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Develop for PocketPC
Hello!
So i have a collection of old PocketPC's with Windows on them.
I thought it would be fun to be able to write some software for them.
However, a couple of years ago, i did attempt the same thing, and it ended with me needing some "Professional" or "Enterprise" version of visual studio.
However, that was not economical for just some hobby projects, obviously.
Is there some other way to do this? Maybe via the new Visual Studio Community?
So i have a collection of old PocketPC's with Windows on them.
I thought it would be fun to be able to write some software for them.
However, a couple of years ago, i did attempt the same thing, and it ended with me needing some "Professional" or "Enterprise" version of visual studio.
However, that was not economical for just some hobby projects, obviously.
Is there some other way to do this? Maybe via the new Visual Studio Community?
I had always heard there were several other development environments and languages which could be used for Microsoft's Embedded Operating Systems, but I had always used Microsoft's tools and C/C++. Early on eMbedded Visual C++ 3.0 and 4.0 were free downloads (they may still be available), but they targetted Windows CE. However, I believe they worked for Pocket PC too. Do a search for eMbedded Visual C++ 4.0 to see if its still available.
Later, for Windows Mobile (which morphed out of Pocket PC) Visual Studio 2005 and 2008 in the Professional Editions were required. Of course they are pretty pricy. I don't believe those newer versions of Visual Studio support compilers for Pocket PC. But that's just a guess.
Later, for Windows Mobile (which morphed out of Pocket PC) Visual Studio 2005 and 2008 in the Professional Editions were required. Of course they are pretty pricy. I don't believe those newer versions of Visual Studio support compilers for Pocket PC. But that's just a guess.
Thank you for your reply.
When i think of it, im pretty sure that they are "Windows Mobile" devices. Atleast some of them.
I can only find a service pack for visual c++ 4.0.
I see that Visual Studio 2005 Pro have come down a bit in price on ebay though..
This maybe the only way to go then?
When i think of it, im pretty sure that they are "Windows Mobile" devices. Atleast some of them.
I can only find a service pack for visual c++ 4.0.
I see that Visual Studio 2005 Pro have come down a bit in price on ebay though..
This maybe the only way to go then?
Now that I think back on it, I'm sure eMbedded Visual C++ 4.0 contained support for Pocket PC, because during the install it asks if the SDK for Pocket PC should be installed. Also, to get eMbedded Visual C++ 4.0 to work, there was a service pack involved which was absolutely necessary to get it to work.
I've got to say that developing for these older devices in now a pain, because all these tools I'm talking about worked with ActiveSync, and my understanding is that won't work on any Microsoft Operating System newer than XP. The development experience is excellent on Win 2000/XP, however.
I worked specifically with Windows CE and custom devices all of which required an SDK targeting the specific device. I retired recently, but up until that time I was still supporting these older devices. What I did was install XP Mode on my Windows 7 machine, and I used that virtual XP box to get eMbedded Visual C++ 4 and ActiveSync to work.
Also, Windows Mobile coding I did with my Pro Edition of Visual Studio 2008. That worked well too. You need to download the SDK for whatever version of Windows Mobile you are targeting. By the way, and off topic, in my opinion Windows Mobile and Pocket PC before it sucked. However, I had to code for them so I did.
So unless you can restrict yourself to Pocket PC and manage to get eMbedded Visual C++ working, then you might be able to do what you want without paying any money. If you've got to deal with Windows Mobile, however, then I think you'll have to fork over the dough for VS 2005 or VS 2008. I've personally never worked with 2005 but 2008 is my standard build system, even now.
I've got to say that developing for these older devices in now a pain, because all these tools I'm talking about worked with ActiveSync, and my understanding is that won't work on any Microsoft Operating System newer than XP. The development experience is excellent on Win 2000/XP, however.
