Annasoft Systems Develops CD ROM File System for Windows CE; First CD-ROM File System for Windows CE; Supports ATAPI Interface.

SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 2, 1999--Annasoft Systems announced availability of the industry's first CD-ROM File System for Windows(R) CE.

It supports the ATAPI interface devices and is available as part of the Annasoft Jump Start(TM) PC driver library.

Richard Eppel, president of Annasoft Systems, stated, "Annasoft has again complemented the efforts of Microsoft in the embedded/dedicated marketplace by developing another key driver not provided in the Platform Builder 2.11 toolkit for Windows CE. The CD-ROM driver is added to a list that includes floppy, IDE hard disk drive, and high-resolution video for CHIPS(R) graphics chips.

"As embedded PCs continue to increase in popularity as a platform for Windows CE, CD-ROMs will be required in a variety of applications that use rotating media. For example, OEM manufacturers of kiosks, ATMs, GPS mapping systems, and multi-media equipment will want to have a CD ROM drive as part of their systems to facilitate loading software upgrades, recovering the system from disk failures, or accessing large amounts of data."

Pricing and Availability

The CD-ROM driver is available immediately. It can be purchased as part of version 2.1 of the Jump Start PC driver library kit (DLK) for $3495. Run-time licenses range from $1 to $5, depending on volume.

More on Jump Start

Jump Start is a driver library and tool kit that enables PC-compatible hardware platforms, both commercial and custom, to run the Windows CE operating system. Version 2.1 has been modified to work with version 2.1 of the Microsoft Embedded Toolkit (ETK) and the newly released Platform Builder version 2.11. Also included with Jump Start is CE Launcher(TM), which enables Windows CE to boot on embedded PCs without the aid of MS-DOS(TM), which reduces licensing costs and memory requirements. -0-

Driver                     Description
------                     -----------
Floppy                     1.44 MB

Hard disk drive            ATAPI  (supports 4 hard drives)

CD-ROM                     ATAPI +CDFS

C&T 655xx                  Resolutions 320x200, 320x240, & 640x480 --
                           256 colors

Cirrus Logic 7543          Resolutions 320x200, 320x240, & 640x480 --
                           256 colors

Cirrus Logic 7555          Resolutions 320x200, 320x240, & 640x480 --
                           256 colors

Epson video                640x480 256 Color Video for SMOS Card-586
                           and Cardio-486D4

Ethernet                   SMC91C94 (10 Base-T), AMD79C961A (10
                           Base-T), AMD79C971/79C972 (10/100 Base-T)

Serial mouse               Annasoft improved version

Serial                     Supports multiple com ports, Annasoft
                           improved version

Keyboard                   Supports older keyboards, Annasoft improved
                           version

More on Annasoft Systems

Annasoft Systems gets customers to market in record time. It supplies development tools, enabling technologies, platform services (custom adaptation and device driver development), and Microsoft operating system licenses aimed at the general embedded Windows development community. For more information on Annasoft Systems, its products, or the Embedded Initiative(TM), please contact the Annasoft headquarters at 11838 Bernardo Plaza Court, San Diego, CA 92128. Phone [phone], Fax [phone] or visit the Annasoft Web site at www.annasoft.com.

Jump Start, CE Launcher, and Embedded Initiative are trademarks of Annasoft Systems. MS-DOS and Windows are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corp. CHIPS is a registered trademark of Intel Corp.