Pocket PC 2000

Microsoft long knew of the importance and potential of mobile computers, and in the 1990s had made previous attempts to capture the market. It released in 1993 Windows for Pen Computing, a software used to add pen computing functions to mobile computers running Windows 3.1. The software's potential for success was hampered by its ponderous base code and the fact that handwriting recognition technology at the time had practical limitations. Microsoft then sought to develop a device called WinPad, which would have been used to wirelessly access and synchronize data between it and desktop machines, as well as other WinPads, but its operating system's large consumption of resources caused the company to redesign as Microsoft at Work, an embedded operating system for office machines, with similar synchronization functions. However, its delayed, costly development and device manufacturers subsequently abandoning it led to the project's cancellation. During that time, Microsoft also began work on a project to develop a device used to communicate with paging systems, and its operating system was to be used in set-top boxes, but that project proved to be too ambitious and thus folded in 1995. The teams of the two cancelled projects were consolidated in 1995, and Microsoft hoped to create a mobile device that ran on the Windows NT kernel. It decided to use its new kernel, Windows CE, after realizing that Windows NT was too bulky to fit on a device. This kernel debuted in Microsoft's "Handheld PC", and reappeared in the company's Palm-size PC, both of which were criticized for their slow performance, short battery life, and graphical user interface. With these devices, Microsoft had only ten percent of the personal digital assistant (PDA) market share, whereas its rival, Palm, Inc., had over half of it. A Japanese-language edition of Pocket PC was released in Japan on July 13. To distinguish it from its successors, the operating system is referred to as Pocket PC 2000. ==System features==

Built on the Windows CE 3.0 kernel, the user interface was designed from the ground up to more closely resemble Palm OS's and much less that of a personal computer, while still retaining the look and feel of Windows desktops. The capabilities of the hardware devices running Pocket PC made the operating system suitable for multimedia and playing Windows CE games. Windows Media Player is used to play back MP3 and WMA files. Voice Recorder is used to capture sound via the device's microphone, which is then saved in the WAV format, and can be played back here. A majority of the games for Windows CE were made freely downloadable from the Internet, and a few were titles launched commercially at retail stores and on websites. Included in every Pocket PC device is the card game Microsoft Solitaire. The rest of the games are installed by connecting the device to and running the setup program on a computer. ==Hardware==

All Pocket PC 2000 devices have a USB port and an infrared port that meets the Infrared Data Association standard. The USB port has the sole function of synchronizing data with PCs and does not support peripherals. The infrared port is used to transfer data between PCs or other Pocket PC devices at a maximum speed of 115.2 kbps. Most Pocket PC 2000 devices shipped with 32 MB of random access memory (RAM) and a few had an expansion slot for memory cards. These slots supported PC cards and those for mobile devices, such as the CompactFlash. The memory itself is used to store both files and working data, and is allocated to either of them both automatically and manually. At this time, there was no set standard for which instruction set architecture to use, but all devices used either MIPS, SH-3, or StrongARM processors. The processors ran with top speeds ranging from 131 to 206 MHz. ==Reception==

CNET compared Pocket PC 2000 and Palm OS devices and considered the latter to be its favorite personal digital assistant, scoring it 8 points out of 10—one point higher than Pocket PC—because of its simple interface, stability, and lower price. It praised Pocket PC's improved user interface, bundled applications and ability to continuously synchronize mobile and desktop computer data, but criticized its inconsistent character recognition system. It concluded that Pocket PC was best suited for users who liked Windows and were unconcerned about budget. InfoWorld viewed the operating system as an excellent platform for application developers, especially those writing in C++, praising the ease of development and portability of Windows applications, as well as support for networking and database access, although criticizing the lack of scripting in JScript and VBScript and decisions by hardware manufacturers such as to limit the devices to one expansion slot, not design their USB ports for expandability, and an underpowered infrared. It wrote that Pocket PC was a viable alternative to laptops for its price. Within ten months, one million devices running Pocket PC 2000 were shipped. In May 2001, the figure was 1.25 million. NPD Intelect reported that in the US, the devices made for 26 percent of sales priced at $350 or higher, but only 10 percent of sales overall, and that Palm OS devices filled almost all of the rest of the market share. By August, about two million Pocket PC devices were sold. The best-selling model series was Compaq's iPAQ, which had dominated the market since its debut in 2000. The operating system's successor, Pocket PC 2002, was released in October 2001. == See also ==