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        Chat covers Windows CE 6 migration

        Jonathan Angel | Date: Feb 4, 2008 | Comments: 1


        The Windows Embedded Developer Interest Group (WE-DIG) will host a chat about porting Windows CE 5.0 board support packages (BSPs) to CE 6.0. The event will feature Travis Hobrla, from Microsoft's CE development team, and can be attended online or live at Microsoft's Redmond, Wash. headquarters on Wed., Feb. 6.



        Presenter Hobrla has been a developer on the Windows CE Embedded BSP team since 2004, during which time he's been involved in developing and maintaining a number of BSPs, according to Microsoft. He has also written an article, "Understanding memory sections and the OEMAddressTable in Windows CE 5.0 and 6.0," that appears on WindowsForDevices.com.

        According to a post on the WE-DIG site, porting a Windows CE 5.0 BSP to CE 6.0 requires structural changes so that KITL (Kernel Independent Transport Layer), the OEM adaptation layer (OAL), and the kernel can exist as separate entities. Hobrla said, "This talk covers porting a BSP to Windows Embedded CE 6.0 and a demo of common porting tasks, differentiating optional and required components."



        Screens from Travis Hobrla's video on porting Windows CE 5.0 BSPs to CE 6.0
        (Click each screen to enlarge)

        Hobrla has already created an hour-long video on the topic, from which the screens above were taken. It is strongly recommended to view the video before joining the live chat, according to a blog posting by Windows Embedded software architect Mike Hall.

        According to the WE-DIG website, the group was formed in April 2004 by "a group of professional software engineers in Seattle who wanted to meet regularly." It meets on the first Wednesday of every month in Redmond, and topics of discussion include Windows CE, Windows Mobile, and Windows XP Embedded.

        Windows CE 6.0

        Windows CE 6.0 arrived in 2006, bringing with it a number of changes from version 5.0. Fundamental enhancements to the Windows CE kernel are said to include:
        • Multitasking enhancements -- CE 6.0 supports up to 32,000 processes with 2 GB of virtual memory per process, versus CE 5.0's maximum of 32 processes having a maximum of 32 MB virtual memory each

        • Improved performance -- OS processes are moved to kernel space; GWES, device driver manager, and file system manager are in kernel space for improved performance

        • Addition of kernel mode drivers -- CE 5.0 only supported user mode drivers; kernel mode drivers offer performance, user mode drivers provide stability; additionally, there can be multiple instances of the user mode driver manager

        • Strict partitioning of user mode and kernel mode
        Further information

        To join Wednesday's chat, login here (a Windows Live ID and password is required). To view Travis Hobrla's video on posting a BSP from Windows CE 5.0 to 6.0, see the MSDN website, here. Finally, you can read Hobrla's technical article, mentioned above, here.


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