End of Palm os?

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dj6217

New member
I picked up the paper today, and it had an article on the new Treo 700 written by the Detroit free press. I know we have talked about this, and I usually do not put my two cents in, but here is a quote by Ed Colligan of Palm. A question of why the decision to abandon the palm os in the treo 700? Because, Colligan said in what amounted to a throwing in the towel concession, Microsoft is better. "This is about growth and new functionalities that we believe the palm os doesn't have." Well if it doesn't have it, get it. We all have done surveys for palm reference how to make a better product. What about the developers who have third party software for the so called os6. If palm would just listen to us, and make a really good os product, we would buy it. I guess I will just stick to my old T2 until it no longer works. Wish I had bought a T3. The last survey I did for palm I told them to make a better T3 and get all the bugs out, and then make it a phone also. That would have been a nice product. Thaks for letting me rant. I will go back to picking the guitar now. :rolleyes:
 
I'm getting a little concerned about the future of Palm OS as well, not to mention Palm itself. Seriously, are either of them even capable of allowing their customers' suggestions and complaints to enter their craniums? If they were, I think things would be going a lot better.

PalmSource has done so many things right: the software installation routine is simple and straight-forward -- the way it should be on such a device -- the OS is very task-oriented and accessible, the file structure usually remains clean and is easy to maintain, etc. ...Yet they have so many things wrong as of recent: Graffiti 2, those useless launcher favorites, narcotic-inspired input recognition rates, ugly gets-in-the-way eye candy, etc.

I beginning to care very little for the current Palm OS. 5.2.8 is the last version I'm aware of that's even worth using. It has as little eye-candy as necessary and just plain works...and it also works with Graffiti 1. Currently, there are really no new Palms I'm interested in, for a combination of hardware (screen whine) and software reasons (mentioned above).

I'm hoping the TX will offer some sanity (at the very least, getting rid of the screen whine).
 
With lowering the clock speed to 312 MHz (if that's true), it should also have longer battery life (though who knows if the WiFi's "on."). That plus WiFi would be at least "something," if my T3 dies a horrible death. Just don't think I can get used to the memory thing, though. . . . whew.
 
Thanks for the heads up on this news.

Personally, I think I'm going to try and wait until Palm OS 6 devices come out before making an upgrade. There is too much uncertainty in the Palm world right now. I want to make sure my money is well spent on something that will be supported for quite some time. I also hope voice recording will get added.

If the rumoured Linux Palm OS does not get released in the first half of 2006, I may be forced to consider getting a Windows Mobile device if anything happens to my T3. I will also look at other devices running Linux or Symbian before making a decision.

Right now, it is make or break time for Palm.
 
I will continue to hope, against hope, that Palm will prevail and that OS6 will emerge to become a huge success. Whatever you might think about Microsoft, the thought of one corporation dominating both the PC and PDA markets is positively scary and cannot possibly be good for the consumer.
 
I have been travelling the last few days and finally got some time to jump in:

Whether it's the end of the Palm OS is IMHO irrelevant. It's how it will be transitioned into another OS such as MS. If they can take and emulate the programs that I have on my Treo and T5 enough then I'd be a happy camper. But if they can't then obviously I won't be.

The world will eventually (perhaps hundreds of years from now) be forced to use one OS. Now that OS may be able to communicate directly with older OS etc but it will have to migrate that way in order for countries to communicate effectively and for the exchange of currency.

This is probably a good thing in the long run that MS and Palm are combining inspite of our concerns as to how it will be handled.

I see a great benefit, as I've previously stated, in a MS based Treo and probably in a MS based PDA that has Palm functionality. But MS and their handhelds will have to de-evolve to some degrees and become simpler in their function but let them have Wifi.


Oh well, off to catch a plane home.
 
If Palm OS is going to survive, the law suites have got to stop. I hope Motorola doesn't doom the future of the Palm with its greed.
 
If those Palm OS applications are still viable in the Windows mobile marketplace, then developers would make an effort to transition them. The exception are the freeware and shareware titles that were mainly done as hobby projects. If a commercial app is not being transitioned that means it has not proved viable, or that another application already occupies its niche.


Grafitti 1 is back... in Windows Mobile.
 
I'm really dismayed at some of the comments here. A common operating system may be a desirable thing, however, this could be achieved by co-operation between companies rather than by Microsoft clambering into the ring and knocking out all the competitors once again. Competition serves the consumer to an infinately greater degree than some blind reliance on the panacea of a common operating system.

Make no mistake. If Microsoft manage to dominate the pda market the way they've done with the PC, you can expect less choice, higher prices and greater restrictions on what you can and can't do with your pda.
 
