, be new and different devices or just little computers? No one knows and perhaps the answer will come from a garage in Silicon Valley and not from Microsoft or Apple. But Microsoft’s entry into the handheld market is certain to be a huge boost to mobile computing.
The next question is what impact Windows CE will have on the pen computing market. For a while now, handheld PDA devices have become more and more powerful, while full function mobile computers have become ever lighter and more compact. At this point, a fast 486 computer with Windows 95 and a color screen (like, for example, the new Mitsubishi AMiTY) is barely bigger than a PDA, though the price remains substantially higher.
Will the promise of (almost) real Windows functionality on $500 handhelds mean that we’ll soon see Windows CE-based industrial HPCs? Most developers we contacted said that Windows 95 programmers will find little or no learning curve in coding for CE. This alone could make the platform a very attractive proposition for corporate America and its legions of Windows programmers.
The traditional pen tablet vendors — Telxon, Symbol, Norand, Fujitsu, et al — have not yet indicated where they stand relative to Windows CE. On the one hand, adopting the HPC/Windows CE platform would all but solve one of the most irritating problems mobile systems face today: inadequate battery life. While battery life of a conventional Intel-based mobile computer is measured in hours, that of a Windows CE device is measured in days or weeks. And since Windows CE devices weigh so little and have no moving parts, they could easily be made as (or more) rugged than current field force computers. Therefore, we’re almost certain that the folks at those companies are taking a hard look at Windows CE, and so should you.
And to make that job easier, we’re bringing you a full introduction to the Windows CE platform, its initial software applications, and the first Handheld PCs. Let us know what you think of Microsoft’s approach. Is Windows CE for real?
We think so.