Annasoft Systems Selected to License Windows CE for Embedded Applications
SAN DIEGO — March 13, 1997 — Annasoft Systems, the number one provider of Microsoft operating system platforms for embedded PCs, announces that it has been selected by Microsoft to license Windows CE for embedded applications. Annasoft will also offer custom adaptation and integration services for designers who want to build or modify Windows CE reference design platforms. "Microsoft is pleased to name Annasoft as a distributor of Windows CE," said Ray Kanemori, Senior OEM Account Manager. "In the past, Annasoft has served us well as a distributor of MS-DOS and Windows, enabling us to reach and support a much broader range of designers in the embedded community.
We expect Annasoft's system integration and support capabilities, together with their complementary embedded product line, to play an even bigger role with Windows CE." Added John Choisser, CEO of Annasoft Systems and Annabooks, "Microsoft operating systems have always been significant players in embedded applications. We think Windows CE will greatly extend Microsoft's presence in the embedded market. Over time, as memory becomes more plentiful and Microsoft provides additional real-time enhancements, we even see Windows CE displacing proprietary kernels." Windows CE is a 32-bit multitasking, multithreaded operating system that targets embedded applications such as communications, multimedia, and mobile computing. Fully ROMable, Windows CE features pre-emptive multitasking, a Windows-like GUI, and a standard communication protocol that facilitates Internet access and information sharing with other Windows-based applications. Windows CE is compact and scaleable, enabling it to be used in a broad range of resource-constrained embedded environments.
OEMs can license Windows CE from Annasoft in any quantity. OEMs who want to use an existing reference platform (i.e., from semiconductor manufacturers or platform providers) simply provide Annasoft with a ROM image (including Windows CE and their application), which they build using tools supplied with the reference design platform. Annasoft, in turn, will have the image burned into PROMs or flash memory and return it to the customer in production quality. Designers who want to build their own Windows CE platform or modify an existing reference platform have two options. The first option is to contract with Annasoft to perform the platform adaptation. The second option, for OEMs who want to handle the adaptation themselves, is to obtain an OEM Adaptation Kit (OAK) from Annasoft. In order to obtain an OAK, OEMs must purchase at least 1000 licenses.
The OEM Adaption Kit includes:
– Object code for Windows CE.
– Source code for the hardware-specific component in Windows CE (known as the OEM Abstraction Layer, or OAL), which is configured and recompiled for each hardware platform.
– Reference materials and source code examples for creating platform-specific files, (the equivalent of a BIOS), which interact with the OAL in Windows CE.
– Tools for building a ROMable image that includes Windows CE, the OAL, platform-specific files, and the user's application.
Said Annasoft Systems President Dick Eppel, "Annasoft is well positioned to service the Windows CE embedded market. In addition to licensing Windows CE, we will offer all the complementary software products needed to build an embedded Windows CE platform, including pen interface software with enhanced character recognition, and hard disk emulation software for flash memory. We'll also be offering custom adaptation and system integration services for designers who want to modify existing Windows CE reference design platforms, or even build new ones from scratch." Added Annasoft Engineering Manager Sean Liming, "We have high expectations for Windows CE in the embedded marketplace. With its reduced footprint, scaleability, and pre-emptive multitasking, Windows CE will provide formidable competition for the proprietary kernels that rule the roost today. For complex systems, we expect to see many Windows CE systems networked to a Windows NT based server."
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Annasoft Systems is a value-added manufacturer, reseller, and integrator of DOS- and Windows-compatible embedded PC system software. Through its licensing agreements with Microsoft, Annasoft is the largest provider of Microsoft operating systems for embedded systems, including MS-DOS, Windows 3.1, Windows 95, Windows for Workgroups, Windows NT, and Windows CE. Annasoft also offers all the BIOS, flash file system, GUI, and pen-based software needed to build an embedded PC, together with the porting and integration services needed to customize that platform for a particular embedded environment. Annabooks publishes and distributes technical books and reference materials that address all facets of embedded PC hardware and software designs.
The company publishes books on operating systems, BIOS design, bus architecture (EISA/ISA, PCI, PC/104), peripheral interfaces (USB), embedded systems software development, networking, and removable storage (PCMCIA and CardBus). Through its Annabooks Conferences and Annabooks University subsidiaries, Annabooks also sponsors conferences, technical workshops, and training programs that help bring engineering managers and designers up to speed on the latest embedded PC technologies. In 1997, Annabooks Conferences will co-host PCI Plus and USB conferences in the US and Europe. Annabooks University will host a series of workshops on PCI, USB, and Cardbus. For more information on Annasoft Systems' products and services, please contact Chris Choisser at 11838 Bernardo Plaza Court, San Diego, CA 92128. Phone 800/462-1042. Fax 619/673-1432. Also on the Internet: www.annasoft.com and www.annabooks.com.
CONTACT:
Dick Eppel or John Choisser Mark Shapiro
Annasoft Systems Davis-Marrin Communications
619/673-0870 619/573-0736