Microsoft will offer a free developer's pack for its Pocket PC platform in a bid to match the popularity of rival handheld platform vendor, Palm.

Pocket PC is a new brand for Microsoft's handheld operating system, Windows CE. Pocket PC, previously code named Rapier, will launch on 19 April along with devices from manufacturers including Compaq, Casio and Hewlett Packard.

The company hopes that by opening up the Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) for Pocket PC and offering a free developer's kit, it will encourage developers to design applications for the device. Microsoft needs to win over Palm developers in order to compete with the 3Com spin-off which has a wide range of available applications.

Adam Anger, Microsoft mobile device business manager, said: "We have removed any requirement for an add-on development tool on top of Visual Basic or C++, which is what developers needed for Windows CE. The developer's kit for Pocket PC will be standalone and available free."

Anger said the device is aimed at business professionals. "People are buying these individually and bringing them into their companies - up to 50 per cent are even expensing them too."

He added: "We saw the need to build a product that's attractive to the end user but that also seamlessly integrates with the corporation they are bringing it into. We have used common protocols so that companies can write their own applications."

He said benefits of the new platform over Windows CE included ease of use and "huge" advancements in the speed of launching applications.

Anger said that Microsoft is working with more than 150 companies on re-engineering their applications for the Pocket PC platform. A range of companies including Siebel and SAP will announce these new products on the same day as the product launch.

"We will also reveal some customers who are deploying these devices in a big way," said Anger.

He said Microsoft created a business unit at the end of last year to address the handheld market.

"Palm was winning hands down and we realised we need to have a group focused on winning in this market. We've got to win in this space and we need to focus the company around it," he said.