A Lilliputing feature, ostensibly about Microsoft’s disinterest in Windows CE, turns into a tribute to the ultraportables that used to run it. They had genuine instant-on capability a decade ago–now, you have to wait 15 seconds for a Slashtop-style “instant on” mode to start, and 45 seconds for the best netbooks to get into Windows XP.
These old proto-netbooks offered stellar battery life and instant on/off capabilities, but ran stripped down operating systems with stripped down apps like web browsers and office suites. Probably the biggest problem is that over the last 10 years more and more of our computing needs have moved online, and older handheld PCs like the HP Jornada and NEC MobilePro line didn’t really keep up. Few handheld PCs came with integrated WiFi or 3G capabilities. And more importantly, they didn’t run modern web browsers like Firefox or Internet Explorer 7.
The reality of using them isn’t quite so rosy, because Windows CE was crap, and the category died before wireless connectivity made them useful to consumers. They were also expensive: NEC’s MobilePro, pictured, was $1,000. That said, it’s hard not to imagine what a well-designed modern equivalent would be like.
On the other hand, that “well-designed modern equivalent” would be Windows Mobile running on a Vaio P, which doesn’t sound terribly appetizing. On the other other hand, the grim reality of running Windows Vista on a Vaio P is hardly lunch at Primanti’s.
Microsoft not throwing weight behind Windows CE for netbooks [Lilliputing]
Why would they?
WinCE is a holdover from the days when it and Palm OS were both tyring to get the most out of limited hardware.
The hardware limitations have largely evaporated, leaving both Palm (now Garnet) and WinCE in the same position. -OSs without a mission.
Palm OS as garnet still exists, but Palm won’t have anything to do with it and “smart”phones running it will disappear in the next couple of years.
CE found an odd place to keep living in the form of some portable GPS systems.
Some GPSs are really just recycled and repackaged handheld PDAs that only run one or two applications for the same price as a PDA a few years ago!
What a racket.
CE was only kind of crap. I mean it ran on devices that fit somewhere between a PDA and a Notebook and had to do a lot with a little. Combine that with the fact that Microsoft didn’t seem to know what it was for (is it for embedded systems or not?) and you have something impressive for its day.
Primanti’s? Primanti’s? That’s your reference? Just thinking about their cheesesteak makes me a little queasy. Unh, I think I can smell the grease on the french fries on the sandwich from here.
Uncle Sam’s Subs>Primanti’s>The O.
What were we talking about?
I had one. Used it throughout college. It might not have had a wireless card, but it did have internet (56k), and it did have a CF card reader. The CF card reader alone was how I was able to transfer files much quicker than the included transfer cable. I took notes with it in class in the Pocket Word app, and then would be able to just transfer to PC and work on the notes and review. I got about 90% more notes using this thing… practically verbatim of what the professors were saying. It did have a great battery and it was tough and even had a touch screen. God I miss that thing. My wife made me throw it out this past Fall… now that I think about it, maybe Divorce is the answer.
In 2003, I aquired a used Jornada 820. It’s a wonderfull little machine I still use for typing, with a dinky 8″ 256 color screen and the classic HP quality keyboard and trackpad.
I added a 20$ WiFI card, and it connected to wireless networks to allow simple navigation and instant messaging. It even had stomach to play MP3 files on a tiny speaker, and did it while delivering 10 hours of battery life. It has a USB port that you can use to connect a USB flash drive, and read and write to a 2Gb CompactFlash card I added to serve as storage.
The Jornada 820 was released in 1998. Most of the things I use it for weren’t even common knowledge then. Windows CE had a good future then, and it would have one now if it hadn’t beed diluted into the hopeless mobile variants.
I still use one of these devices daily — a Sharp Tripad (which is the same as Vadem Clio 1000). I love the little guy so much that I’ve bought half a dozen of them over the years, generally paying less than $50 on eBay, often for devices that have been very lightly used.
It’s the perfect size to drag around the house, onto an airplane, etc. And the touch screen is unbeatable when compared to a mini-touchpad or thumb-nubbin. Sure, “Pocket Word” is no better than Notepad, but I’m not formatting a newsletter. 1″ margins, 12 pt Courier, is all I need.
I’ve tried several netbooks as possible replacements, but all have been slower, heavier, or less reliable (the HP 2133 was actually so slow it couldn’t keep up with my typing, amazing when an old 16mhz processor handles that without a problem).
@3 I agree wholeheartedly. But in his defense Primanti’s is the refference people will get.
I really miss my Sharp TM-20 organizer, which ran the proprietary Sharp OS (“OS” Har har har), but had a madly futuristic modem – you called an 800 number, flipped out the little phone connector bits from the bottom, heltr it up to a phone & it made modem chatter noises & transferred email that way. Sill & cool all at once.
I have to second #5. I had a Jornada 820 and it was the greatest portables I’ve ever used (and I actually used a Newton for a while). Instant on, ran for 10 hours, about the size of a hardback book. Indispensible for writing. And for anyone who thinks WinCE was a poor OS, I’d take it over WM in heartbeat. Unfortunately, my Jornada died after the whole category had been killed because the Powers That Be decided that “no one was interested in that form factor.” From then on it was giant laptops that ran for 30 minutes on a charge or trying to surf the web on a phone screen the size of a postage stamp.
So really, it’s only taken a decade for advanced computing technology to get us back to where we started.
WinCE? Feh! Real men still use an HP 200LX.
DOS, Baby!
I miss Windows CE, why?
It is what powered the Sega Dreamcast, a very underrated gaming system that held my heart for years, even after my first x-box.
Dreamcast = Best use of Windows CE ever!
I still just want this form factor and instant-on vim, and the ability to save to something as handy as an SD card. It doesn’t seem to be anywhere in sight.
I <3 my MobilPro.
I got mine for $100 on eBay. $1000 back in the day? Wow. Great as it is, I’d never pay that. They’re perfect, however, for churning out first drafts of a novel. Carry it around in your bag and whip it out whenever inspiration strikes. Get in a quick game of solitaire while waiting for the bus to arrive. It’s probably on its last legs, and I’d love to get something new and comparable, but stuff like the Vaio just doesn’t have the insta-on.
(I wanted to comment on this days ago, but am now only able to…)
I have two Jornada’s, a 680 and 680e (the 680 is a project; not working right). I have all the bells and whistles for the 680e that it can take, including a RoamAbout WiFi card. It can do very basic web surfing, and I can even access my Freeshell email account.
However, the stripped down nature of many of the apps pisses me off, make no mistake. What’s important to me is better access to the Cloud. Therefore, I am considering jLime, a Linux for the Jornada H/PC and similar systems. There is still life left in these little devices, and I tell ya, I really dig mine.