Windows CE: A 32-bit Pocket Desktop

I recently acquired a Cassiopeia, an upgrade/replacement for my dearly departed Casio B.O.S.S. SF-7500. It was nearly 7 years old, and Casio declined to repair it, and the only current model that was not a step backward in terms of display and keyboard was their new Handheld PC.

Suddenly, I think I might need bi-focals! The screen sometimes seems better-suited as a touch-sensitive input device than an effective output device (particularly in poor lighting conditions).

Other than that, there are some interesting trade-offs between this new 32-bit multi-tasking pocket desktop and my old marvel of modern miniaturization. The HPC is more than twice the size and weight, and chews up batteries 10 (400 with modem card) times faster. The keyboard is complete, but still too small for touch-typing. And the Microsoft Windows CE in-ROM scheduling program will not let me search through appointments' description/location/notes. So if I somehow enter an appointment for the wrong date, I may never find it! Or if I need to look up an appointment from/for last/next month, I must locate it manually (look it up on a wall calendar, perhaps?)! Oops...

On the other hand, it'll keep a red LED thingie flashing so I can see when it's sounded an alarm that I hadn't heard. I can set different audio alarms, even my own, from a list of .wav files in the Windows directory. When an alarm goes off, I am offered a 5-minute snooze option (assuming I've checked the "Interrupt me with a message" box!). There is a certain elegance to dragging or cutting/pasting one's appointments as one's schedule changes. Even though it is impractical to convert all the old organizer's data to the new organizer's format, the HPC has enough RAM to swallow the old organizer's data as text files (which I can search!).

One of the most intriguing aspects of Windows 95 is the amount of attention it requires. A W95 user tends to become attached to it due to the amount of resources required to make it run well and keeping it that way.

Ironic, isn't it?

Here are some resources to help you in that endless endeavor:

I am not trying to promote any manufacturers, this is just a list of computer/peripheral sources whose web addresses I've begun accumulating. Sometimes when that 'www...' appears on my TV screen, I actually remember it or write it down; eventually it sometimes gets added to this small but growing list.

If a company's site does not appear below, it either means I probably am unaware of their site or perhaps I have a bone of some sort to pick with them. I am not endorsing, or even admitting knowledge about, the company/product links below.

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., CUPERTINO, Calif.--Aug. 27, 1996--Apple Computer, Inc. and Netscape Communications Corporation today announced that they have signed an agreement for Netscape to develop a new version of Netscape Navigator that supports Cyberdog, Apple's Internet suite, and OpenDoc, the open component architecture. To be called Netscape Navigator for Cyberdog, Netscape will develop a custom component developed specifically for the Apple Cyberdog Internet suite.

OpenDoc is a multiplatform, component software architecture that enables developers to evolve current applications into component software or to create new component software applications. OpenDoc software will run on the Mac OS, as well as Windows, Windows NT, OS/2 and AIX systems. With software enabled by OpenDoc, users will be able to mix and match software to fit their needs, combing text, graphics, video, spreadsheets and many other types of data into a single document.