Descriptive quote from the editorial at OSOpinion: “Even though Palm’s operating system still owns more than half of the PDA (personal digital assistant) market, Microsoft’s marketing engines are roaring. With Microsoft aligning with Intel, and making a full-court press to capture more of the mobile operating system market, it is not hard to see a new
Microsoft-Netscape battle brewing. This time, though, the battle is more than just browsers. It is about full operating systems, and Palm now is the would-be David facing the Goliath of the software industry.”
Editorial: Is Palm the Next Netscape?
About The Author
Eugenia Loli
Ex-programmer, ex-editor in chief at OSNews.com, now a visual artist/filmmaker.
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Most likely, MS will win again, and Palm will eventually be consigned to the OS Museum. Can somebody please explain this to me?
Money + ok product + reconition
I also think that more and more people want more out of a PDA-type device. It’s no longer novel and interesting to have an overpriced electronic organizer, which is what a PalmOS device is. They see that PocketPC devices, especially very visible ones like the iPAQ can do more than a Palm- flashier color, cooler apps, mutlimedia, something a lot closer to real web browsing, rather than a crappy AvantGo page. Bigger screens. Easier handwriting recognition (Transcriber).
(No, I’m not advocating PocketPC- but I believe what I said is true. I’m a Newton MP2100u user myself, and still find the NewtonOS to have been the best PDA OS ever. Anyone who’s actually used one at least at NewtonOS 2.0 will agree!)
“NewtonOS to have been the best PDA OS ever”
For me it’s Epoc/Symbian. Unbeatable… And if I understand what’s happening in Europe, Microsoft will have a hard time to kill that one.
Hmm … well, last I heard, a certain fellow left Apple’s Newton PDA project to start his own company, where he designed a neat little operating system that blows the socks off anything Microsoft has (yes, that includes Microsoft Bob. 😉
And guess who owns this little OS now? Maybe BeOS technology (and more importantly, the Be people Palm hired) will give Palm a fighting chance against The Beast?
Dam right!
Alas Psion has left the market, and Nokia insteads on sticking ruddy phones in the PDA!
Netscape was competing, but had a very crap browser that didn’t get features added to it when they should have been. I (like a lot of people) am eagerly awaiting the more complete versions of Mozilla, but if you compare features IE still does more. Netscape (the browser) has sucked for a long time and deserved to get dumped.
Palm is leading the market by a LONG way, the only reason they will loose is if they don’t respond and don’t satisfy peoples wants (they already do needs very well). MS makes everything flashy, but people really like that. People also like paying more for gimmicks, I do!
Palm has to move faster while they still can, if they do this then there won’t be a problem.
Mozilla 0.98 has already more features than IE6.
Palm has made the same mistake most, now gone, Microsoft competitors have made: ‘Hey, we own the [PDA] market. Lets lean back, stop innovating, and enjoy the money coming in by itself.’
This attitude will prove to be the end of Palm. Microsoft will invest in billions in innovation, Palm won’t and can’t keep up with MS.
please let us remember the MagicCap OS. it was a great PDA OS and contained a lot or great concepts. developers should take a look as it would help them incorporate a lot of nice features into the software they are developing. a copy that runs inside windows is available. contact me if you want it.
IMHO, WinCE (even 2002) is to much and too few.
Too much in its mem requirements if you want to have a decent feature substet.
Too much expensive to develop on to (cost of tools and most of all cost of creating softwares).
Too few open, because it let people think they will have a “PC in their hand” what is stupid marketing ! Event a pocket PC will never be able to provide the same functions as a PC !
Who can expect to have a Word XP on it 😉
In europe, the Pocket PC market have rise but last moth have shown us that palm is still resisting just because people are now farm from the pocket PC hype. “Ok, you’ve got sound, you’ve got color, you’ve got pocket MS-stuffs, but i never use those things but the PDA features(scedule, alarm, addressbook)” notice PocketPC users.
Pocket PC are too heavy, too energy drain-full (ever put a CF-GPRS card on it?)
PDA using PalmOS just offer “what people just need” in a clean and cheep way.
The enterprise market may be still interrested in using PocketPC for designing specific applications, but IMHO WinCE is not the solution but a brand new OS for PocketPC may be IT !
This new OS is XE, SavaJe XE (a lucent spin-off) it has major advantage over CE to offer a cheap and easy developement platform just because it is Java2 Standard Edition 1.3 complient. Yes, the same Java version as a PC plaform is but using a VM. Here the VM is melt with the core OS : the OS is the VM 😉
This means that using usual Java IDE (JBuilder, NetBeans, …) you may be able to design graphical applications using regular rich components (Swing) and connect to usual data sources (database thru JDBC, webservices thru HTTP, datawarehouses thru Corba or RMI, …).
Best of the bread, this OS is fast even if it still suffer from infancy usual trouble (cf. lack of some J2SE advanced functionality stabilitty or/and support). But it add some JNLP (cf.JavaWebStart) support that will just enable users to setup any applications with a slingle click on a link !
