Goodbye PalmOS, my old friend
November 11th, 2008 | by nomaded | 8 viewsWithin a few days, my contract with Sprint will be up. I currently have a Treo 700p, and I don't plan on keeping the Treo nor the Sprint service. I've been a continuous PalmOS user since 1997, after getting a PalmPilot Professional, so this isn't a decision I'm taking lightly. Palm just isn't a viable choice anymore for a smartphone.
There hasn't been any real updates to PalmOS in over 5 years. The promised "PalmOS 6" (aka Cobalt) never materialized. The technology was sold off and turned into Access Linux Platform. Who has seen a ALP-based phone? Exactly. Then Palm said they'd have a Linux-based platform as the future of PalmOS, available in the middle of 2009. I hate to say it, but I'll believe it when I see it. But then again, I'd imagine the future Linux-based PalmOS be much like Android - it'd run a PalmOS-compatible GUI layer on top of a Linux platform. Still, too little, too late, with the competition out there.
The traditional alternative to PalmOS is Windows CE (aka PocketPC aka Windows Mobile). WinMo seems ok, but it feels really clunky to me. I currently have one in the form of a work-provided Motorola Q9c, running on Verizon Wireless. Again, it's ok, but I can't get really excited by it. It's kinda slow, and the quality of 3rd-party software doesn't seem that great - at least what I've found and tried.
So, I have come to the conclusion that my only choices moving forward are either the T-Mobile G1 running Android or the Apple iPhone 3G on AT&T's network. With the iPhone being a fairly well known quantity, based on the amount of coverage it's gotten over the past 2 years, I will be giving the G1 a test-drive, to see how well the hardware works out and how good the OS is. I hope to write up my experience shortly.
One Response to “Goodbye PalmOS, my old friend”
By Eric Wedel on Nov 12, 2008 | Reply
I'm in a similar boat, presently using a Qool QDA-700 which I rather like, except for lack of a decent web browser (but google maps for Treo rocks :-). Before you despair though, consider http://www.phonearena.com/htmls/New-Palm-OS-compatible-phone-arriving-in-Russia-article-a_3327.html
If this thing pans out, I'll bet it will be available over here one way or another. There are also indications that there will be at least a couple ALP phones announced in 2009. Who knows, maybe even something from Palm.
Personally, I find Android's web-based sync somewhat offensive, not to mention that it doesn't appear to support 3rd party app syncing the way Palm conduits do. So patience..