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EXCLUSIVE INSIDER INTERVIEW
Inside Microsoft's Windows CE strategy
Jonathan Roberts, Microsoft's General Manager of Market Development for Windows CE Click picture for a larger image.
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It seems fitting to kick off our Premiere Issue by having a candid conversation with Microsoft's Jonathan Roberts, General Manager of Market Development for Windows CE. In this fascinating, exclusive interview conducted by Editor-in-Chief David Gewirtz, Roberts shares the inside scoop on Microsoft's Windows CE strategy. Whether you're new to Windows CE or an old hand, this is the must-read interview you can't miss.
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DG: I always like to start off interviews getting to know the person being interviewed. Can you tell me your role at Microsoft?
JR: I'm responsible for business development, marketing, user interface, and prototyping design for Windows CE. I also have a group that does long-term planning on where we're going with product, and future directions, and things of that nature. So I have kind of a grab-bag of responsibilities that span across the division.
DG: Were you involved with Windows CE when it got started?
JR: No, although I've been with the company for about 12 years. I've sort of done the tour de force of the operating system business. I've been the Director of Marketing for Windows NT, Back Office, then back to Windows, and now Windows CE. I came to Windows CE almost exactly one year ago after running the marketing function for Windows 95/98 and NT Workstation. So I've been in the operating system business for awhile. But only on Windows CE for about a year.
"We have somewhere over 500 people working on Windows CE dedicated development. But that really understates the sort of investment we're making on Windows CE. Because we pick up and re-purpose a lot of the code that's developed in other parts of the company."
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DG: The operating system business has certainly changed a lot in the past 12 years!
JR: It does make you feel really old. I have to admit I am somewhat of a geek. I think of my life in terms of product launches. It's embarrassing that I know that the product launch of Windows 3.0 (I think) was April 9th, 1990. The product launch of Windows 3.1 was May 22, 1992. I can kind of gauge key milestones in my life. Fortunately, the birth of my first child is now somewhat dominant in my thinking as well.
DG: I'd like to try to understand a little bit about Windows CE and Microsoft's view of it. I've got questions that aren't in any particular order. Let's start off with an exciting one. What do you think the future of Windows CE will be?
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