NET development for smart devices.
Gates announced the extension of .NET to smart devices, delivering on the company's mission of enabling rich computing on any device. Smart devices include any computing device capable of downloading and running applications locally, providing a rich user interface and handling network resources intelligently. Specifically, Gates unveiled the technology preview for the Smart Device Extensions (SDE) for Visual Studio .NET and the Microsoft .NET Compact Framework. With these technologies, Visual Studio .NET developers can transfer their skills and knowledge to application development for smart devices such as smart phones and PDAs, including the Pocket PC. Because the new tools enable a vastly enlarged pool of developers to target these devices and deliver the sophisticated functionality enterprises are demanding, the number and capabilities of applications for smart devices are expected to increase drastically. In addition, Gates announced that the next generation of the Windows® CE operating system, formerly code-named 'Talisker," will be named Windows CE .NET and will natively support the .NET Compact Framework and XML Web services.
