Is it 3.0?
Up to this point the version numbers between Windows CE, the software and Windows CE Services were pretty consistent with each other. In the fall of 1998, HP, Vadem, and Sharp began selling the Handheld PC Professional. These devices, called Jupiter class devices, have a larger form factor than the Handheld PC and are almost notebook computer size (but with the instant on and battery life benefits of Windows CE). Jupiter devices came with an upgrade to Windows CE that includes the Systems Properties Dialog shown in Figure A.

FIGURE A


The Systems Properties dialog can help you determine which version is which. Roll over picture for a larger image.

Many people looked at this dialog and began referring to the Windows CE version as 3.0. Careful examination will show that to be incorrect. If you look closely at the dialog, you'll see the line "Core System Version 2.11." The fact is that the Handheld PC Professional version of Windows CE is version 2.11. What the top line is attempting to point out is that the device is the third classification of CE device, the first being the Handheld PC and the second the Palm-sized PC. Honestly, it is just plain confusing.

Back to Windows CE 2.11
Don't confuse Windows CE's Core System Version 2.11 with the Windows CE Services, which is at version 2.2. The services software runs on your PC. The actual, deep-down core OS that's on your device is measured by the Core System Version. And on the Jupiter class devices, that's a new version called 2.11.

Some significant additions with version 2.11 include:

• The addition of Pocket Access to the suite of Pocket Office applications;

• The upgrade of Pocket Outlook, Pocket Office, and Pocket Internet Explorer to Version 3;

• Pocket Internet Explorer was improved to be compatible for more Web sites and now has support of jscript;

• Support for IMAP4 was added to the Pocket Outlook Inbox making it compatible with both POP3 and IMAP4 mail servers;

• Support for more than 256 colors. The more colors a device supports, the richer the color experience. Just think of a picture of a face. Flesh tone is really hundreds of shades, especially if you consider the shades of shadows. Each shade's a unique color. When you display an image in 256 colors, it can be "posterized", but when you have more, like thousands or millions of color options, you get much more photo-realistic color.

Version 2.11, StrongArm, and processor selection
Version 2.11 also included support for the StrongArm processor that's used in the HP Jornada 820. This confused users who purchased these devices and then discovered that there was only a limited amount of software available for them. Of the operating systems that Microsoft sells, Windows CE supports the most computer processors. For each computer processor, there's a different build of Windows CE and for all of the software that runs under Windows CE.