Couldn't have said it better. GREAT stuff! I think we're more likely to see offshoots from Linux/Unix/MacOS10/Windows/"Palm successor" - and eventually end up with several OS's that talk to each other. No matter what our pet favorites are, one type would definitely be the "end" and I don't think it will happen. That's the great thing about software, hardware, servers, communications - there's always a "rebel." Too bad that used to include Palm. Good news is there's probably 4-5 new "Palm"s ready to take off.

Some very recent examples:

With 80 million (an honest 50 million) Firefox downloads - there's no stopping people from looking at something new and BLOWING OUT the "status quo." MS is actually copying the "Get Firefox, we reinvented the web" in their own IE advertising. Don't like Firefox? Opera is now a FREE no-ad browser. The same thing will happen with handhelds but I'm just plain shocked that Palm has "withered," and if not experiencing growth at least stayed competitive. I believe their mistake was catering to the "kids" rather than business people, and stated this in several posts a year or more ago. MP3s get you so far, and then the kid grows up or goes for another format. CDs are soon to be extinct, for example - smart chip cards holding 20 "albums" will replace them.

Google just announced a coalition with Sun to make "Open Office" available to Google customers. You simply won't need to buy MS Office. Furthermore, they're offering limited San Francisco (but soon the nation) Internet access through THEM - free - with SSL security. No more $39s to sit at Starbucks, or (as I was planning) $59/month to Verizon for the EVDO deal. Maybe Google will make the damn handhelds - stranger things have happened. I'd buy one.

I strongly feel that as technology "marches on," so will choices - paramount among which will be - stick with what works and the hell with progress. Apparently Apple are strongly considering making OS10 available on disk at the store so PC owners can run it. "Splashes" like that are important and a slap in the face of "just do it our way and shut up" mediocrity.
 
Monopolies stifle innovation and are generally bad for the consumer. I agree with this as a general principle. This does not automatically apply to all specific instances. For example, when I look at the Palm OS and Windows Mobile (in the last two years only), all of the mediocrity lies squarely in the Palm OS camp.
 
I am honestly not sure what my next PDA will be. I have a Tungsten T5 right now, and it's serving me well thus far. I'll keep it till it's too outdated to be of much use or it dies. Honestly, if I had to buy a new PDA tomorrow, I would be seriously looking at devices with Windows Mobile 5.0. I NEVER thought I would hear myself saying that. I don't know how many dozens of people I've persuaded (or at least tried to persuade) to stay with PalmOS, or if they're a first time buyer, go with Palm. For so long Palm has had the superior OS. Not just in usability, but in performance, sleekness, and general non-clunkyness. Those days may be over.

PalmOS 6 has been in developers and hardware manufacturers hands for nearly two years now if I remember correctly. Someone tell me if I'm mistaken. By this time, OS6 might as well be as "outdated" as OS5. It adds native ARM support, multi-threading, better networking, and is more media-centric. The interface is better and it has support for even higher resolution displays...but that's about it. If you compare that to Windows Mobile 5.0...well, it doesn't look good. The multimedia capability of that OS is simply amazing. It's sleek, stylish, and has some really awesome upgrades from PPC 2003. The main downside is that it's a Microsoft product, and I've always tried to keep Microsoft on my PCs and nowhere else. I think that if most of you look around, you'll see that Palm is going nowhere fast, Sony is all but gone, and last time I looked, there aren't many other manufacturers that make Palm Powered handhelds. Only Palm and one, maybe two others. Folks, it simply doesn't look good.

I'm not sold yet though!! If Palm releases awesome technology running a great OS in the next two or so years, they can count me in. I'll be right behind them. But if they stick with the kind of innovation that I've seen in the past two years...well, let's just say that I'm going to be forced into leaving the Palm bandwagon...perhaps for good. Believe me, that will be the saddest day of my life.
 
Me too, and probably everyone here. That's what we're hoping for - I'd just add it had better be THIS year, before XMAS - in two years most of the sheep will already have been herded. I can't help but feel sorry for, and outraged, that developers (commercial and freeware alike) spent years tweaking apps for an OS that's just "given up."

What kind of CEO freely admits that the "other side" is better and that they're going along with it? Who put that guy in, anyway? I'm reminded of the pirate ship battle on the Las Vegas strip, where the English captain salutes to "God Save the Queen" as the ship sinks in the lagoon. Pride only gets you so far, and Palm need a CEO that actually fights for the company's future, not sells it off in chunks and squanders a decade-old reputation as a viable alternative.
 
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