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Windows CE

lastmod 2018-08-17created 2015-10-146 edits

Windows CE is a Microsoft Windows product used in small computers, PDAs, and the like, built completely anew on the basis of Windows 3.11, a member of the DOS family. It supports Intel X86 and compatibles, MIPS, ARM, and Hitachi SuperH processors.

Windows CE is optimized for devices without much storage space, such as personal digital assistants and mobile devices. The Windows CE kernel by itself is designed to run even in less than 1 megabyte of memory. Devices can be configured without disk storage, and can also be made so that users cannot add any. Windows CE presents itself as a real-time operating system and has about 256 priority levels. Unlike Unix-family operating systems, the basic unit of execution is the thread.

Microsoft has stated that "CE" has no meaning. However, most people think it stands for "Consumer Electronics" or "Compact Edition". Microsoft says it hints at the Windows CE design goals "Compact, Connectable, Compatible, Companion", but has stated that it is definitely not an abbreviation of any particular words. The first version, known by the codename Pegasus, adopted a Windows-like interface, and Microsoft's popular programs (MS Word, Excel, etc.) were ported to it.

Windows CE was initially used mainly as an operating system for PDAs, but it was also used in devices such as AutoPC and smartphones. One version of Windows CE runs on Sega's Dreamcast, and there is also a version that runs on the Xbox game console.

Unlike many Microsoft products, Windows CE is provided in source code form. Therefore, Windows CE can be designed or customized to fit a manufacturer's configuration. First, the source code is provided to various hardware vendors so that they can port it to their devices. Based on this, products such as Platform Builder, a tool for building and customizing Windows CE operating system images, are released in a form that includes the source code. However, this process has been criticized for being quite complicated and undocumented.

Up to version 4.2, Windows CE had .NET appended to its release name, but from 5.0 onward the name was changed to Windows Embedded CE. Windows CE has currently been released up to 7.0. In version 7, which will also be used in the kernel of Windows Phone 7, the name CE is no longer used and was changed to Windows Embedded Compact.

Category

Development issues

  • Development for Windows CE is not supported from Visual Studio 2010 onward.
  • Up to Windows CE 5.0, the maximum memory allocation per process is limited to 32MB, and the maximum number of concurrently running processes is limited to 32.
    (see process limits) 
Windows CE 초대 버전부터 비교적 최근 까지 존재했던 Windows CE 메모리 아키택쳐의 구조적 한계에서 기인한다.
이게 생각외로 상당히 짜증을 불러일으키는 요소인데 일단 Windows CE의 구동에 반드시 필요한 시스템 기본 프로세스만 해도 벌써 8개가 넘어가는데다가,
제조사 OEM 관련으로 프로세스가 몇 개 더 추가되다보면 아무리 못해도 반드시 실행되어야 하는 프로세스가 10개는 족히 넘어가기 때문에
실제로 동시 실행이 가능한 프로세스 개수의 여유는 20개가 조금 못 되는 수준으로 떨어지기 때문.

게다가 메모리 할당량에 있어서도 한 개의 프로세스가 할당 가능한 최대 메모리 크기는 32MB. 물론 이것도 버퍼나 시스템 공유 영역, 보호 영역등을 제외하면 실제 사용가능한 크기는 20MB 전후다.
이것때문에 256MB 이상의 RAM을 탑제한 기기나 사용 가능한 메모리가 넘쳐나는 상황에서도 몇몇 앱들이 메모리가 부족합니다라는 메시지를 내뿜으며 뻗는 경우도 간혹 볼 수도 있다.
크고 아름다운 크기의 RAM을 탑재한 기기에서도 반드시 발생할 수 밖에 없는 문제들이다보니 덕분에 풍요속의 빈곤이라고 칭하기도 한다.
Windows CE 6.0부터는 메모리 관리 구조가 완전히 새롭게 바뀌었기에 이 문제가 없다.
  • For Windows CE 6.0, the maximum number of concurrently running processes is 32,000, and the memory size a process can allocate is 2GB.
  • Windows CE 5.0 does not support Silverlight.
  • Silverlight Native C++ APIs are supported from Windows Embedded CE 6.0 R3 onward. 

Hi No. Because Windows CE 6R3 only supports SL2 and Blend 4 supports only SL3 and 4.

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Silverlight on windows CE

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