Microsoft Tuesday released a beta of the next version of its Windows CE real-time operating system kernel, which is used as a basis for connected devices ranging from set-top boxes to Global Positioning System (GPS) devices.

The company released the beta of Windows CE 6 at its Mobile & Embedded DevCon conference for device developers. It claimed that the upgraded system increases the number of simultaneously-running processes from 32 to 32,000, enabling creation of more powerful devices and applications. Each of those processes can run in as much as 2GB of virtual memory address space, the company said in a statement.

The additional power will enable stronger multimedia and wireless applications, the company said. In addition, Microsoft said that the development environment for Windows CE 6 is now available as a plug-in for Visual Studio 2006, which Microsoft said will speed the time-to-market for devices and applications.

The company also said that its Shared Source Initiative will continue with the new release. That initiative, announced for previous versions of Windows CE, provides developers with access to some of the source code for the operating system.

While Microsoft is distributing the Windows CE 6 beta to developers at the conference, it did not say when the full release will occur.