The Hand-held Personal Computer & the Windows CE Operating System

George S. Papich (Editor: Veronique Autphenne)

The hand-held personal computer, in conjunction with the Windows CE operating system, has been billed as a companion to the desktop and laptop personal computer. The hand-held PC with Windows CE contains many of the same features and programs as a desktop PC, but in a compact, pocket-size computer. While there is a vast array of hand-held PC’s currently available on the market (such as the Palm Pilot, the Toshiba Libretto, and the Psion), all with varying degrees of capabilities and functions, this article will focus strictly on the hand-held PC’s that use the Windows CE operating system.

The hand-held PC is a small, lightweight (usually less than a pound) computer that resembles a micro-sized laptop PC. It comes complete with a scaled down keyboard and mini display screen (offered in both monochrome and color), and most run on two "AA" alkaline batteries or an AC power adapter. Because of its compact size, most hand-held PC’s currently contain only eight megabytes of RAM or less, and do not contain a hard drive or CD-ROM drive. The Windows CE operating system (according to the Microsoft Windows CE website, CE ‘doesn’t represent a single concept, but rather implies a number of Windows CE design precepts, including Compact, Connectable, Compatible, and Companion’) is a graphical user interface that looks similar to the Windows 95 and Windows NT operating systems.

Windows CE comes with applications such as Pocket Word, Pocket Excel, and Pocket PowerPoint, which are mini versions of full-sized Microsoft applications. In addition, Windows CE also uses a program called ActiveSync which allows a user to synchronize document files, e-mail, etc. on their hand-held PC with their document files, e-mail, etc. on their desktop PC. The technology of the hand-held PC allows a computer user to have the power and capabilities of a desktop PC in the palm of their hand.

The hand-held PC was pioneered by Apple Computer when they introduced the Newton MessagePad in 1993. In 1996, Microsoft introduced the Windows CE operating system, a scaled-down version of the Windows 95 and Windows NT operating systems, to be used with the hand-held PC. At present, there are nine companies which manufacture hand-held PC’s using the Windows CE operating system; Casio, Compaq, Ericsson, Hewlett Packard, Hitachi, LG Electronics, NEC, Phillips, and Sharp. The average price of a hand-held PC with Windows CE is between $500 and $750. Hand-held PC’s with color screens average about $1000.

According to the Microsoft Windows CE web site, "The Handheld PC (H/PC) is the perfect mobile companion to any desktop or notebook computer running the Microsoft Windows operating system." The hand-held PC running Windows CE offers the user the power, connectivity, and mobility to conduct their business anywhere, and the ability to flawlessly coordinate those functions with their home or office desktop PC. One of the best features of the Windows CE platform is that it is comparable to other Microsoft Windows operating systems, meaning the user does not have to learn how to use Windows CE if they are at all familiar with the MS Windows platform. As mentioned earlier, Windows CE uses versions of MS Word, MS Excel, and MS PowerPoint, which can be synchronized automatically with their home or office PC using ActiveSync.

Hand-held PC’s using Windows CE also come with a rich assortment of communications abilities, both wired and wireless. Through the use of Windows CE, hand-held PC users have access to a plug-in modem, giving them fax and paging capabilities, connections to remote access servers, Internet access, as well as e-mail capabilities. Hand-held PC users can access the Internet through Microsoft Internet Explorer and check their e-mail as easily as they can from their home or office desktop PC.

Hand-held PC’s utilizing the Windows CE platform are popular with on-the-go business professionals because of the power and flexibility they offer. For example, an executive can prepare a PowerPoint presentation on the desktop PC in their office in Los Angeles, then travel to New York and offer that same PowerPoint presentation using the hand-held PC. The hand-held PC allows the business professional (or anyone, for that matter) to access information or submit a presentation in a sleek, effective, and efficient manner without having to locate and use a full-sized desktop or laptop PC. Again, according to Microsoft, the hand-held PC "is a mobile companion designed to extend the capabilities of Windows-based desktop, laptop, and notebook computers, rather than replace them."

Hand-held PC’s utilizing the Windows CE operating system are still in their infancy. Needless to say, users have found a variety of flaws in these mini PC’s. In his article in the New York Times entitled "New Hand-Held Computers Work Better, at a Price," Stephen Manes discusses some of the problems hand-held PC users are running into. "These units are virtually impossible to use in your lap," he states, "because their top-heavy screens make them tilt back and forth as you type…..The screens’ brief delays in displaying characters as you type can be irritating. And the only available pointing method is pointing and clicking directly on the screen with a built-in stylus or your finger. That is a wonderful interface only if you have three hands. Printing is a problem, too; you may be able to send data to the rare printer with a serial or infrared port, but standard parallel interfaces are not included." In addition, many users have found the minuscule keyboard difficult to use. Hand-held PC manufacturers, as well as Microsoft (the maker of Windows CE), are constantly working on ironing out the wrinkles in this popular new platform, and only time will tell if the solutions they come up with will be successful enough to keep users interested in the hand-held PC. Some PC manufacturers have already gone to a slightly larger version of the hand-held PC currently on the market; one that weighs approximately two pounds and has a slightly larger keyboard.

Future prospects for the hand-held PC utilizing the Windows CE platform look promising. As the hand-held PC has gained popularity, more and more hardware and software developers have begun to make their products and applications available for use with the Windows CE format. By early 1998, more than 90 software and hardware companies had announced products for the hand-held PC (Filemaker Pro software and a digital camera that can be connected to the hand-held PC are two examples) and that number will continue to grow over time.

Microsoft has worked hard with hand-held PC manufacturers to ensure that future Windows CE upgrades will be made effortlessly. As far as the future for hand-held PC’s using the Windows CE operating system is concerned, Microsoft and their partners will continue to dominate the market. As long as Microsoft controls a large majority of the home and office PC environments in the world, they will also continue to dominate the hand-held PC market. Electronic organizers and personal digital assistants such as the PalmPilot are useful tools, but as long as hand-held PC’s using the Windows CE platform allow the user to share files with their desktop PC, access e-mail and the Internet, and offer the user the ability to offer presentations prepared on their desktop PC’s, contending portable hand-held devices will fail to compete.

The future for the hand-held PC running the Windows CE operating system looks bright as long as Microsoft continues to work out the kinks in their system and continues to upgrade the software to meet the needs of an ever increasing client base. The hand-held PC and Windows CE operating system offer too much in the way of flexibility, connectivity, and efficiency to not be a popular personal and business tool for years to come.

Hutsko, J. (1997) ‘Windows CE: A Baby OS Turns 2.0’, New York Times, 4 November. Online. HTTP: http://www.nytimes.com (19 March 1998).

Manes, S. (1998) ‘New Hand-Held Computers Work Better, at a Price’, New York Times, 17 February. Online. HTTP: http://www.nytimes.com (19 March 1998).

Microsoft Windows CE. Online. HTTP: http://www.microsoft.com/windowsce.hpc. (20 March 1998).

The PC Guide. Online. HTTP: http://www.pcguide.com (19 March 1998).

PC Webopaedia. Online. HTTP: http://www.pcwebopedia.com (20 March 1998).

Pen Computing. Online. HTTP: http://www.pencomputing.com. (20 March 1998).

Zuckerman, L. (1996) ‘The Hand-Held Computer is Introduced Once Again’, New York Times, 18 November. Online. HTTP: http://www.nytimes.com (19 March 1998).

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