Screen grab courtesy of BetaWiki; do check them out for their treasure trove of concealed information. It was the regular (what would be considered consumer) edition, beginning with version 3.0, that made Microsoft Windows a worldwide phenomenon: everyone knows that history. As the 80s became the 90s and "a computer in every home" started becoming reality enterprise computing concurrently grew both in actual silicon scale and end-user accessibility; Microsoft leading that transition from OS/2 into the first versions of Windows NT is its own epoch that may not matter that much to general consumers today but is no less important. As Windows 95 and NT 4.0 secured Microsoft operating systems as the must-have for nearly everyone's personal and business computing needs there was another part of the story going on where Microsoft would stumble quite a bit: filling the gaps for people's alternative computing needs (and wants). With the runaway success of desktop Windows Microsoft was released from the grasp of IBM and free to innovate, thus experiment they did. Of course it is usually the successes and not the failures which make the history pages, but enthusiasts help keep the other side of the coin alive in digitized memory at least (who could know the R-Zone, Game.com or Gizmondo today if not for the few fan hearts won by Tiger Electronics?). Then again, sometimes even successful products nevertheless fall short of achieving Pop Culture Phenomenon status and once their day is done become destined for obscurity. Perhaps saying they are worthy of praise is putting it too strongly, but these Microsoft efforts are at least worth respect.
What qualifies as "alternative" in this context? Diversity of choice in itself does not suffice if still made available openly to a wide market, thus ruling out the /286 and /386 variants of Windows 2 or any larger-scale editions of regular Windows Server. Often these products are geared toward business customers or are expensive multifunction devices that may have been on the general market but neither as needed nor accessible for general consumers. Some arbitrary distinctions may be made, but on the upside that lets some obscure history be covered. Tablet PC
In terms of innovation, Microsoft was a software standardizer more than an inventor. Pen-based computing was far from a new thing in the 90s but technology was not quite there. The stickler point was handwriting recognition, perhaps not a big deal for those making their own e-notes digitized as-is but a significant issue for productivity that, even to this day, fails to fulfill the ideal of having the stylus replace the keyboard. The iPhone and subsequent lite tablet phenomenon it ushered in accomplished the opposite: doing away with the stylus in all but some niche business environments. Yet before Apple made finger-based multi-touchscreens mainstream Microsoft found itself in the curious position of betting on pen-based computing at the early 21st century point handwriting recognition had just matured to the point of overcoming its previous issues. Microsoft knew what they had (even though they may not have realized the limitations of its market appeal) because they were involved from an early point in its commercial product development. At the same time Windows 3.x was reshaping the world a special edition was made for select devices to take advantage of this particular technology. There is a dichotomy here in the early 90s worth mentioning because it will reflect a pattern later: there were disparate named editions of Windows 3.x reflecting their particular intended application. Most are known well enough: Windows with Multimedia Extensions 1.0 was an OEM-only variant of 3.0 packaged with the hardware to meet the then-new Multimedia PC standard ushered by Microsoft (one of many of the type of standard-setting they tend to like involving themselves); there was no subsequent version due to its multimedia functions being standardized in 3.1, though the exclusive applets were offered for 3.1 by some OEMs. Windows for Workgroups is the best-known because, despite the title, it effectively became the regular edition of 16-bit Windows in the NT era and was accordingly pre-loaded in countless PCs of the time.
Windows 3.2 was a Chinese-exclusive variant, functionally no different and only of interest to the curious. The last is today's interest, and it is the one whose exclusive boot screen heads the post. Despite initial appearances it is more like these other editions of Windows 3.x than its own thing: regular Windows with extended capabilities added and not a distinct kernel. Like the Multimedia PC release it was tuned for OEMs to include with their devices, never released to the general public. Even with a similar version 2.0 package made to go with Windows 95 there was no beating the hard fact of the tablet computer market in the 90s. That changed in the 2000s as the dichotomy between mobility and computing power reduced to a point of balance, and Microsoft adapted their newest operating system to meet that challenge. Considering how many devices were produced to take advantage of it Windows XP Tablet PC Edition is likely the first successful full-power operating system for tablet computers. Though it worked great on keyboard-less tablet systems it was not exclusive to them this time. Convertibles (notebook-type laptops that could fold backwards into a tablet mode) came of age during this time, but since Tablet PC Edition was merely superset of Windows XP Professional any system with a touchscreen could make good use its enhanced features and exclusive applications. As Windows Vista neared release Microsoft introduced one of its semi-successful stumbles, the Ultra-Mobile PC standard. That story is its own thing, but the point to make here is the earliest UMPC devices utilized Tablet PC Edition, these XP machines were offered their own exclusive frontend (Origami Experience) to aid in use of the tiny touchscreens, and finally, in a reflection of how Windows 3.1 consolidated features previously exclusive to Windows with Multimedia Extensions, Windows Vista consolidated all core functions which before were scattered between Windows XP Tablet PC Edition plus Windows XP Media Center Edition (for Media Center PCs, another arbitrary Microsoft standard that just ended up absorbed). Today tablet computers are more successful than they have ever been, albeit not necessarily in the form envisioned by their pioneers. Two approaches are typical: 1) a mobile tablet has a lite operating system (one originally written for mobile devices such as smartphones or portable media players) thus operates faster and more cost-effectively though productivity is restricted to use of supported applets and cloud computing services; 2) a slate PC, like its predecessor the tablet PC, is much more expensive because it has the power to run a full-fledged operating system and is most productive when docked with external keyboard and other desktop interface devices. Microsoft has straddled the line between both, however failure of Windows RT in the first-generation Microsoft Surface plus the death of Windows Phone put the house of Bill Gates back to focus exclusively on the regular Windows platform that made them standard in home and business. Windows CE
Any Sega fan is aware Dreamcast had Windows CE onboard as an alternative SDK used in quite a few games (even some by Sega themselves), but what exactly is it and how does it fit in? The first point made is not to bother figuring what "CE" stands for; it is one of those things came up with to mean whatever the whim is at a time, thus there are multiple iterations found online and most of them are probably wrong. What it is, or was in today's case, was a special project Microsoft geared toward the mobile computing and embedded appliance markets; Dreamcast just so happened to get a slice of that pie, even though it falls into neither of those categories, because Sega and Microsoft had a well-known good relationship at the time and the latter was open to this opportunity to export a variant of their DirectX SDK on the path to what became Xbox. While regular Windows CE did not have DirectX (nor was really meant for games), Sega was given the key exception as a means to this new Microsoft end. While tablet computing is technically a type of mobile computing, the fact that the line between both is now obliterated obscures the fact that historically they were considered separate realms even if they just so happened to share some features (like touchscreen and handwriting). For purposes of this post that historical distinction is maintained: tablet computers run either full or lite editions of regular operating systems while mobile computers run via ultra-light specialty operating systems made for them, generally stored on ROM for fast booting and data integrity. Mobile computing also has its own sub-realms with Microsoft deeply-involved in both major types.
