[Q] Upgrade paths for custom 6.5 apps - Windows Mobile Development and Hacking General

Hi Guys. We have some custom programs that were written to run on Windows Mobile 6.5 devices. As it appears that 6.5 is at the end of its life span, we need to start considering our options.
Our source were written for the mobile .NET framework. I've done the research and know our 6.5 binaries wont be compatible with W7 Phone as its a very different beast.
Is the upgrade as simple as downloading an SDK and recompiling the sources ?
The next question would be, is there a Scanner Wedge type application available for W7 Phone ? Right now we use the Motorola DataWedge application to capture barcodes, which then parses the code as a keyboard input string.

While the binaries won't run on Phone 7, they will probably run on the impending release of Windows Embedded Compact 7. This is the continuation of Windows Mobile for data capture machines and the like.
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsembedded/en-us/campaigns/compact7/default.aspx
As the Platform Builder for this has only just been released, it will take a short while for devices to appear that run it.
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsembedded/en-us/develop/windows-embedded-products-for-developers.aspx
I assume Motorola's products will be the one of the first to use it.

Windows Embedded Handheld
Tezzating said:
As it appears that 6.5 is at the end of its life span, we need to start considering our options.
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Click to collapse
On Enterprise handheld devices the OS lives on under new name:
Windows Embedded Handheld 6.5
Windows Embedded Handheld 7

Related

[eMbedded Visual C++] vs. [Visual Studio 2005]

As I understand it, eMbedded VC++ can be used to write applications that will work in Windows Mobile 5/6. I'm curious as to what I would miss out on in terms of API. In other words, what's new and shiny in VS 2005 that would make it worth my money to purchase instead of just using eMbedded VC++?
Particularly, I'm interested in writing a Today Screen plugin (so the .Net features don't matter to me very much). Is there any API breakage between Pocket PC 2003 and Windows Mobile 5/6 regarding Today Screen .dll's?
Alternately, is there a way to use the Windows Mobile 5/6 SDK with eMbedded VC++?
embedded vc++ apps can run on wm6 devices because in most cases all arm wm apps can run on all wm devices
the beta2 of visual stuio 2008 is free and can also do what vs2005 can and more
Rudegar said:
embedded vc++ apps can run on wm6 devices because in most cases all arm wm apps can run on all wm devices
the beta2 of visual stuio 2008 is free and can also do what vs2005 can and more
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I know eMbedded VC++ apps can run on WM6, my question was more about whether there are any differences in available library/API calls using the older development platform, any name mangling issues writing DLL's, etc. Can I just use eMbedded VC++ to compile against the newest SDK libraries?
You will miss the following:
1) 1GB+ of you hard drive wasted.
2) 5 minutes wasted every time you try to access built in help
3) A lot of time lost due to slow response of the IDE
4) Programs that are not backward compatible.
5) Spending lots of money unless you have "other" ways of acquiring VS which we do not condone.
I worked with VS 2005 and still prefer eVC 4.
API is just a matter of what libraries you link to. You can get all the shiny new bells and whistles (frankly I am not familiar with any critical API, and certainly there is nothing new for today plugins) in two ways:
1) Manually unpack WM 5 or 6 SDK and link to its libs.
(Project->Settings->Link)
2) Use LoadLibrary and GetProcAddress to dynamically gain access to the API.
Oh and if you want to write today plugin check out this article and the link to RegDisplay in my signature. It is a skeleton plugin project you can use as a base.
Oh and stay away from VS 2008 at least till it comes out of beta. VS 2005 beta was the worst nightmare I ever seen and I can bet MS track record has not improved.

Side Loading Apps without Windows Developer Tools

First off, thank you to all the developers who put Windows Phone 7 onto the HD2.
First I was a Windows Mobile 6.5 fan, then I was a Gingerbread fan, now I'm definitely on the Windows Phone 7 bandwagon and will be looking to buy an HD7 when my contract expires.
That said, how does one go about sideloading applications? I've seen two programs that do it, but they both require a 64-bit version of Windows. Sadly I'm running an archaic 32-bit version of Vista.
Are there any other methods to side loading applications onto WP7?
Thanks,
Daniel
irulesoha said:
First off, thank you to all the developers who put Windows Phone 7 onto the HD2.
First I was a Windows Mobile 6.5 fan, then I was a Gingerbread fan, now I'm definitely on the Windows Phone 7 bandwagon and will be looking to buy an HD7 when my contract expires.
That said, how does one go about sideloading applications? I've seen two programs that do it, but they both require a 64-bit version of Windows. Sadly I'm running an archaic 32-bit version of Vista.
Are there any other methods to side loading applications onto WP7?
Thanks,
Daniel
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Dude, none of the available apps "require" x64 as far as I'm aware. I have used both the Dev tools and Toms Xap Installer on my x86 (32bit) laptop.
PS. x86 is far from "archaic"

