Getting Started with Windows Mobile Development

In this post, you’ll learn everything you need know to get started with the development of Windows Mobile applications ?.

Windows Mobile is a platform for running applications on mobile devices built on top of WINCE 5.0 .

There are 3-different platforms available

• Windows mobile standard targeting the the Non touchscreen devices .
• Windows Mobile Professional targeting the touch screen devices .
• Windows Mobile Classic – Similar to Windows Mobile Professional but without the phone functionalities.

Following are the tools required to develop the Windows Mobile Applications

1. Visual Studio 2005 / 2008 .

Note that Visual Studio Express Edition does not support Windows Mobile Development .

You can download the trial version of Visual Studio 2008 here .

2. Active Sync / Windows Mobile Device Manager

Software to Connect Windows Mobile device with the development computer.

If you are using Windows XP , then ActiveSync is Required . If Windows Vista or Windows 7 is used  , then Windows Mobile Device Center is required .

Download the latest version of Active Sync here .

3. Compact Framework V2.0 SP1 or newer

4. One or more of the Following SDK’s are required depending on the target device .

1. Windows Mobile Standard : Windows Mobile 6 Standard SDK
2. Windows Mobile Classic and Professional : Windows Mobile 6 Professional SDK.
3. WIndows Mobile 6.5 Developer Toolkit – Standard and Professional

5. Click here to download the Standalone Device Emulator 1.0 with Windows Mobile OS Images if required to run the Applications without installing Visual studio .

Choices for Development

There are various options for the developers to develop applications for Windows Mobile . These include

1. Native Code Development using embedded VC++ etc.

2. Managed Code development using languages like C#,VB.NET,Delphi Prism etc and that uses Compact Framework .