Microsoft extends CE licensing base

Windows CE is going beyond handhelds into the wider world of mobile kit

Microsoft has set out to dominate a wide range of peripherals after unveiling plans to make Windows CE an omnipresent operating system.

The CE operating system ? a cut-down version of Windows developed by Microsoft for handheld computers ? will now support not only mobile computing devices but a range of other products, including mobile phones, under a new licensing agreement.

Microsoft, however, has yet to name which mobile product manufacturers will develop peripherals using the operating system.

Describing broader licensing programmes, a Microsoft source said: ?This will deploy the Windows CE operating system in a broad spectrum of devices from factory robots to consumer electronics products.?

Harel Kodesh, general manager of Microsoft?s consumer appliances group, acknowledged that the software developer had made changes to its licensing agreement.

He said: ?Licensing Windows CE allows a broad range of dedicated devices to be developed in a manner that lets manufacturers adapt Windows CE to the requirements of their product design and to bring that product to market quickly.?

Over the past six months, Microsoft has ported CE to a number of chip platforms. Last week, it selected AMD as its second x86 player after Intel, while ARM, Motorola, and the Power PC consortium have agreed to port the operating system to their processors.

The move comes as chip maker Intel is due to release details of its own offering, competing against Microsoft.