| Developing a customized Windows CE UI |
Aug. 23, 2007
 How do you develop a user interface (UI) for a Windows CE device? As Windows Embedded software architect Mike Hall says on his blog, that's not an easily-answered question, because Windows CE must support so many different pieces of hardware.
Hall writes that "Windows CE supports an extremely diverse set of embedded devices, ranging from ... Windows Mobile, personal navigation devices, robotics, set-top boxes, [to even] pig slicing machines." Not all require any user interaction, but the majority do; therefore, they have to have a user interface of some kind.
Windows CE ships with the "Standard Shell," which provides a familiar desktop experience inherited originally from Windows 95. Microsoft also offers the Thin Client shell, Command Shell, and Network Media Device UI, notes Hall.
But, he asks, what if a device "needs a custom user experience that doesn't fit with one of the standard shells that we ship with Windows CE? How do you develop a UI for these devices?"
          
The wide world of Windows CE GUI alternatives
(Click each image for details)
To find out more, Hall asks his readers the following questions:- Do you develop your applications/UI using C/C++/Win32, MFC, or C#/VB (.NET Compact Framework)?
- If you are using C/C++/Win32 then are you considering moving to C#/VB at some point in the future? -- if not, why not?
- What are your top 3 pain points when creating new CE-based products as far as the UI development API/framework is concerned
- What are your UI needs going forward (wizabang flashy UI / simple surfaces / I don’t care about UI / etc.)?
- Would you prefer new/interesting Win32 UI controls (if so, what controls are we missing?), or support for something like Silverlight?
- Is the WPF/Silverlight Designer/Developer experience useful for your devices?
The post has already attracted particularly interesting responses. For example, developer David White of OEM Radio complains that "It just seems as if there is no clear UI guidance on the Windows Mobile platform. Or if there is I cannot find it."
"A lot of [automotive] head units use Windows CE underneath and we are writing software for them," White adds. "It is mostly UI interaction. We are wrestling right now with the wxWidgets [story], MFC, ATL, or .Net question."
Jimmy Grewal, co-founder of Aspalis SAS writes that "bringing a modern UI framework to Windows CE 6 is critical ... Most of the recent consumer devices I've seen running Windows CE and having compelling user interfaces have built their UI using Flash or Flash Lite [story], which is less than ideal."
If you want to contribute your own thoughts to the thread, or just read the ongoing comments, you'll find Hall's post here.
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