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user1031746
user1031746

Reputation: 361

.net mobile vs windows mobile

I was looking online for windows mobile questions. I am a bit confused here, please correct me if I am wrong - .net mobile and windows mobile they both means the same right

Upvotes: 0

Views: 198

Answers (3)

ctacke
ctacke

Reputation: 67188

The first problem here is that there's no such thing as ".NET Mobile", so we're left to guess exactly what we're trying to compare for you.

Possible things that you're talking about:

Platform

Microsoft has essentially shipped three (3) different platforms:

  • The base is the operating system known as Windows CE (or more recently Windows Embedded Compact). Windows CE can be used to build generic OS images for embedded and handheld devices.
  • Microsoft then created the Windows Mobile platform (well there were prdecessors, but let's focus on more recent). Windows Mobile was a standardized OS image based on Windows CE. It has no direct relation to .NET. It can run .NET CF applications (more on that later), but they are not required.
  • Most recently Microsoft shipped Windows Phone. Windows Phone is still based on Windows CE as an OS. It has tight application policies and a integrates UI architecture. Third-party devs can only use .NET (in the form of XNA or SIlverlight) for application development.

.NET Runtimes

Microsoft has effectively shipped four (4) separate .NET runtimes, not counting the different versions within each large group. Applications can be written in and compiled from a variety of ".NET" languages like C#, VB.NET and F# and then the runtime takes those binaries and executes them. While not 100% true, a general rule is that an application must specifically target one of the three major runtime groups and cannot be moved between them.

  • Full .NET Framework. This is installed on desktops and servers. It's the most feature rich and supports everything from IIS to full-blown Silverlight.
  • .NET Compact Framework. This runs on Windows CE.
  • .NET Micro Framework. This runs on very small, limited resource embedded platforms
  • Windows Phone. This is a "special case". While based on the .NET Compact Framework (it's something like 3.7 internally) it cannot run older .NET CF binaries, nor can Phone binaries be run on older platfoprms with the older CF so it has effectively become a separate runtime.

Of course the lines aren't 100% defined. For example the full framework can, with care, run a .NET CF application. Zune runs Windows CE with a version of the .NET Compact Framework. It's tough to put everything into defined buckets without exceptions.

Your question is "are .net mobile and windows mobile the same?" Given the above information, all I can translate that to is "Are Windows Mobile and the .NET Compact Framework the same" and the answer is obviously no. Windows Mobile is a platform, based on the Windows CE OS. It is cable of running .NET Compact Framework apps, yes, but it's also capable of running native (C/C++) apps as well. It's about like asking "Are WIndows 7 and the .NET Framework thes same thing?"

Upvotes: 2

user153923
user153923

Reputation:

I believe Windows CE contains what you want; Windows Mobile is a basics package.

http://blogs.msdn.com/b/mikehall/archive/2005/03/15/395958.aspx

Upvotes: 0

Sam Axe
Sam Axe

Reputation: 33738

there's .NET Compact Framework which operates on Windows Mobile 5.0 through 6.5.

then there's Windows Phone 7 which runs a stripped down version of .NET 4.0/Silverlight.

Upvotes: 2

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