[Q] Windows CE 7 for Smartphones

Hi all,
yesterday I read that the new windows CE 7 Version is released.
Is it possible to use this instead of the "normal" smartphone windows CE?
Windows CE is not a ready to use operating system. It is a collection of system modules. A device developer can choose individual components to build a special platform/firmware like Windows Mobile, Handheld PC or software for cash dispensers, set top boxes, coffee machines...
Windows Phone 7, Windows Embedded Handheld 7 and Windows Embedded Automotive 7 are reference platforms from Microsoft based on Windows Embedded Compact 7.0.
OK, so it seems that is possible that rom chefs can use these modules to include benefits like IE7 etc. in the customs roms.
This is not so easy. There are too many dependencies between the individual modules/components. The Internet Explorer 7 could use, for example, the new security subsystem. But this security subsystem is based in a core library that you can not replace.
Besides, the IE7 for Mobile is not included in Windows CE 7.0. For Windows Mobile/Windows Phone you need a different development environment (Adaptation Kit) which is not available to the general public.

will apps work in Windows 8

if i install windows 8 on my windows 7 will everything be formatted ?
and other apps i install will that work ?
Create a new partition if you want a dual boot, otherwise it will overwrite your data, because currently there is no upgrade function. Most Applications will work in the dev release, but MS is changing Framework, so I am not sure if they will work in the final release!
I've encountered a handful of apps that give me grief on Windows 8, but they're pretty old after all. A few classic games that I own through Steam will install well enough, but are a headache to run.
In all fairness, I had similar trouble in Windows 7 (for some reason, a handful of old games redistributed with DOSbox fail to launch), so it's probably safe to say that anything Windows 7 can handle, Windows 8 can as well. For everything else, there are virtual machines.
josidhe said:
so it's probably safe to say that anything Windows 7 can handle, Windows 8 can as well.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not so true
anna0811 said:
if i install windows 8 on my windows 7 will everything be formatted ?
and other apps i install will that work ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try this tutorial on how to dual-boot Windows 7 & 8: How to Dual-Boot Windows 7 and Windows 8 Side By Side
josidhe said:
so it's probably safe to say that anything Windows 7 can handle, Windows 8 can as well. For everything else, there are virtual machines.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not so there are a number of applications that will not run on VM ware, especially some of the tools required to work with Android phones.
My recommendation, get or keep an old laptop with Windows XP service pack 3 and your good to go.
Windows really should have everything backward compatible, but it doesn't.....Sigh!
Starburst13 said:
Not so there are a number of applications that will not run on VM ware, especially some of the tools required to work with Android phones.
My recommendation, get or keep an old laptop with Windows XP service pack 3 and your good to go.
Windows really should have everything backward compatible, but it doesn't.....Sigh!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My understanding is that, with USB pass through in VMs, there are no significant limitations on what you can do with a USB device from within a virtual machine. There are extensive discussions on using tools like adb from a virtualized Ubuntu box, at least.
As for your final comment, you're on a strange side of the fence. It has long been a *criticism* of Microsoft that it struggled for so long to keep Windows backwards compatible, and many--MANY--users have wanted them to throw caution to the wind and "rebuild from scratch" the OS, with such compatibility-breaking demands as "eliminate the registry" and so on.
Android itself barely stumbles through version changes, with countless applications breaking on each new release,, prompting swarms of app updates with nothing on their change logs but "added support for 2.x". To this day there are apps on the market with separate entries for 1.x devices.
So I would expect advanced users to acknowledge that virtualization is the grand middle ground solution, allowing businesses with ancient tools to keep using them while advancing the actual OS without wasted development time.
I definitely wouldn't recommend formatting your current Windows 7 partition and installing Windows 8, as it's still a developer preview. Try creating a new partition and dual-booting, this would also allow you to keep all of your current programs and data on your Windows 7 partition.

