Today marks the 11th year since the RTM of the original, and rather controversial version of Windows CE under the auspice of Handheld PC 1.0.

11 years ago the NEC MobilePro 200 and the Casio A-10 burst onto the scene, and Microsoft entered both the Embedded Operating System and Mobile Companion/PDA market in the same breath.
Some 11 years later, Windows CE is still with us - although almost unrecognisable apart from the sample shell which still affords a salute to the original and much loved Windows 95 'look and feel' of the historic Handheld PC releases.

The future of Windows Embedded CE, while almost certain is unclear in terms of its direction. In the changing ever face of the hardware and software makeup and even more demanding consumer devices, Microsoft are looking like they are facing a dilemma of paradigms over where to position CE in its next generation Windows line-up.

Despite the consumer uncertainty, Microsoft remain committed to its embedded ventures, spending over $75 million USD during 2007 on developing its entire embedded range (including CE and XP Embedded) - a significant rise over previous years and a rise that the software giant seemingly has no plans to reign in on for 2008.

Happy birthday to Windows CE, the CE team at Redmond and most importantly happy birthday to everyone here in the Windows CE community, of every guise and creed, who have supported the platform since its inception way back in 1996.

View: Microsoft's Windows CE Site on Archive.org