Platform Builder

I see someone on eBay is selling a Microsoft Windows CE 2.11 Platform Builder package.

What in the world would someone do with it these days? I mean isn't that used to develop the specialized CE interface for a particular handheld?

The majority of platform builder components are not related to UI.

So what would I do with it?

I mean it would look cool on my bookshelf...

Yep!

What you may do with it is rough localisation of devices with no english in UI. I have done this with Windows CE 6.0 - I have built some sample platform, add "0409.mui" to all executables and put them somewhere in Windows folder. Actually, I haven done it because I felt that it may work, some user requested the translation files and I thought that it might do the trick (I never had a device for which the english MUI was not available).

Hmmm...wonder if I could use it to build for the 900C...imagine, 900C with CE2.11 instead of CE.NET 4.2....

That will be interesting... Like a Mobile Pro 970C instead of 900C but has a lower version of OS.

PB is a board support package integration module, the predecessor to Windows CE OAK. It's where the Microsoft Windows CE code gets mixed with a hardware abstraction layer and drivers (unlike NT which scans for it) and then OEM code. The shell is a code sample in PB, emphasis on sample. MS intended for it to be rewritten and replaced (i.e. Pocket PC). Few ever did.

It would be a huge boon if it was in circulation as you could actually patch CE 2.11.

Patch CE 2.11 for what?

How about patching H/PC 2000 on the NEC "890" to restore USB hardware functionality?

Microsoft continued updating 2.11 for years after the H/PC 3.0 ROM's were burnt, there are loads of OS updates.

... and yes, you could use PB 3 to fix the USB issue if you had access to the correct hardware and driver configuration data.

I see.