Editing Windows CE (section)

==Relationship to Windows Mobile, Pocket PC, and Smartphone==
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Often Windows CE, [[Windows Mobile]], and [[Pocket PC]] are used interchangeably, in part due to their common origin. This practice is not entirely accurate. Windows CE is a modular/componentized operating system that serves as the foundation of several classes of devices. Some of these modules provide subsets of other components' features (e.g. varying levels of windowing support; [[Distributed Component Object Model|DCOM]] vs [[Component Object Model|COM]]), others which are separate ([[Computer font|bitmap]] or [[TrueType]] font support), and others which add additional features to another component. One can buy a kit (the Platform Builder) which contains all these components and the tools with which to develop a custom platform. Apps such as [[Microsoft Excel#Excel for mobile|Excel Mobile]] (formerly Pocket Excel) are not part of this kit. The older Handheld PC version of Pocket Word and several other older apps are included as samples, however.

Windows Mobile is best described as a subset of platforms based on a Windows CE underpinning. Currently, Pocket PC (now called Windows Mobile Classic), Smartphone (Windows Mobile Standard), and Pocket PC Phone Edition (Windows Mobile Professional) are the three main platforms under the Windows Mobile umbrella. Each platform uses different components of Windows CE, plus supplemental features and apps suited for their respective devices.

Pocket PC and Windows Mobile are Microsoft-defined custom platforms for general PDA use, consisting of a Microsoft-defined set of minimum profiles (Professional Edition, Premium Edition) of software and hardware that is supported. The rules for manufacturing a Pocket PC device are stricter than those for producing a custom Windows CE-based platform. The defining characteristics of the Pocket PC are the [[touchscreen]] as the primary [[human interface device]] and its extremely portable size.

CE 3.0 is the basis for Pocket PC 2000 and Pocket PC 2002. A successor to CE 3.0 is CE.net.<ref name="2000grad-dpa_henrich_poehls"/> "PocketPC &#91;is&#93; a separate layer of code on top of the core Windows CE OS… Pocket PC is based on Windows CE, but it's a different offering." And licensees of Pocket PC are forbidden to modify the WinCE part.<ref name="theregister-030416_pocket_not_wince">{{cite web|last=Smith|first=Tony|title=Why Pocket PC isn't WinCE|publisher=The Register|date=April 16, 2003|url=https://www.theregister.co.uk/2003/04/16/why_pocket_pc_isnt_wince|access-date=October 24, 2009}}</ref>

The [[Smartphone]] platform is a feature-rich OS and interface for cellular phone handsets. SmartPhone offers productivity features to business users, such as email, and multimedia abilities for consumers. The SmartPhone interface relies heavily on joystick navigation and PhonePad input. Devices running SmartPhone do not include a touchscreen interface. SmartPhone devices generally resemble other cellular handset form factors, whereas most Phone Edition devices use a PDA form factor with a larger display.