Teknor Supports Microsoft Windows CE for VIPer8xx Half-Size ISA Industrial SBCs

Boisbriand, Quebec (Canada), February 22, 1999 - Teknor Industrial Computers, Inc. today announced the release of Microsoft Windows CE operating system support for Teknors VIPer821 Pentium-based half-size ISA single board computer via an easy-to-use Windows CE Boot Loader included in the BIOS. Teknors 486/586-based VIPer809 and VIPer806 half-size ISA SBCs are also Windows CE certified.

The Windows CE operating system from Microsoft is a 32-bit, truly ROMable, multitasking, multithreaded operating system with an open architecture design, making it well suited for embedded applications. It is compact yet scaleable, providing high performance in limited memory configuration, supporting a broad range of resource-constrained embedded environments. It is responsive to the I/O and communication devices frequently used with Teknors VIPer SBCs used in embedded industrial and communication systems.

"Microsoft is committed to supporting embedded systems developers," said Tony Barbagallo, group product manager, Windows CE at Microsoft Corp. "With Teknors VIPer and Windows CE, developers experience enhanced productivity enabling first-time users to be up and running with new projects quickly and easily."

The Windows CE binary image will directly execute any Windows CE-based application without any compilation effort. In fact, you only have to copy the Windows CE image on the desired IDE interface provided by the VIPer boards, and copy your own application renamed AUTORUN.EXE and thats it! You are up and running. Furthermore, a DOS CE launcher to boot Windows CE on the VIPer CPUs is not needed. The VIPer BIOS is providing a "Boot Windows CE" option directly available in the CMOS Setup Menu. Only by enabling this feature, the VIPer BIOS will launch the Windows CE binary image present on the selected IDE device. Also, to avoid new compilation effort, the desired CRT or Flat Panel resolution and colors are selectable via BIOS CMOS Setup option. Teknor offers the simplest and most sophisticated way to run Windows CE on a PC-based platform.

"We view Teknor as a leader and innovator in providing off-the-shelf Windows CE-based solutions for embedded PCs and are proud to have them as a member of the Embedded Initiative and to be their exclusive supplier of Windows CE licenses," states Michael Bauer, Director of Marketing for Annasoft Systems (San Diego, CA).

Teknors supplied support and features include: Microsoft Windows CE operating system 2.1; automatic startup capability for users application; Windows CE launched directly from the VIPer BIOS; video resolution selectable in the BIOS setup menu (up to 1280 x 1024 with 256 colors; up to 800 x 600 with 16.7 M colors, with broad selection of flat panels supported); and, keyboard, PS/2 mouse or serial mouse (COM2), IDE1 Master and IDE2 Master (hard disk or Flash), 10/100 Mb Ethernet, and a parallel port.

"The pairing of Teknor VIPer SBCs with Windows CE allows industrial product engineering managers and designers to keep up to date on the latest embedded and PC technologies," says Benont Robert, Product Marketing Manager at Teknor.

The Teknor binary image of Windows CE for the VIPer821 is already available. Its standard BIOS includes the needed Windows CE support with no charge. The same support for other VIPer boards can be available upon request.

Lead Contact:
Inside Sales Department
Tel: (450) 437-5682
Fax: (450) 437-5254
Email: sales@teknor.com