REDMOND, Wash. - March 11, 1998 - In response to strong worldwide interest in the Handheld PC (H/PC), Microsoft Corp. today announced release of the Microsoft® Windows® CE operating system 2.0 for the H/PC for Japanese, in addition to the six languages previously announced: English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese and Spanish. Microsoft has released the Japanese version to five of Microsoft's 10 original equipment manufacturers (OEMs): Casio Computer Ltd., Compaq Computer Corp., Hewlett-Packard Co., Hitachi Ltd. and NEC Corp.

"Today's release continues to build on the interest and adoption of the Windows CE 2.0-based Handheld PC from organizations worldwide," said Harel Kodesh, general manager, consumer appliance group at Microsoft. "Now that the Windows CE 2.0 platform has been released for the Japanese segment, developers can localize their products for seven languages, giving our OEMs the ability to expand into new areas and offering customers new levels of functionality and ease of use."

Pocket Applications Localized
In addition to the Windows CE operating system, the Handheld PC user interface and the suite of "Pocket" applications, including Pocket Outlook™, Pocket Word, Pocket Excel, Pocket PowerPoint®, and Pocket Internet Explorer, have been localized for international use. Additionally, Windows CE 2.0 supports Unicode characters, making it possible to create international applications with full font support. The Handheld PC based on Windows CE 2.0 supports new APIs, along with the standard method of encapsulating resources in a separate shared code file (dynamic-link library), that simplify multilanguage application development. This method is now supported in the Windows CE Toolkits for the Visual Basic® programming system, the Visual C++® development system and Visual J++™ development software, enabling developers to create software that targets these international business application platforms. Details about Windows CE 2.0 for the Handheld PC enhancements were announced on Oct. 13, 1997.

Pricing and Availability
Each OEM will set its own pricing and will ship its specific Windows CE 2.0 Handheld PCs according to its own timetable. For more information about Handheld PCs, Windows CE and available third-party applications, visit http://www.microsoft.com/windowsce/hpc/.

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