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Today I stumbled over the Application Builder for CE 2013 in Microsoft's download center. As of the description, with this pack I should be able to develop apps that target Windows Embedded Compact 2013 with Visual Studio 2012.

After downloading and installing the Application Builder I found the new framework assemblies in C:\Program Files (x86)\Reference Assemblies\Microsoft\Framework\WindowsEmbeddedCompact\v3.9, but there are no project templates targeting Embedded Compact 2013 in Visual Studio 2012.

I tried to create a blank WinForms or WPF project and to retarget it to 3.9, but that doesn't seem to be possible as well. There are no online templates that could be installed.

How do I create a CF 3.9 application using Visual Studio 2012?

Gene
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3 Answers3

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All I can do here is sigh. Here's the state of things as of this writing (Mid May, 2013) and it could change in the coming weeks and/or months.

The Application Builder does not ship with device templates. Templates, instead, are shipped with the device SDK. Yes, this is different than in the past. It means that to do any device development, you'll need an SDK.

Windows Embedded Compact 2013 is currently not publicly available, so no one can currently ship an SDK. The net effect of this is that, for now, for the general public, the Application Builder install is completely useless.

Once WEC 2013 is public, I don't believe Microsoft will be shipping any "generic" SDKs. I very likely will. Once we have SDKs in the wild, you'll have templates and be able to build projects.

ctacke
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    I'm confused and maybe you can clear things up. I've seen references to Windows Embedded 8 and Windows Compact Embedded 8, is WEC 2013 something different, or just a new name for that? Are there currently any devices running the new windows embedded OS, whatever it may be? I've seen some press releases from Motorola about how they've released or are about to release some.. but I can't actually find any. It's hard enough to find info when I'm not even sure of the name of the OS! Thanks – cost May 15 '13 at 00:47
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    There's Windows Embedded Compact 2013 (think: CE, no common Windows kernel, very tiny footprint) and Windows Embedded 8 Handheld (think: Windows Mobile/Phone, common Windows kernel, modern apps, no legacy apps). There are different versions of Windows Embedded 8 to match your needs (e.g. Industry), but they are completely different from CE. From an optimistic point of view, the first devices with WEH8 propably will appear in one year from now. – Gene May 15 '13 at 06:55
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    And don't forget there's Windows Embedded Standard 8 as well (which is just componentized Windows 8). – ctacke May 15 '13 at 12:52
  • @Gene Yeow. I work for a company that has an industrial mobile application on Windows mobile 6.5, which is essentially CE. Like a lot of others we're waiting for the successor to that to come along, since the current Windows Phone 8 is so different (and more importantly, you can't really get that ruggedized) – cost May 15 '13 at 18:55
  • The "successor" is Windows Embedded Handheld, which is based on Phone 8. You can probably start refactoring/rewriting your code based on that knowledge as you await actual hardware from vendors like Motorola. – ctacke May 15 '13 at 18:59
  • OK, well, it's 2 years later. I can't find a single Windows Embedded Compact 2013 device. Did this thing flop? Has Android erased WinCE from existence? I was really looking forward to using NETCF 3.9. Also, is there any way to install a WEC2013 emulator? Like how we did with WinCE and WinMo development? – RoboJ1M Nov 10 '15 at 10:37
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I also downloaded the Application Builder, and found it quite useless, hey where are the compact project templates! (thanks for the confirmation ctacke) after reading this today and discovering the .net assembly folder posted by Gene, I figured I at least try to use the object browser - and found you can browse the objects by using the Windows Embedded Compact 3.9 filter - figure others might want to at least look at what's new like I am attempting to do..

EJH
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It is possible to create new SDKs from OS Design projects. Create one from CEPC. http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/jj584864(v=winembedded.70).aspx

Chaitanya
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