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August 2005 - Posts

Wednesday, August 31, 2005 8:02 PM

Writing apps for your Windows CE Embedded O/S Image.

You probably know that I've been working on the CEFileWiz application, which (hopefully) makes it easier for you to add files and applications to your Windows CE operating system image. The CEFileWiz application was originally written to jumpstart Windows
posted by mikehall | 8 Comments
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Wednesday, August 31, 2005 5:11 PM

CEFileWiz - Bug Fixed.

ok, I had a bug in my code, I admit that I only tested adding folders with images in, and should have also tested using native and managed binaries - I've constructed a test folder with images, native, and managed applications (netcf 1.0, and 2.0) and
posted by mikehall | 2 Comments
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Tuesday, August 30, 2005 9:11 PM

Networking - How much do you know ?

I was talking with one of the Windows CE Networking Test guys today, the plan was to chat over a hot, steaming, cup of Starbucks Vanilla Latte, but something had tripped out in our buildings Cafe, so the coffee counter was closed :O( Anyhow, back to
posted by mikehall | 5 Comments
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Tuesday, August 30, 2005 9:02 PM

Upcoming Podcast: Windows CE 5.0 Real-Time ?

Tomorrow looks like it's going to be an interesting day, we start with the Windows CE 5.0 Online Chat (9am), and then, around lunchtime I'm meeting with John Eldridge, an Architect on the Windows CE team to discuss Windows CE Real-Time support - 
posted by mikehall | 1 Comments
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Tuesday, August 30, 2005 5:17 PM

WE-DIG Meeting, Windows Automotive 5.0 - August 31st

Wednesday August 31st the Windows Automotive team are talking about the recent Windows Automotive 5.0 release at the WE-DIG meeting - the meeting is being held at Microsoft Campus, Redmond, WA, from 6:30pm - 9:00pm. If you can't make the meeting in person
posted by mikehall | 0 Comments
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Tuesday, August 30, 2005 1:39 PM

CEFileWiz Updated (again!) - Add multiple folders/files in one click.

Let's say that you're building a Windows CE 4.2 or Windows CE 5.0 based device, and you want to add a number of files to the operating system image, perhaps you're adding the HTTPD Web Server component into the o/s and want to expose a web page/site -
posted by mikehall | 4 Comments
Thursday, August 25, 2005 7:32 AM

Halo, the Movie.

Looks like Halo the Movie is now confirmed... Halo will of course be joining a number of computer/console games that have been converted to movies, including Doom, Super Mario Bros and a host of others - I wonder who's going to be playing the
posted by mikehall | 4 Comments
Wednesday, August 24, 2005 4:38 PM

Coding CF 2.0 on a Windows CE 5.0 device.

Those nice chaps over in the Visual Studio team have a blog entry that describes the steps needed to configure a Windows CE 5.0 operating system image so you can build, debug, and deploy managed applications from Visual Studio 2005 - the steps are somewhat
posted by mikehall | 2 Comments
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Wednesday, August 24, 2005 11:26 AM

Worlds Ugliest Dog ? (don't read just before lunch!)

This mornings TV news had a segment on the "Worlds Ugliest Dog", apparently this pooch has won the title three years running - here's a link to the dogs web site, and a rather fetching photo of the dog. What has this got to do with Embedded software development,
posted by mikehall | 1 Comments
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Tuesday, August 23, 2005 10:20 AM

CEFileWiz updated...

I've just updated CEFileWiz to support the following. Set the location of multiple files at the same time Deal with long filenames (including spaces) in the BIB/DAT files Let me know if you have any comments, or suggestions for future updates.
posted by mikehall | 11 Comments
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Monday, August 22, 2005 7:52 PM

Windows CE Shortcuts

When you boot a Windows CE operating system image which uses the Standard Shell (the shell that looks similar to the Windows Desktop shell) you will notice shortcuts to Internet Explorer and the Image Viewer on the desktop - perhaps, when creating your
posted by mikehall | 1 Comments
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Monday, August 22, 2005 10:28 AM

Eleven years ago today...

Eleven years ago today I started at Microsoft, working in the SDS (Systems Developer Support) team within PSS (Product Support Services) in Reading, UK. So much has changed over the last eleven years! When I got started we were still supporting C7 which
posted by mikehall | 2 Comments
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Sunday, August 21, 2005 2:58 PM

MSDN Coding4Fun - x10 project.

Hey, this is pretty cool - check out the MSDN Coding4Fun x10 project - Tony Northrup walks through the steps to control hardware around the home using x10 - which hooks quite nicely into a video I recorded with Anil Dhawan last week that shows
posted by mikehall | 0 Comments
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Friday, August 19, 2005 12:10 PM

Windows CE 5.0, doing the long filename thing.

Long filename support has been around in Microsoft dekstop operating systems for some time, in fact, when you boot Windows CE using the standard "Explorer Shell" you will see shortcuts on the desktop to "Internet Explorer" and "Recycle Bin", both of these
posted by mikehall | 3 Comments
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Thursday, August 11, 2005 2:48 PM

Linux World - Thoughts and Comments.

