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tgp1994
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WinCE 6.0 for VMware 7.1?

Hi there. I guess I'm a little confused about the distribution and/or installation method for Windows CE 6, but I cannot seem to find it as a virtual machine for VMware anywhere. Does anyone happen to know where I can get Windows CE 6 in the form of a virtual machine for vmware?

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asatoran
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Is it the Windows Embeded Standard 7 that I'd want to get? I've already tried the windows Embeded CE, that didn't seem to have an installer.

I don't know. I don't normally develop for embedded PCs so I've never installed WinCE this way. (Just the mobile device environment, which is more a part of Visual Studio, as you've seen.) You'll need to contact Microsoft. Have you tried just signing up? When I went through the trial pages for Standard, it said it would send me a link to download the ISO.

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ritterwolf
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I don't think you can. I'm fairly sure WinCE is a phone/PDA OS, and won't run on a desktop.

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tgp1994
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WinCE has support for x86 processors, and it can be run on Virtual PC, so I would think that it could run in VMware.

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asatoran
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WinCE has support for x86 processors, and it can be run on Virtual PC, so I would think that it could run in VMware.

While you can install WinCE on a x86 platform, VMware does NOT officially support WinCE as a guest OS. That does not mean it won't work. It just means that VMware might not be able to help you if you have trouble and probably hasn't done much testing with WinCE as a guest, which is why you don't see any info about WinCE in VMware products.

That said, you could just create a new, blank virtual machine. You probably have to choose "other" as OS type, then install WinCE just like you would on a physical machine. Many people get a lot of "unsupported" OS' to work in VMware virtual machines. However any VMware "enhancement" such as the Easy Install wizard or VMware Tools will almost certainly not work.

tgp1994
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Ya, but the problem is, I have no idea where to get an installer for WinCE. I signed up for the trial, but I think it's more of a programming environment for Visual Studio than anything else.

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asatoran
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Ya, but the problem is, I have no idea where to get an installer for WinCE. I signed up for the trial, but I think it's more of a programming environment for Visual Studio than anything else.

WinCE in an x86 environment is normally for "embedded" systems, not general consumer use. So I'd imagine you'd have to be registered with Microsoft as a vendor or developer. If you're interested in WinCE due to some project at work, you should ask your company if they have the what you need. Otherwise, It appears you can download trial versions from Windows Embedded's homepage.

tgp1994
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Is it the Windows Embeded Standard 7 that I'd want to get? I've already tried the windows Embeded CE, that didn't seem to have an installer.

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asatoran
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Is it the Windows Embeded Standard 7 that I'd want to get? I've already tried the windows Embeded CE, that didn't seem to have an installer.

I don't know. I don't normally develop for embedded PCs so I've never installed WinCE this way. (Just the mobile device environment, which is more a part of Visual Studio, as you've seen.) You'll need to contact Microsoft. Have you tried just signing up? When I went through the trial pages for Standard, it said it would send me a link to download the ISO.

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tgp1994
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Darn, those are huge. I guess I don't understand how they fit all of that into a cellphone.

Well, thank you for your help, but I guess I give up. I'll just use the pre-created VMware image for WinCE 5.0.

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asatoran
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Darn, those are huge. I guess I don't understand how they fit all of that into a cellphone.

Those don't get installed on a cellphone. You wanted the installers that would install onto a x86 CPU, which is basically the full version of Windows that has been tweaked to run in less memory, usually from hardwired flash RAM. (i.e.: embeded in a DVD player or refrigerator.) Most Windows Mobile phones use an ARM or Xscale processor, not x86, so what you need for a cellphone or PDA is completely different.

Based upon what you said in this last post, I'm guessing you're only trying to develop apps for WinCE, and not a build a WinCE device. (i.e.: you don't work for HTC or Motorola and are not building the actual phone.) If so, then you really don't need to create a WinCE VM, particularly since the device you'll be running on won't be using an x86 CPU. To develop apps, you want to use Visual Studio and use the Windows Mobile simulator to test your apps in. The simulator emulates a Windows Mobile device, similar to a virtual machine. I've never used the simulator for non-phone, non-PDA WindowsCE devices, but I assume they exist (and likely you have to register as a developer to get it.)

(If you or your company actually is building or will be marketing the physical hardware that WinCE is to be run on, then you really need to contact Microsoft to get the proper development environment tool, if your company doesn't already have them.)

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tgp1994
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Nah, I'm not in a company, or even in the business for cellphones 😛 I just wanted to see if I actually could run the real OS within a VM, although like I said, I guess I'll just go back to WinCE 5.0, which I know has a VMware VM already built. But thank you again for your help.

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