Personal digital assistants, as with tablet computers, were not new in the 90s but still had technological hurdles to overcome before achieving mainstream appeal. The most successful were simple LCD-based personal information managers from companies like Casio that could fit in a pocket but had too limited capability to be considered a computer even in the sense of that older era. The first modern PDAs still had small screens necessitating at least decent handwriting recognition which proved hit-or-miss (Apple Newton being one of the more infamous misses) until the point Palm worked around the issue with the Graffiti input method for its Pilot series that were the first PDAs to achieve success to the point of setting industry standards. PDAs may have been supplanted by translating their full feature set to today's smartphones however the other side of this coin, handheld PCs, remain a thing that keeps finding new ways (frequently gaming-oriented) to define themselves. Today's H/PCs evolved from the ashes of Microsoft's UMPC concept but in reality have come full-circle: the earliest ones were IBM compatibles running DOS and that remained the case for years until manufacturers were convinced by the new Windows CE offering. So in this case Microsoft did not create a market (a gamble that has failed them more than once) but adapted in their own way to one already there and they were remarkably successful at it, a success not well-known today only because the devices themselves are long-discontinued and Microsoft's follow-up, Windows Phone, crashed and burned. The rich history of Windows CE and how it produced the most named/adapted variants of any version of Windows is spelled out below. The best resources for this information as well as nearly anything to help enthusiasts who still own and use these devices are their community pages that have existed since their market heydays: Pocket PC FAQ for general information with a more comprehensive focus on Pocket PC and Windows Mobile devices, and HPC:Factor for great information on earlier Windows CE versions and how to make the most out of the H/PCs of that era.
(There is some number skipping as few version Windows CE sub-versions were exclusive to embedded systems)
Handheld PC 1.0: exclusively for Microsoft's new Handheld PC standard intended as companion devices for productivity away from a regular Windows 95 PC, even enthusiasts consider this a quaint prototype
Handheld PC 2.0: the first "mainstream" edition supporting more capable devices, is possibly the target version for the great majority of Windows CE-specific applications since it was so widespread
Palm-size PC 1.0: the first Windows for the PDA screen, still monochrome and kernel is CE 2.0 Handheld PC 3.0 Professional: CE kernel now to version 2.11 and onboard applets expanded in effort to reform the H/PC standard from mainstream consumer to more a business or academic device Palm-size PC 1.1: PDA updated to match its H/PC cousin's 2.11 kernel and looks great in color
Pocket PC 2000: brings the kernel into CE 3.0 and gives successors of the Palm-size PC family change in name to what they are most remembered by today (prompted by legal action from Palm) plus overhaul of its UI to something distinct for mobile devices, including an edition for phones
Handheld PC 2000: the last true upgrade for the standard as Microsoft sets its sights elsewhere; only CE 3.0 and the new version of Internet Explorer are considered improvements, otherwise not considered to offer anything substantive beyond the previous version since focus is now on Pocket PC
Pocket PC 2002: while still based on CE 3.0 its aesthetic and several core applets are updated to reflect the experience of the new Windows for the 21st century ("Pocket PC XP" if you will); Smartphone 2002 is the first variant so named for said devices which then were still input via keypad without touchscreen support
Beyond this point is when Windows CE.net continues to define the base operating system kernel but no longer as part of the device nomenclature (a key exception being NEC's MobilePro 900c, last of the old Windows CE Handheld PCs and including so few of the features that defined the platform it comes off as a dying breath). The ViewSonic V37, a Pocket PC 2002 device, was the first to include .NET Compact tools while all others had to upgrade to Windows Mobile 2003 for the capability. As an end-user OS CE would continue behind the scenes for years but it was only a matter of time before greater computing capability in smaller packages rendered obsolete the need for a compact OS, and while Windows Phone made a great stride the failure of it and Windows RT proved the market had no further need for applet-run lite PCs since support for iOS and Android was ample for mobile devices while all other needs could be managed with a regular full-featured computer in any of the variety of form factors available today.