I worked specifically with Windows CE and custom devices all of which required an SDK targeting the specific device. I retired recently, but up until that time I was still supporting these older devices. What I did was install XP Mode on my Windows 7 machine, and I used that virtual XP box to get eMbedded Visual C++ 4 and ActiveSync to work.
Also, Windows Mobile coding I did with my Pro Edition of Visual Studio 2008. That worked well too. You need to download the SDK for whatever version of Windows Mobile you are targeting. By the way, and off topic, in my opinion Windows Mobile and Pocket PC before it sucked. However, I had to code for them so I did.
So unless you can restrict yourself to Pocket PC and manage to get eMbedded Visual C++ working, then you might be able to do what you want without paying any money. If you've got to deal with Windows Mobile, however, then I think you'll have to fork over the dough for VS 2005 or VS 2008. I've personally never worked with 2005 but 2008 is my standard build system, even now.
freddie1,
Thank you for the information.
Very cool to communicate with someone that actually did develop software for the platform.
I actually think they are pretty cool devices. I currently have some microcontroller project that i would like to interface with a custom program on them.
It seems like the vs 2005 or 2008 is the way to go here. I have no problem with just using a XP machine, i have several of them.
Guess i have to look around on ebay for a VS 2008 pro then.
Do you have any book specifically for these embedded systems? I do have the Charles Petzold Win32 API book. But my guess is that it is not very accurate for the pocketPC platforms?
Thank you for the information.
Very cool to communicate with someone that actually did develop software for the platform.
I actually think they are pretty cool devices. I currently have some microcontroller project that i would like to interface with a custom program on them.
It seems like the vs 2005 or 2008 is the way to go here. I have no problem with just using a XP machine, i have several of them.
Guess i have to look around on ebay for a VS 2008 pro then.
Do you have any book specifically for these embedded systems? I do have the Charles Petzold Win32 API book. But my guess is that it is not very accurate for the pocketPC platforms?
Douglas Boling was the 'Charles Petzold' of Microsoft's embedded operating systems. I have several editions of his books.
I believe basic Win32 coding - what I term SDK style, was always the way to go with Windows CE based operating systems. The underlying kernel of all of these was Windows CE, but the Pocket PC and Windows Mobile versions had the UI code hacked up to support mobile phones and such.
Moving code between desktop Windows and these mobile devices was extremely easy for Windows CE, but considerably more difficult for Pocket PC and Windows Mobile. The worst offender in terms of differences between desktop Windows and the embedded versions were menus. Menus were pure h$#@! Microsoft just wouldn't leave well enough alone, and every new version required totally new code for menus. With Windows Mobile it got so bad one had to simply give up on menus and use buttons or something else for interface elements to trigger some code.
I actually loved Windows CE. It broke my heart to see what happened to it. What I worked on for many years were data entry programs for capturing field data our personnel would collect. We used custom devices from a couple of different manufacturers.
I believe basic Win32 coding - what I term SDK style, was always the way to go with Windows CE based operating systems. The underlying kernel of all of these was Windows CE, but the Pocket PC and Windows Mobile versions had the UI code hacked up to support mobile phones and such.
Moving code between desktop Windows and these mobile devices was extremely easy for Windows CE, but considerably more difficult for Pocket PC and Windows Mobile. The worst offender in terms of differences between desktop Windows and the embedded versions were menus. Menus were pure h$#@! Microsoft just wouldn't leave well enough alone, and every new version required totally new code for menus. With Windows Mobile it got so bad one had to simply give up on menus and use buttons or something else for interface elements to trigger some code.
I actually loved Windows CE. It broke my heart to see what happened to it. What I worked on for many years were data entry programs for capturing field data our personnel would collect. We used custom devices from a couple of different manufacturers.
When you have sorted out the IDE have a look here for articles about PocketPC
https://www.codeproject.com/search.aspx?q=pocket+pc&x=0&y=0&sbo=kw
https://www.codeproject.com/search.aspx?q=pocket+pc&x=0&y=0&sbo=kw
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