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Windows CE 6 Heads Out to Manufacturing

Windows CE 6.0, the latest version of Microsoft's embedded device operating system, has been released to manufacturing -- "RTM" in Microsoft lingo.

The new version sports updates to the architecture, including the ability to support up to 32K processes with 2 GB of virtual memory per process. That compares to a limit of 32 processes with 32 MG of virtual memory per process in version 5, according to statements on a Microsoft blog.

In addition, CE version 6 also supports both a kernel mode, as well as a user mode, driver model – with "strict partioning" of modes. As for modes, kernel mode driver support is included to enhance performance, while user mode drivers provide stability, according to the blog post.

The addition of up to 32K processes also means that developers can have multiple instances of the user mode driver manager running. Also, operating system processes now run in the kernel's space for improved system performance.

CE 6 features development tools that are integrated with Visual Studio 2005. This enables developers to use a single toolset to configure, build, download, debug and test both native and managed code applications.

About the Author

Stuart J. Johnston has covered technology, especially Microsoft, since February 1988 for InfoWorld, Computerworld, Information Week, and PC World, as well as for Enterprise Developer, XML & Web Services, and .NET magazines.