Microsoft Delivers Support for Embedded Devices With Release of SQL Server 2000 Windows CE Edition Version 1.1

Embedded Application Developers Have More Reason to Build Their Applications On SQL Server 2000 Windows CE Edition and Windows CE

REDMOND, Wash., March 21, 2001 — Microsoft Corp. today announced that Microsoft® SQL Server™ 2000 Windows® CE Edition (SQL Server CE) is now an installable application option in Microsoft Platform Builder 3.0. Immediately available on the Web, this new release, version 1.1, enables embedded system developers and manufacturers to integrate SQL Server 2000 Windows CE Edition into their customized Windows CE operating system image. This allows Windows CE-based devices to seamlessly exchange data with back-end SQL Server databases, and is a cost-effective and time-saving data management strategy for organizations that rely on mobile and embedded computing devices.

SQL Server 2000 Windows CE Edition is the first relational database management system to integrate with Microsoft Platform Builder 3.0. This integration enables rich database features as installable options for customized embedded operating systems, saving customers building and deploying SQL Server CE solutions time and money for the following reasons:

• The customer does not have to deploy SQL Server CE manually to every device in the organization.
• Having SQL Server CE preconfigured in the customized device saves time and enables developers to immediately begin coding their applications against the device.
• Precious and expensive RAM resources on the device are not sacrificed to the SQL Server CE engine and components, because those elements are persisted in ROM (Read Only Memory). This also ensures that reset or reconfigured devices don't require time-consuming reinstallations of SQL Server CE.

"With the introduction of the SQL Server 2000 Windows CE Edition, we had access to a fast and powerful application that could give the Creeden sales force quick access to large data files through native SQL synchronization with SQL Server 2000 on the back end," said Scott Haney, director of information systems at Creeden & Associates. "The manufacturers we represent get a better understanding of what's happening at the retail level. In addition, by turning orders faster, our retail customers are able to stock less depth on their shelves, thereby increasing their cash flow."

SQL Server 2000 Windows CE Edition version 1.1 brings further savings to customers because it does not require a hard-wired or wireless network card to connect to back-end database resources, a feature not present in version 1.0. Through SQL Server CE Relay, users of Handheld PCs and Pocket PCs who want to replicate data to back-end SQL Server databases can use the IR, Serial and USB connections -- available "out-of-the-box" with their devices -- to connect to back-end resources through their laptop or desktop PC's network connection.

"As the need to capture and process data on embedded devices increases, customers have been asking for strong data management functionality to be built into these customized systems with minimal impact on the storage resources of the device," said Steve Murchie, group product manager for SQL Server at Microsoft. "SQL Server CE is the first database to integrate with Platform Builder, allowing Microsoft to give customers the data management functionality they need by loading SQL Server CE into the ROM of a device while preserving user storage resources."

SQL Server 2000 Windows CE Edition extends enterprise data management capabilities to mobile and embedded devices and rounds out the SQL Server 2000 family as the complete database and analysis solutions for rapidly delivering the next generation of scalable
e-commerce, line-of-business and data warehousing solutions.

Availability

SQL Server 2000 Windows CE Edition version 1.1 is available for immediate download at http://www.microsoft.com/sql/productinfo/ceoverview.htm

Pricing and Licensing

All devices that use SQL Server 2000 Windows CE Edition to connect back to an SQL Server database or resource not located on the device require a SQL Server Client Access License (CAL). For customers who expect to deploy a larger number of devices with SQL Server CE, per-processor licensing for the back-end SQL Server database should be considered. This licensing option allows an unlimited number of client devices to connect to that particular SQL Server database.

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