Windows CE 7 Emulator and Programming

Question

My company is thinking of switching to these handheld units: https://www.barcodesinc.com/motorola/part-mc32n0-gi4hcheia.htm#specs They run off of Windows Embedded Compact 7. I have been tasked with programming an inventory management solution. I do have C# .NET experience, but no experience with Compact Framework(CF), so I have a few questions.

1. Do I have to use VS 2012 with CF 3.9 or can I use a newer version of VS?
2. Is there an emulator that could run Embedded Compact so that I could give a demo of the software without buying the device?

Answer 1

You'll have to use Visual Studio 2008, I'm afraid.

As for getting an emulator running try this: https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/jj200348(v=winembedded.70).aspx

Source: I'm a mobile dev thats worked on CE 5, WM 6 and WM 6.5 (but not 7)

(Just as a side opinion, CE is dead/dying. And it's pretty horrible to work on/support as a developer. GOOD LUCK!)

Answer 2

Windows CE 7.0 only supports .NET CF 2.0 and 3.5, and the latest Visual Studio version that will work is VS2008.

This answer gives a great overview of which Windows CE, .NET Compact Framework and Visual Studio versions go together.

Which emulator to use depends on your desktop environment:

• If you are on Windows 7, the way to go is Microsoft Virtual PC .
• On newer versions of desktop Windows you can use Hyper-V.

There's an emulator Getting Started guide here on MSDN . It's written for WEC2013, but will work for CE7.0 as well.