Not really, because you still have to think in terms of a disk basis.
Windows CE is merely a scaled-down Windows operating system, and, because of
this, can run typical down-scaled versions of Outlook, Internet Explorer,
Excel, Word, and other Windows applications. As great as Book Port is, it's
pretty primitive by comparison, about like trying to compare a cassette
recorder to a digital one simply because both are capable of capturing
sound. The entire methodology is quite dissimilar. Remember learning the
difference between a line and a ray in Algebra class? A line is infinite on
both ends whereas a ray has one finite end? Not the best analogy, and of
course I've simplified the textbook terminology, but without getting too
technical you can get a fair idea of the differences. A hardware-based
system (which I hesitate to call a true operating system) is like a ray. It
is subject to a spectrum of self-limiting factors just because it is what it
is. Computer operating systems can make fairly shrewd decisions based on
numerous factors, but hardware-based gadgets mainly perform specific tasks
in a more-or-less rigidly-defined manner.
But isn't Windows ce a similar operating system to that of the bookport?
Josh
----- Original Message ----- From: "David Tanner" <david-tanner@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <bookport@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Friday, November 18, 2005 12:49 AM
Subject: [bookport] Re: Firmware
How many hours do you have?
I am not really trying to be brash here. Windows is basicly an operating system also, but that said there are a lot of different operating systems. And, those operating systems take widely different amounts of memory depending on how sophisticated the system is, and what the goals are for the operating system in its' current version.
The other thing is that Windows is based on a disk based operating system that loads itself every time you turn on the system. BookPort's operating system is hardware based so that as soon as you turn it on it is ready to go without booting up the system and waiting for the operating system to get loaded into memory. This means that all of the operating system has to be in memory and ready to go when you turn on your BookPort, and in a system the size of a BookPort there are some physical limitatiions on how much internal memory one can have to support a hardware based operating system.
As has been pointed out in a variety of ways on the list, one has to look at what the focus of the BookPort is in order to realize that the type of operating system it uses is the best for the type of device that it is, one where the user does not want to wait several minutes before they can start using the system.
I hope that helps!!!
----- Original Message ----- From: "optus rod" <rodsalzman@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <bookport@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Thursday, November 17, 2005 8:20 PM
Subject: [bookport] Firmware
: Hi: : : If anyone can tell me the difference between firmware (BP system0 and : windows I would be interested? : : What the BP uses seems to be an operating system. : : Rod : : :
