Stepping up the challenge to Go Corp and its acolytes led by IBM Corp and NCR Corp, Microsoft Corp has rallied 21 companies around its prototype Pen Windows operating system for stylus-operated hand-held computers. The aim of Pen Windows is to make all the applications written for the Windows environment available to pen-controlled computer users. The 21 include CalComp Digitizer Products Group, Canon Inc, GRiD Systems Corp, Fujitsu Ltd, Hitachi Ltd, Kyocera Corp, Mitsubishi Electric Corp, Momenta Corp, NEC Corp, NCR Corp – which is also backing Go’s alternative, Oki Electric Industry Co, Samsung Electronics, Sanyo Electric Co Ltd, Scenario Inc, Seiko Epson Corp, Sharp Corp, Summagraphics Corp, Telegroup Inc, The Eden Group Ltd, Toshiba Corp and Wang Laboratories Inc. Developers are getting pre-release versions and Pen Windows is expected to ship late this year as the first pen-based micros come to market.