Microsoft Automotive OS (Windows CE)

Morning everyone!
I recently bought a Cadillac CTS-V Coupe, and noticed that under information, it states the NAV system runs Microsoft Windows Automotive.
I did some recon, and found that this is a stipped down version of Windows CE? I've tried searching to see if anyone has done any hacking, I've seen a few basic mods/hacks, but nothing crazy like the stuff xda-devs push out...
Just wondering if there's been any work done on this? Any cool hacks?
So, you want to "hack" Windows (Embedded) Automotive (7), which is part of Microsoft's Windows Embedded family? What do you mean with "hack"? Please specify.
There is not, and there will probably never be a "hacker" or "modder" scene around devices running Windows Automotive, as all the SDKs are closed to the public and only acessible to manufacturers who signed a deal with Microsoft. There is no way of really adding functionality to these systems for a hobbyist, and even if there was of course it would validate any and all warrantys on the device.
jwoegerbauer said:
So, you want to "hack" Windows (Embedded) Automotive (7), which is part of Microsoft's Windows Embedded family? What do you mean with "hack"? Please specify.
There is not, and there will probably never be a "hacker" or "modder" scene around devices running Windows Automotive, as all the SDKs are closed to the public and only accessible to manufacturers who signed a deal with Microsoft. There is no way of really adding functionality to these systems for a hobbyist, and even if there was of course it would validate any and all warrantys on the device.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was just wondering if any work had maybe been done. I'm not familiar with the OS as you can tell. But from my previous experience in the Windows Mobile land and some hacking I've seen in the past on devices that ran CE I was just wondering if anything had been done...
I know there's been a few minor hacks and mods (re: interface changes, animations, pictures, voice prompts, map side-loading, etc...). But that's all I've read so far...
Zhariak said:
But from my previous experience in the Windows Mobile land and some hacking I've seen in the past on devices that ran CE I was just wondering if anything had been done...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Windows Automotive is based on Windows Mobile, not on Windows CE. Perhaps 'unlockers' developped for Windows CE might do it, who knows?
jwoegerbauer said:
Windows Automotive is based on Windows Mobile, not on Windows CE. Perhaps 'unlockers' developped for Windows CE might do it, who knows?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I read that it runs a Windows CE kernel, also read that it uses a lot of stuff that Windows Mobile uses... Main interest would be to see if it's possible to load up a complete Windows GUI (like what people did for the HTC Shift)...
I have a cts-v as well and I'm hoping to play with the latest nav software update disc (2012) when I receive it tomorrow. I know some have converted it to usb so it doesn't take 2-3 hours to update your system. I'm also wanting to see if I can do some mods/hacks/tweaks to it just to play around. Can you point me in the right direction on the mods/tweaks you've read about? Of course I'd just like to start out with images/sounds/slash screen stuff first.
windows ce
jwoegerbauer said:
Windows Automotive is based on Windows Mobile, not on Windows CE. Perhaps 'unlockers' developped for Windows CE might do it, who knows?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
what about windows embedded device like HP mediasmart connect x280n can you update it to windows embedded 8 pro
.....
Decided to delete posts
Wondering if anyone ever did anything with these... I just bought one myself in my '09 CTS-4 . You can remove the hard drive and image it to your local hard drive and I have seen where people have been able to access the files within. Since Windows Mobile Auto is related to Windows mobile you should be able to use some of the same tools you would use with Windows Mobile. My understanding is that it is not a stripped down but a supped up version to support additional hardware and functionality. .Net code is byte code that is run by the runtime in standard windows and is easy to decode and reconstruct the source code. I am guessing windows Mobile is similar. You should be able to reconstruct enough that you can use the standard .DLL from windows mobile auto in a regular windows mobile development environment then just copy the finished file over... In theory anyhow... I have seen information that it may require signing but I am not sure that signing was necessary with Windows Mobile 5. I will be tearing apart my new NAV system before I install it to see what I can access in it.
Did you find anything? I'm looking to "hack" my 2011 Fusion Sport w/ Nav. Runs on similar platform based on my research.
rulk said:
Wondering if anyone ever did anything with these... I just bought one myself in my '09 CTS-4 . You can remove the hard drive and image it to your local hard drive and I have seen where people have been able to access the files within. Since Windows Mobile Auto is related to Windows mobile you should be able to use some of the same tools you would use with Windows Mobile. My understanding is that it is not a stripped down but a supped up version to support additional hardware and functionality. .Net code is byte code that is run by the runtime in standard windows and is easy to decode and reconstruct the source code. I am guessing windows Mobile is similar. You should be able to reconstruct enough that you can use the standard .DLL from windows mobile auto in a regular windows mobile development environment then just copy the finished file over... In theory anyhow... I have seen information that it may require signing but I am not sure that signing was necessary with Windows Mobile 5. I will be tearing apart my new NAV system before I install it to see what I can access in it.
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latest version
Hi there
Can any body upload the latest disc for the Cadillac cts? or just sent a link to my email: [email protected]
thanks
Ronen

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