Ever since April, when Microsoft Corp. announced its intention to field a "real-time" version of Windows CE, the real-time operating system (RTOS) community has been quaking in its collective boots. They're worried that Microsoft will wield a very big marketing stick.
To date, CE has been seen as best suited to poky handheld PCs. With 3.0, Microsoft intends to deliver fast interrupt responses to support time-critical apps in process control, data acquisition and telecommunications. Now in the works, 3.0 is set to preview in the spring and ship in the fall.
Recently, Microsoft has been the subject of scurrilous talk that 3.0 isn't coming along as quickly as expected. Normally, I steer clear of idle chatter. But sources tell me that financial analysts have been calling RTOS companies asking if they are acquisition targets of Microsoft, on the theory that the company would want to buy what it was having difficulty building.
So I went right to the top-Franklin Fite, director of the Windows CE product unit at Microsoft. "There is no truth to CE 3.0 being delayed," he told me. "The target remains the same: We're going to ship the release with real-time capabilities in 1999."
Fite also emphasized that Microsoft is not seeking to buy an RTOS vendor. Indeed, Microsoft's embedded strategy is so tied to CE that it would be embarrassing to simply purchase outside code and slap on a new label.
To build CE momentum, Microsoft is setting up partnerships. For example, Integrated Systems sells CE support and Mentor Graphics' Microtec division offers its X-ray debugger. Fite believes such alliances may be fueling the talk. "I can honestly say I haven't heard anything about us looking to buy an RTOS company," he said.
However, asking about an acquisition is the wrong question. The right one is: What is Windows CE-a single chunk of existing code or Microsoft's vision of where it has to go to remain a player?
I've always thought of CE more as a branding strategy than as a product. I believe Microsoft will ultimately field a full range of operating systems under the broad umbrella of the CE family. For example, there may be "set-top CE," "cell-phone CE" and of course that old marketing standby, "CE Pro."
Where will the technology come from? For one, Microsoft is rewriting much of its own CE code base to create 3.0. In addition, its lab has the Rialto real-time OS.
Moving forward, it's not unreasonable that Microsoft would want to acquire an outside RTOS vendor, to fill an empty technology niche. I believe the company when they say nothing's imminent. However, I also believe that 1999 may prove to be a different story.
