Handheld PC Explorer, or as it is more commonly referred to, H/PC Explorer was the Windows PC host client for the inaugural generation of Microsoft Windows CE 1.0

Windows CE

Microsoft Windows CE is an operating system developed by Microsoft for embedded systems. Windows CE is a distinct operating system and kernel, rather than a trimmed-down version of desktop Windows...

 based embedded PC companion devices, the Handheld PC

Handheld PC

A Handheld PC, or H/PC for short, is a term for a computer built around a form factor which is smaller than any standard laptop computer. It is sometimes referred to as a Palmtop. The first handheld device compatible with desktop IBM personal computers of the time was the Atari Portfolio of 1989...

.

Handheld PC Explorer 1.0

The initial release of H/PC Explorer was only made available on CD as part of the software set of the early Windows CE 1.0 Handheld PC releases. Version 1.0, like Windows CE 1.0 itself was generally considered to be a beta release, and was received poorly by the user community because of inherent instability within the synchronisation program.
Version 1.0 only supported Windows 95

Windows 95

Windows 95 is a consumer-oriented graphical user interface-based operating system. It was released on August 24, 1995 by Microsoft, and was a significant progression from the company's previous Windows products...

, severely restricting the scope of Windows CE's adoption in enterprise environments running Windows NT 4.0

Windows NT 4.0

Windows NT 4.0 is a preemptive, graphical and business-oriented operating system designed to work with either uniprocessor or symmetric multi-processor computers. It was the next release of Microsoft's Windows NT line of operating systems and was released to manufacturing on 31 July 1996...

. No sync client was ever released for Windows CE which ran natively under Windows NT 3.51

Windows NT 3.51

Windows NT 3.51 is the third release of Microsoft's Windows NT line of operating systems. It was released on 30 May 1995, nine months after Windows NT 3.5. The release provided two notable feature improvements; firstly NT 3.51 was the first of a short-lived outing of Microsoft Windows on the...

 or lower.

Handheld PC Explorer 1.1

The second release of the software fixed many of the stability and compatibility flaws experienced by users of 1.0. Windows NT 4.0 support was finally added to the product, along with support for the initial release of Microsoft Outlook

Microsoft Outlook

Microsoft Outlook is a personal information manager from Microsoft, available both as a separate application as well as a part of the Microsoft Office suite...

in the form of Outlook 97.

Handheld PC Explorer 1.1 was also released as a freely available web download, along with being bundled onto Handheld PC Companion software CDs in mid to late 1997.

External links

• History of Handheld PC Explorer at HPC:Factor