(and keep it up-to-date automagically)
Anyway, the next major version should be ready for primetime and may brind a J2SE 1.4 compatibility with some more PocketPC platform support 😉
Stay tuned on XE :o)
Long lives to cool stuffs … long life to PalmOS !
4R34′.
“Mozilla 0.98 has already more features than IE6.”
Alright, if you say so but it doesn’t make it better. IE6 (W2K or XP) is fast, stable, easy to use, can be used in other apps, “standard” (your’re expected to run IE), has many security options and people say it’s standard compliant (I don’t do web programming myself)
Mozilla on the other hand is unstable and slow and acts wierd.
Myself I use Opera 🙂 Notice how it exists on several platforms but unlike Mozilla is really fast and small?
I use IE primarily, it’s fast, it never complains about CSS, it’s right there…. but it is NOT standards compliant. In fact, it’s more lenient than almost any other browser.
I guess that’s the plus side of being the leader. You *invent* the standards, not obey them.
Having used both Mozilla and IE6, and knowing a thing or two about HTML, I can say that Mozilla and IE6 are about equally good.
Mozilla is not unstable, I haven’t seen the current (windows) build crash a single time. In my perception it is also just as fast as Internet Explorer.
When it comes to supporting advanced stylesheet features (something I have been playing around with a lot lately), I find that they both support those very well. I have found some things that worked on Mozilla but didn’t work on IE. That’s probably because I first write my HTML for Mozilla though, and later test it on IE. If I did it the other way around I would probably find things that work in IE and not in Mozilla.
Mozilla has some great features, like tabbed browsing. You can also tell it what javascript can and cannot do. For example, you can tell it not to allow javascript to open unwanted windows. Bye-bye pop-ups. I have also turned off the annoying ability to change the status-bar.
IE, on the other hand, has the advantage that every single page was written to work with it. Nobody would be crazy enough to build a site that doesn’t work with IE. IE also starts a lot faster, cause those bastards at Microsoft “integrated” it with windows.
So I’d say it’s a tie. Both browsers have their advantages and disadvantages, but they both display webpages very well. I personally go for Mozilla for the simple reason that I hate Microsoft’s guts.
..what was the subject of this thread again? Oh yeah, palm. So why the hell am I going on about browsers?
It’s called “Embrace, Extend, Extinguish.” M$ has a policy of embracing open standards whole heartedly when they are introduced, then extending them with their own proprietary code and functions that force everyone else to comply and then they extinguish the original standard with their own version. In this manner they control both the software and hardware markets. Now they are simply big enough to shove themselves anywhere they want… including snowballing Palm’s products with their own. Unless a miracle happens Palm will only be a pleasant memory…. unbelievable but true…..
I’m using Mozilla and StarOffice/openOffice, I’m pushing other people to switch to those if the complaing about Office or the other MS Products (since that occur about twice per day I guess that they’ll learn) I’m asking to have that software to my uni labs (and hopefully I’ll get them.
At home I use GNU/linux for study and I use the other OS for pleasure of knowledge.
I just not buy Win32 games but PSX ones and I hope to get NeverWinterNights for linux the day it will be released.
Is quite simple NOT use what isn’t working (MS product), even simpler since you have free alternatives.
Since Palms aren’t that pricy(??spelling??) and are working good what will force people to not buy them instead of not substantially better winCE ones?
“Too much expensive to develop on to (cost of tools and most of all cost of creating softwares).”
The tools for developing for Windows CE are a free download from MS. As far as barriers to developing professional applications for Windows CE, they are a lot lower than PalmOS with the relatively expensive Metrowerks CodeWarrior. I realize that there are free alternatives in GCC, but these are not particulary attractive to a lot of corporate developers.
Regardless, Palm’s real problem has been their arrogance in ignoring customer demands. They had steadfastly believed that their solution is the best, no one could possibly want to listen to MP3’s, have high resolution color screens, or do wireless networking with their handhelds. Most of the third party solutions that come out to fill these gaps (Xircom’s 802.1lb sled and MP3 players for Handspring) double the cost of the units and bring them to the WinCE pricepoint. Plus, they are generally half-assed because of limits in the PalmOS. I know because I had to develop an identical wireless solution for the Palm and Windows CE and it was much easier to develop and more robust on the Windows CE platform. Now Palm is playing catch-up with PalmOS 5. I imagine that the new color capabilities and faster processors are going to bring unit price on par with Windows CE and the real competition will begin. I continue to believe that Palm has a simpler more elegant interface and if they can improve the development hooks for Enterprise type applications (wireless, DB, etc) they could definitely maintain if not lengthen their lead ove MS.
