Windows CE gets a boost

Handheld computers--formerly known as PDAs, or "personal digital assistants"--are making a comeback this year, after years of languishingwith the Apple Newton. The reason? Huge sales successes for the USR PalmPilot and Microsoft's Windows CE. Windows CE machines have sold well aboveexpectations and forthcoming models will sport 24-bit color displays,multimedia enhancements, and a variety of form factors. Furthermore, CEis tied to a wide variety of chipsets, most of which were custom-designedspecifically for the new Microsoft OS.

Microsoft's "Gryphon" architecture, for example, will run Windows CE 2.0,due this fall, and compete directly with the PalmPilot. Gryphon deviceswill operate with 2MB of RAM and 4MB of ROM in a package that fits in thepalm of your hand. It will be controlled with a pen-like stylus. OtherCE 2.0 specifications include "Mercury," for car-based navigation systemsand "Livingston," for sub-notebook class machines with hard drives andVGA displays.

New devices based on Windows CE 2.0 will debut at Fall Comdex in November,exactly a year after the launch of Windows CE 1.0