Hey, check it out, we survived a trip to Linux World ! - L4D suggested that Linux developers come and give Microsoft an earful, we certainly got that, and in return we gave Linux developers a mouthful (of pizza and soda) - the menu contained pizza's called
posted by mikehall | 3 Comments
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Thursday, August 11, 2005 2:42 PM

/. - 8th Annual AUV Competition Results

Interesting note over on Slashdot - the winning team for the 8th annual AUV competition was running Windows XP Embedded - even more interesting is the apparent uptake of Windows XP Embedded for teams taking part in this years competition, ease of configuration,
posted by mikehall | 1 Comments
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Monday, August 08, 2005 9:21 PM

/. interview with Bill Hilf, Lab Manager for Linux at Microsoft.

Since tomorrow (Tuesday August 9th) I'm off to Linux World it seems appropriate and timely to post a link to a Slashdot interview with Bill Hilf, Linux lab manager at Microsoft. - Mike
posted by mikehall | 0 Comments
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Friday, August 05, 2005 12:06 PM

Who is that on the LinuxDevices web site ?

Looks like LinuxDevices are watching my blog - they suggest coming to the Moscone Pizzadelli on Tuesday 9th August from 1pm - 4pm to give me an earful, sure, bring it on, in exchange I will give you a mouthful (of Pizza)... - Mike
posted by mikehall | 0 Comments
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Friday, August 05, 2005 10:19 AM

Windows Mobile - Kiosk Mode.

Since Kiosk mode seems to be the hot topic of the week (but only because I'm blogging about it!) I thought it would be rude not to include a link to Marcus's Windows Mobile Kiosk blog post. Getting kiosk mode up and running on a Windows Mobile device
posted by mikehall | 1 Comments
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Thursday, August 04, 2005 12:23 PM

Linux World - Come have lunch on Microsoft.

Hey, if you're at Linux World on Tuesday 9th August and want to come grab some free Pizza, then come over to the Moscone Pizzadelli just across the street from the Moscone Center. Moscone Pizzadelli, 255 3RD StSan FranciscoCA 94103(415) 541-9238
posted by mikehall | 3 Comments
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Thursday, August 04, 2005 9:07 AM

Windows CE Kiosk Part 101 - Full Screen Compact Framework Application

So, the first question about the Windows CE Kiosk mode is how to make a .NET Compact Framework application run without borders, caption, control box etc... so you only see the application form, this is remarkably easy, simply set the following properties
posted by mikehall | 0 Comments
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Wednesday, August 03, 2005 9:25 PM

Channel 9 - Windows Mobile Team and Super Cool Devices

Scoble came to visit the Windows Mobile team last week, check out this video of the team, and some of the cool Windows Mobile devices. - Mike  
posted by mikehall | 1 Comments
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Wednesday, August 03, 2005 5:21 PM

Windows CE Kiosk - Part 100

One thing became really clear when working on the Windows CE Kiosk blog postings is that I've perhaps been spending too much time being seduced by managed code development - not having to worry about message loops, massive switch statements, and message
posted by mikehall | 2 Comments
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Wednesday, August 03, 2005 11:06 AM

Windows CE Kiosk Mode - Part 11

In last weeks nail-biting installment of Windows CE Kiosk Mode we left our hero at the point where he was going to create a \Startup folder on the device and drop an application into the folder to be launched on startup of the Windows CE operating system
posted by mikehall | 1 Comments
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Tuesday, August 02, 2005 10:28 PM

Windows Embedded Device takes high quality images of the Milky Way.

Check this out - Windows Embedded device takes high quality images of the Milky Way - Mike
posted by mikehall | 5 Comments
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Tuesday, August 02, 2005 12:15 PM

Windows CE Kiosk Mode - Part 10

Getting Kiosk mode up and running on Windows CE has proved to be interesting, and yes, I really do mean that this has been interesting... The existing Windows CE operating system templates ship with one of three shells, Windows Shell (looks like Windows
posted by mikehall | 0 Comments
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Tuesday, August 02, 2005 9:48 AM

Platform Invoke - API Signatures.

There are perhaps times when you need to call native operating system API's from your managed application, this process is known as Platform Invoke, or P/Invoke - but how do you know the API signature to drop into your application ? - there are a couple
posted by mikehall | 0 Comments
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Tuesday, August 02, 2005 9:36 AM

Webcast : Windows Mobile Platform Security Drilldown for the Enterprise

Everyone building mobile applications should be interested in this webcast which covers Windows Mobile Platform Security - this session has been run at a number of recent events, including MEDC, TechEd, and for TechNet - I saw some statistics recently
posted by mikehall | 0 Comments
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Monday, August 01, 2005 4:06 PM

Windows CE - Kiosk Mode

I received an e-mail over the weekend asking how to create a Windows CE 5.0 image that boots directly into a "kiosk" type application, Windows CE 5.0 ships with a number of O/S templates which include Gateway (headless), Internet Appliance (Windows Shell),
posted by mikehall | 2 Comments
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Monday, August 01, 2005 11:52 AM

Windows CE 5.0 Emulator and KdStub

I've just re-imaged one of my desktop PC's, installing Windows XP SP2, Windows CE 5.0, Visual Studio 2005 CTP, Windows XP Embedded SP2 - I've used the same hardware to build a number of demos over the last several months - I decided to wipe the drive
posted by mikehall | 0 Comments
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