Palm is falling behind…they needed to keep ahead in advances. I use a Palm now but somtimes that PocketPC looks nice. MS will eat them alive unless they are slick and can market well…MS already does
When I saw windows 1.x I couldn’t imagine why anyone would spend the money just to start a program. It seems that most people buy what they see. Windows “looks” good. The masses have no idea about anything else. They overlooked BeOS because it didn’t look fancy. They embrace PalmOS even though it really stinks (my family has stock in the company too). It would be nice if Palm made a palmos that looked good and worked good too. I am only glad that WindowsXP now works just like my 1990 copy of IBM OS/2. Who says good ideas never get used? Maybe Microsoft will eventually get as good a BeOS. Palm doesn’t seem interested in competing. If they wake up they might consider open sourceing the desktop version of BeOS and use the BeIA version to power the mobile market. HuH? Compete on both fronts? Didn’t Microsoft finally give up on Java?
I have an old PDA that runs WinCE1.0 and even then, MS was trying to make a PC out of a PDA. Pocket Word, Pocket Excel, and Pocket IE were all quite usable for the simple tasks. I like the idea of a PDA being a pseudo-PC, why not? They have the power.
If you need an organizer, get a Palm Pilot, they are so damn cheap, and yet still allow you to do quite a bit in case you want more out of it. My friend has one and does alot with it. He codes C apps on it, telnets, goes on IRC, does _primitive_ web browsing. Of course these are all possible on PocketPCs, but if you dont the cash…
I think someone, or a group should start a good, viable Open Source OS that would be designed for PDAs. Linux is well..fat, too fat for what i`d like to put in my meager 4megs of RAM on my PDA. I like both PalmOS and WinCE, but neither are opensource nor free.
The PalmOS is simple and elegant and it works just fine. For me, that is. I have no intention of watching color movies or listening to MP3s on my palmtop. I don’t even really want to work on Word or Excel documents. I don’t require multitasking.
It seems that there are two markets for palmtops. If you need an advanced and extensible organizer, the PalmOS works just fine. If you need a miniature computer with a feature set which positions it between a PDA and a laptop, the Microsoft based offerings are attractive.
I don’t think Palm is in danger of losing the first market. However, people who find themselves in the second market are discovering that they have no choice.
I think Palm needs to fully support two operating systems, with some degree of compatibility, to specifically target both markets.
Rob
palm os device can last as much as a month on 2 AAA batteries
win ce devices last a mere 8 hours.
The problem is that the corporate enterprise PDA market will grow and will be much larger than the “personal” PDA gadget market in a few years.
From a CIO’s point of view, companies would gladly pay a $700 WinCE-powered PDA with enterprise software installed than a $200 PalmOS-powered PDA gadget/toy — if it means that they can cut a particular department’s “secretary pool” from 5 secretaries down to 4 secretaries.
I remember reading CNET articles about Sony having the no. 1 market share in consumer retail laptop market. That article didn’t even have IBM or Dell in the top 5 market share listing — that immediately got my attention. Dig a little deeper, you would find that 80-90% of the laptop market belongs to the corporate market where IBM/Dell dominates.
In a few years, PalmOS would still be no. 1 in the consumer retail PDA market — but that market would probably represent only 10-20% of the overall PDA market in 5 years.
I just has this discussion today with one of my bosses today… basically which he prefered, and he said a Palm powered PDA anyday, my other boss agreed since he was using a Pocket PC powered iPaq and said they are just not convienent of very user friendly and on top of that are not suitable for the true mobile type people who can’t be recharging batteries every time they turn around while on business travel. The PalmOS has a simpler GUI structure and is not as busy as Pocket PC. Most of the people I work with have Palm driven PDAs and I only know a few that have Pocket PC driven PDAs.
I haven’t decided on a PDA quite yet, but more than likely it will be a Palm… and besides there are way more applications available for the PalmOS than Pocket PC!!
Microsoft buying the PDA market and using it to prop up their PC OS monopoly would bother me much more if Palm had been actively innovating.
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The Dragonball processor hasn’t been state of the art for years. Palm hasn’t invested any serious funds into product development for some time. They’ve made them look Palms look different, and added a bit of peripheral support (IR, Wireless).
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The first WinCE handhelds shipped with much bigger screens, many of them color, and much faster processors. Unfortunately MS still tried to put 10 lbs. (4.5 kg) of sh** in a 5 lb. (2.3 kg) bag. It was still to slow, and quite unstable (my HP-520 is pretty much unusable). But here’s the thing… They’re getting better, whereas my old Palm Pro is pretty much just as capable as most of the top of the newer products.
I’ve owned a Palm Pilot Personal for about five years now. I bought it as a left over. No upgrades. Same as it shipped. Have I needed to upgrade or replace with faster, bigger or better? No. I know lots of Palm users are like this. The problem for Palm is the same as most other manufacturers of good products: no one needs another one often enough to keep growing the company on sales profits. How do we get them to buy a new one?
Microsoft has never had this problem. Most people buy the next version of Microsoft products hoping to see that the new one works better than the last one. Not because they want new features (and yeah, most people actually believe it’s about features…suckers).
Amazing how a better product can fail because it works right and a flashy piece of crap can succeed because it doesn’t… but the new version might… or the next… or the next…