Tuesday, May 21, 2002
Palm OS update will be gradual
Posted by Ed Hansberry in "THOUGHT" @ 01:16 PM
http://news.com.com/2100-1040-919233.html?tag=fd_top
I find the whole PDA market interesting. Not the devices, but the business. The strategy. The roadmaps. Palm's migration to OS 5 has been very interesting to watch. I see tons of posts on various message boards from Palm users that want or don't want significant changes.
Last week I talked about several different possible scenarios with the info I had then. Palm Source has given some additional information today, and apparently those who love OS 4 will love OS 5. Those who hoped OS 5 would be the Pocket PC killer in terms of multitasking, multimedia, speed, etc. will have to keep hoping. Some of the comments from the article:
• In contrast to recent operating system shifts on the desktop--namely Apple's move to Mac OS X and Microsoft's switch to Windows XP--Palm's upcoming change to OS 5 and to more powerful ARM-based processors will hardly be noticeable at first, according to PalmSource software architect David Fedor.
• Icons and menus will look the same on most devices, and there will be no ARM-native applications to begin with, since developer tools are not yet complete.
• "We don't want users to have to know the difference between a 68000 device and an ARM device," Fedor said.
• Some applications may fail to work under PACE if they contain code that breaks Palm OS rules to get better performance, said Fedor, urging developers to clean up their code. We knew hacks wouldn't work. It seems they are now ensuring that hacks and other development shortcuts internal to apps don't exist, part of the program mentioned last week.
• Certain processor-intensive operations might also work more slowly under ARM processors and have to be made ARM-native, he said.
• The first release of OS 5 will not support fully native ARM applications, Fedor said. That will come with the next major release. "You can do the switch to be ARM native when it is appropriate for your business," Fedor said. "Some companies may not see the need for several years. PACE is going to be supported for a good long time."
OS 5 won't support fully native ARM apps? Wow! In the far extremes I had contemplated, I never imagined they would go so far to support OS 4 and recommend against ARM development. Indeed ARM development may be unsupported. Speaking of unsupported, thanks to Foo Fighter for the link.
I find the whole PDA market interesting. Not the devices, but the business. The strategy. The roadmaps. Palm's migration to OS 5 has been very interesting to watch. I see tons of posts on various message boards from Palm users that want or don't want significant changes.
Last week I talked about several different possible scenarios with the info I had then. Palm Source has given some additional information today, and apparently those who love OS 4 will love OS 5. Those who hoped OS 5 would be the Pocket PC killer in terms of multitasking, multimedia, speed, etc. will have to keep hoping. Some of the comments from the article:
• In contrast to recent operating system shifts on the desktop--namely Apple's move to Mac OS X and Microsoft's switch to Windows XP--Palm's upcoming change to OS 5 and to more powerful ARM-based processors will hardly be noticeable at first, according to PalmSource software architect David Fedor.
• Icons and menus will look the same on most devices, and there will be no ARM-native applications to begin with, since developer tools are not yet complete.
• "We don't want users to have to know the difference between a 68000 device and an ARM device," Fedor said.
• Some applications may fail to work under PACE if they contain code that breaks Palm OS rules to get better performance, said Fedor, urging developers to clean up their code. We knew hacks wouldn't work. It seems they are now ensuring that hacks and other development shortcuts internal to apps don't exist, part of the program mentioned last week.
• Certain processor-intensive operations might also work more slowly under ARM processors and have to be made ARM-native, he said.
• The first release of OS 5 will not support fully native ARM applications, Fedor said. That will come with the next major release. "You can do the switch to be ARM native when it is appropriate for your business," Fedor said. "Some companies may not see the need for several years. PACE is going to be supported for a good long time."
OS 5 won't support fully native ARM apps? Wow! In the far extremes I had contemplated, I never imagined they would go so far to support OS 4 and recommend against ARM development. Indeed ARM development may be unsupported. Speaking of unsupported, thanks to Foo Fighter for the link.
