.KEYWORD documentation
.FLYINGHEAD ONLINE RESOURCE CENTER
.TITLE Where to find Windows CE resources online
.OTHER
.SUMMARY If you’re an enthusiastic user of Windows CE, you know you’re always looking for the latest and greatest goodies, tricks, tips, hints, and downloads. In this very helpful article, Frank McPherson takes you on a fun and interesting tour of Windows CE resources available on the Internet.
.AUTHOR Frank McPherson
Like their desktop brethren, Windows CE devices do not come with an abundance of documentation. Most come with small manuals that provide basic operating instructions. However, unlike desktop computers which seem to have tons of shelf space in bookstores, few books are available that provide more detailed information about Windows CE. New Windows CE owners are left to seek help in less traditional ways.
Fortunately, the Internet provides many sources of information and ways to interact with other Windows CE owners. This article will highlight the types of online information you can find and where you can find it. It will also provide tips on searching the Web for information and using the various newsgroups dedicated to Windows CE.
Most Windows CE owners use the Internet for one of three things: to find software for their devices, to find information about their devices, or to get help with their devices. But, cyberspace is very large. Where do you start?
You could use one of the popular web search engines such as AltaVista and do a search on "Windows CE". But I find that doing that generates too much information. For me, the best place to start is with one of the Web rings for Windows CE. Web rings are groups of sites that are connected to each other through a common database on a Web server. All of the sites focus on the same topic and you can move from one site to the next by clicking on the link usually found at the bottom of the page.
.H1 Web rings
You can find the listing of all the sites in the Windows CE web ring at http:\//www.webring.org/cgi-bin/webring?ring=windowsce;list. When you go to this site you will find 229 sites dedicated to Windows CE. Web sites dedicated to the Philips Velo are listed at http:\//www.webring.org/cgi-bin/webring?ring=velo;list and a Philips Nino ring is at http:\//www.webring.org/cgi-bin/webring?ring=nino;list. If you are just interested in Palm-sized PCs you can check http:\//www.webring.org/cgi-bin/webring?ring=palmpc;list.
.H1 Software downloads
One of the most common reasons many of us go online is to find software. There are many sites that contain links to software you can download and install on to your device. CEMonster is affiliated with the very popular TUCOWS site and can be found at http://www.cemonster.com. Another popular site is Windows CEcity at http://www.wincecity.com/software.html. On this site you will find software categorized by the different types of CE devices. If you have a Palm-sized PC, you will like Mike’s Palm-sized PC Software at http://www.geocities.com/ResearchTriangle/Lab/3533/palm_sw.html.
.H1 Reviews
Computer magazines dedicate many pages to hardware and software reviews. If you haven’t looked lately for a magazine dedicated to Windows CE I’ll save you the trouble. Don’t bother, you won’t find any others. The Windows CE Power Magazine you’re reading now is currently the only magazine available for Windows CE users! Fortunately, the Web fills this void very nicely. WinCELair at http://www.celair.com is a sister site to the CEMonster site previously mentioned. It is probably the most complete review site on the Web for Windows CE. And in case you are interested, CELair has a very nice speed comparison of devices at http://www.celair.com/wincespeed.htm.
Julie Strietelmeier, otherwise known as The Gadgeteer, has a very complete review site of many things electronic, including Windows CE devices, at http://www.the-gadgeteer.com/hpc.html#Reviews.
.H1 News
It comes as no surprise that the Web has the most up-to-date news about Windows CE. If you are looking for the latest news about Windows CE, the first place you should look, of course, is our own Windows CE Power Magazine News Center at http://www.windowscepower.com/news/news.html. Also, check out PDA-Dispatch at http://www.pda-dispatch.com/. This site is usually updated daily with comments on the latest news about all PDA devices including Windows CE and Palm Computing. I also like HPC.net at http://windowsce.com/ for finding links to Windows CE news articles. Finally, if you’re interested in news about the Palm Computing devices, check out Windows CE Power Magazine’s sister publication, PalmPower. You can read PalmPower’s news at http://www.palmpower.com.
.H1 Documentation
Of all of the sites already listed in this article, perhaps the most important ones to know are the following ones that provide information on how to use your Windows CE device. The most widely acknowledged site is Chris De Herrera’s Windows CE Web site at http://www.cewindows.net. Chris has dozens of FAQs that provide detailed instructions on items such as ActiveSync and networking using an Ethernet card. He also maintains comparisons of all Windows CE devices that include links to the vendor’s web sites.
