From The Editor

Everybody knows that the new millennium means change, but there's nothing "new" about change in the world of Windows CE! In the last two years we have seen three major revisions to the Windows CE operating system, three new categories of PC Companions, over 15 new manufacturers of these devices, and an explosion of new third-party hardware and software accessories. However, we've also started to see a little bit of a shakeout in the Windows CE World.

Philips Electronics recently announced that it was getting out of the Windows CE business completely. Last year Philips discontinued its Velo Handheld PC and it has now decided to sell off its remaining Nino Palm-size PCs and focus on mobile phones. Philips is the second of the original group of eight PC Companion manufacturers to discontinue their Windows CE efforts, preceded earlier this year by LG Electronics. Philips and LG both produced quality PC Companions and it's a little sad to see them go. But the shakeout process is part of a cycle repeated whenever new technology is introduced.

The good news is that new PC Companion manufacturers are popping up all the time, and the remaining group of original OEMs seem as committed as ever to developing new devices and supporting old ones. For example, in this issue we not only look at Hewlett-Packard's new Jornada 430se Palm-size PC, we also review HP's ROM Upgrade Module, which transforms their older 620/660LX Palmtop PCs into H/PC Pro powerhouses.

Compaq was another of the original manufacturers, and in this issue Terence Goggin takes a look at Compaq's sleek new Aero 1530, the lightest and smallest Palm-size PC yet. Compaq is positioning the 1530 to go head-to-head with the Palm V. I review HP Jornada 430se. It's faster than its predecessor, has better battery life, and now has stereo MP3. (Watch the climax of the new James Bond movie and see if you notice anything that looks familiar.) Also, I write about the fun I had with Casio's new Digital Camera Card. It's the smallest camera I've ever seen. It slips into the CompactFlash slot of Casio's E-100/105 and lets you take pictures, and video! Check it out!

The other big end-of-the-millennium news is ActiveSync 3.0, the newest version of Microsoft's Windows CE synchronization software. Craig Peacock's review has more on this, but the bottom line is that Microsoft finally got it right.

There's a lot more in this end-of-the-millennium issue worth mentioning. I may have had fun with Casio's Digital Camera Card, but Mark Virtue had more fun "trekking" through the Himalayas and around the world with his Handheld PC. Ed Zabrek had some fun finding his way around Houston with a Palm-size PC Global Positioning System. And Chris De Herrera had some more fun finding out which Ethernet Card was best for fast data synchronization. Unfortunately, I can't comment on the amount of fun David Shier had reviewing Pocket Access and the various database programs for Windows CE.