Windows CE 2.0 beta to begin

Microsoft begins the beta for Windows CE 2.0 next week with a new set ofCE application development tools and new hardware form-factors that willtake the little-operating-system-that-could into new areas. The CE 2.0 betaincludes an OEM Adaptation Kit and Software Developers Kit for Windows CE Version 2.0 that includes support for Visual Basic Scripting, ActiveX and Java. For the first time, CE development will support LANs, Intel x86microprocessors and color displays.

Windows CE 2.0 will be previewed in September at the Programmer's DeveloperConference and officially launched at Fall Comdex in November. It will bemore modular than the previous OS so that developers can license only partsof it for devices that don't need the full-blown OS.

IDC predicts that Windows CE handheld computers will sell 1.8 units a yearby the year 2001, up from 50,000 units in 1996 (when the unit was on salefor only 40 days).