.H1 Microsoft Windows CE resources
Microsoft maintains a complete site on Windows CE, starting at http://www.microsoft.com/windowsce/. An important page is their download page at http://www.microsoft.com/windowsce/downloads/pccompanions/default.asp, which contains updates to the Windows CE software.
.H1 FAQs
Frequently Asked Questions, or FAQS, are documents that contain answers to questions commonly asked about various topics. People who create the documents do so in order to prevent the same questions from being repeatedly asked in newsgroups — and to help out their fellow computer users. If you have a question, checking the FAQ might provide you with an answer faster than posting the question in a newsgroup.
The FAQ for the microsoft.public.windowsce newsgroup can be found at http://windowsce.kensai.com/faq. A FAQ specific to the Palm-sized PC is at http://www.geocities.com/ResearchTriangle/Lab/3533/palmfaqs.html#top. Many of the vendors also provide FAQs on their web sites. You can find a list of more FAQs, along with many other Windows CE Internet resources, at http://www.cewindows.net/other_info.htm.
.H1 Newsgroups
Once you have surfed through the sites listed in this article you may still be left with an unanswered question. Or perhaps you just want to interact with other Windows CE owners. Newsgroups provide you with the ability to interact with thousands of other people from around the world who also have Windows CE devices.
To access newsgroups you will need to use newsreader software, such as Outlook Express, and have it configured to access a news server. Most Internet service providers have their own news servers that communicate with other servers throughout the world. Check with your ISP to configure your software to get to these newsgroups. You’ll find comp.os.ms-windows.ce on your ISP’s news server.
Microsoft hosts newsgroups on their public news server at msnews.microsoft.com. These groups have the benefit of being monitored by Microsoft Most Valuable Professionals who are dedicated to helping others by helping answer questions posted in the newsgroups. You can find the Windows CE newsgroup at microsoft.public.windowsce.
Computing Central, which is part of the Microsoft Network, also has a Windows CE forum that uses news servers. The forum is open to everyone on the Internet from the server publicnews.msn.com and is monitored by forum managers. The forum is categorized into different newsgroups such as:
.BEGIN_LIST
.BULLET msn.computingcentral.windowsce.devices.hpc
.BULLET msn.computingcentral.windowsce.devices.palmpc
.BULLET msn.computingcentral.windowsce.devices.general, and
.BULLET msn.computingcentral.windowsce.devices.news.
.END_LIST
.H1 Specialized search engines
What if you’ve been to all of the sites listed in this article, and browsed through the newsgroups, and you still haven’t found what you’re looking for? Your final recourse may be to use a search engine. Using a search engine can be a challenge because they tend to provide more information than what you want. Most of the big search engines such as AltaVista and HotBot index all web pages on the Internet. CEGlobe.com provides a search engine at http://www.ceglobe.com/search/ that searches just Windows CE sites [although we’ve had some difficulty reaching this site on occasion –DG]. A similar site can be found at http://www.wincearch.com/. Chris De Herrera has links on his web site at http://www.cewindows.net/other_info.htm that provide predefined searches on Windows CE for the big search engines.
.H1 Conclusion
In this article, I’ve provided an overview of the information about Windows CE that you can find on the Internet. I’ve shown you where you can find listings of Web sites dedicated to Windows CE. You can find software to run on your device and reviews of Windows CE hardware and accessories along with software. There are sites that provide information about all of the Windows CE devices as well as sites that contain tips and answers to common problems that you might experience when using your favorite Windows CE device. Newsgroups provide you with a means to interact with other people like yourself and search engines can help you find information.
The dynamic nature of the Internet makes it an ideal source for information about an operating system the size of Windows CE. Every day, you’ll find something new at these sites, and many more will be available in the future. In fact, if you have something to contribute to the Windows CE community why not create a web page, post a message in one of the newsgroups, or write an article for Windows CE Power Magazine? An active user base is the surest way of growing a new platform into something that everyone will enjoy.
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.H1 Share your knowledge
If you want to write for Windows CE Power Magazine, send a note to Managing Editor Denise Amrich at denise@windowscepower.com.
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.BIO Frank McPherson is an Advanced Systems Engineer with EDS. He is a Microsoft Windows CE Most Valuable Professional, and Assistant Forum Manager of MSN’s Computing Central Windows CE forum. He can be reached via email at frank@fmcpherson.com.
