Nicolas Besson: Microsoft Windows Embedded CE 6.0 Exam Preparation Kit

It seems like yesterday that we released Windows CE 1.0 to the market, although 12 successful years have passed and many things have changed. New technologies have emerged, while others have vanished; and we continue to push forward with our partners to take full advantage of new hardware and software innovations. Windows Embedded CE continues to evolve, yet remains a small-footprint, real-time, embedded operating system that runs on multiple processor architectures and an amazing array of devices, including robots, portable ultrasound imaging systems, industrial controllers, remote sensor and alarm systems, point-of-sale front-ends, media streamers, game consoles, thin clients, and even devices most of us would never associate with a Microsoft operating system. Perhaps one day Windows Embedded CE will run on devices on the moon. It would not come as a surprise. Windows Embedded CE can be everywhere that computer devices help to make life easier and fun.

Right from the start, we have focused on the needs of professional embedded developers by creating a comprehensive suite of development tools and by supporting Windows programming interfaces and frameworks. We have integrated the Windows Embedded CE development tools with Visual Studio 2005 to provide developers with the freedom to customize the operating system and build the applications for the operating system. Today, Windows Embedded CE 6.0 supports x86, ARM, MIPS and SH4 processors out of the box, and includes approximately 700 selectable operating system components. CE provides the tools needed to configure, build, download, debug, and test operating system images and applications, ships with source code for the kernel, device drivers, and other features, and gives application developers the flexibility to create Win32, MFC, or ATL native code applications or managed applications based on the .NET Compact Framework. As part of the Microsoft Shared Source Initiative, we ship more than 2.5 million lines of CE source code, which gives developers the ability to view, modify, rebuild, and release the modified source. And recently we launched a "Spark your Imagination" program to give hobbyist developers access to hardware and CE software development tools at low costs.

You can find plenty of information about the CE operating system, development tools, and concepts in this preparation kit for Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist (MCTS) Exam 70-571 "Microsoft Windows Embedded CE 6.0, Developing" released in May 2008. We are very excited about Exam 70-571. It signifies another important milestone in the Windows Embedded CE success story. Now, for the first time, embedded developers have the ability to assess and demonstrate their skills regarding the development of embedded solutions based on Windows Embedded technologies, and they can gain recognition for their knowledge and proficiency. Anybody with a passion for CE 6.0 should consider taking the exam. We hope that this book accelerates your preparation just as Windows Embedded CE 6.0 accelerates your development processes. Best wishes from all of us here at the Microsoft development team!

Welcome to the Microsoft Windows Embedded CE 6.0 Exam Preparation Kit. The purpose of this preparation kit is to help Windows Embedded CE developers prepare for the Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist (MCTS) Windows Embedded CE 6.0 Application Development certification exam.

By using this preparation kit, you can maximize your performance on the following exam objectives:

■ Customize the operating system design.

■ Clone Windows Embedded CE components and manage catalog items.

■ Generate a Software Development Kit (SDK).

■ Build a run-time image and analyze build results.

■ Deploy, monitor, and optimize a run-time image.

■ Develop multi-threaded system applications.

■ Implement exception handling.

■ Support power management in applications, device drivers, and in the OEM adaptation layer (OAL).

■ Configure a Board Support Package (BSP), including customizations to boot loader and memory mappings.

■ Develop full-featured stream interface drivers.

■ Implement Interrupt Service Routines (ISRs) and Interrupt Service Threads (ISTs) and marshal data between kernel-mode and user-mode components.

■ Debug kernel-mode and user-mode components to eliminate software-related errors.

■ Use the Windows Embedded CE Test Kit (CETK) to perform standard and user-defined tests on a development workstation and on a target device.

■ Develop Tux extension components to include custom device drivers in CETK-based tests.

This Exam Preparation Kit is for system developers with a basic level of knowledge about operating system design, programming system components, and debugging on the Windows Embedded CE platform.

Specifically, this Preparation Kit is designed for readers with the following skills:

■ Basic knowledge of Windows and Windows Embedded CE development and development

■ At least two years of experience with C/C++ programming and the Win32 Application Programming Interface (API).

■ Familiarity with Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 and Platform Builder for Windows Embedded CE 6.0.

■ Basic debugging skills using standard Windows debugging tools.

For information about prerequisites to pass the certification exam, see the Audience Profile section in the Preparation Guide for Exam 70-571 at http://www.microsoft.com/learning/exams/70-571.mspx.

Each chapter opens with a list of exam objectives covered in the chapter and a "Before You Begin" section, which prepares you for completing the chapter. The chapters are then divided into lessons. Each lesson begins with a list of objectives and states an estimated lesson time. The lesson content is subdivided further according to topics and lesson objectives.

Each chapter ends with hands-on procedures and a short summary of all chapter lessons. This is followed by a brief check of key terms and suggested practices which test your knowledge of the chapter material and help you successfully master the exam objectives presented in the chapter.

► The hands-on examples give you an opportunity to demonstrate a particular concept or skill and test what you have learned in the chapter lessons. All hands-on examples include step-by-step procedures that are identified with a bullet symbol like the one to the left of this paragraph. To help you successfully master the presented procedures, worksheets with detailed step-by-step instructions for each lab are also included in the companion material for this book.

To complete the hands-on procedures, you must have a development computer with Microsoft Windows XP or Microsoft Windows Vista, Visual Studio 2005 Service Pack 1, and Platform Builder for Windows Embedded CE 6.0 installed.

The development computer must have the following minimum configuration, with all hardware on the Windows XP or Windows Vista Hardware Compatibility List:

■ 1 GHz 32-bit (x86) or 64-bit (x64) processor or faster.

■ 1 gigabyte (GB) of RAM.

■ 40 GB hard drive with at least 20 GB of available disk space for Visual Studio 2005 and Platform Builder.

■ DVD-ROM drive.

■ Microsoft Mouse or compatible pointing device.

■ Paging file set to twice the amount of RAM or larger.

■ VGA-compatible display.

The following software is required to complete the procedures in this course: