Palm CEO Ed Colligan says they're sticking with the Palm OS
posted November 9th 2005 9:55AM
Not sure why it took them this long to, well, just come out and freaking say it, but Palm CEO Ed Colligan (pictured right) sent out an email to developers yesterday reassuring them that the company is fully committed to the Palm operating system and that the move to Windows Mobile is about "growing the Treo market," not walking away from "existing products or technology partnerships, like Palm OS." Good news for Palm fans (like us) who were a little nervous that this past September's announcement meant the end of Palm-powered Treos, but what no one at Palm has been willing to confirm is exactly what version of the Palm OS they'll be working with — will it be the new Linux-based version PalmSource/Access is working on, or will they continue to run Palm OS 5 Garnet into the ground? We seriously hope it's the former rather than the latter — our Treo 650 totally crapped out, yet again, even while writing this post.
So then... it's not just me whose Treo 650 hangs up hard pretty often? It's really random - sometimes multiple times in one day, sometimes it'll run fine for days. I try to keep it reasonably well-charged, but that doesn't seem to make much difference... I try to keep at least a couple of MB free memory, but that doesn't seem to make much difference... I swapped in my spare battery, but that doesn't seem to make much difference...
I've had a 650 since January and it has never locked up.
It's not your fault. My Treo does the same thing. Worst Performing Palm I've ever owned. Supposedly, there's a Verizon/650 update, but the instructions look like the IRS sheet for filling out the 1099A form. I won't do it until I have an entire afternoon to dedicate to it.
Hey Everybody!
It's TV's Bobby Brady all growned up!
palm tx... dies randomly. love it though.
You guys with the crashy Treos should pay a bit closer attention. You probably have GSM units with the faulty SIM tray. See http://kb.palm.com/SRVS/CGI-BIN/WEBCGI.EXE?New,kb=
PalmSupportKB,CASE=obj(40480),ts=Palm_External2001
If this URL gets mangled, go to palm.com and search for "sim tray" without the quotes. The new molding of the plastic SIM tray fixes the issue completely.
Quit trashing Palm and get on with life!
I work for cardiologists and out of the 5 Treo 650s we have, 4 of them have died once and one particular doctor is on his 4th...
Just waiting for anything Windows Mobile powered that is as small as the Treo.
I had a 600, worked well. Switched to 650 3 mos ago, no problems, then yesterday had endless reset loops, had to hard reset. This morning, again went into endless reset loop and hard reset wouldn't even fix it. Verizon tech support was stumped. They're sending me a new phone. I love the Palm OS, but stuff like this (and HotSynch issues that seem to regularly creep up) makes me take a hard look at WM and RIM.
David,
1. First off, I have a Sprint Treo 650, with all the newest updates. Maybe you should pay a little closer attention and realize that not everyone has a Cingular Treo.
2. We're not trashing Palm. The 650 is an excessively buggy device. No, not everyone has problems with it, but over the past year since the Treo 650 was released I've met dozens of Treo users, and a surprisingly large number of them have reported similar problems, problems which no update has been able to address.
I was a long time WM guy. Back when it was CE, even before it became WM.
About a year ago I switched back to Palm with a Treo 600.
It serves it's purpose. Neither platform is anything to rave about. But one thing I can unequivocally say based on my combined experience with both OS's and a multitude of devices is that despite it's faults HotSync is far and away a more reliable syncing conduit than WM & ActiveStink. It doesn't even compare.
So while I understand some peoples frustrations about HotSync's shortcomings just be thankful you don't have to use ActiveSync.
I've had my Verizon 650 for 5 months now. I've had 2 or 3 random resets through regular to heavy use (email, SMS, MMS, 500+ pics taken, games, etc). I loaded Toccer on it (free AIM client) and have had a few more resets from not turning it "offline" before jumping to another app. My *guess* is that 3rd party software is *usually* to blame when hear about resetting Treos. Especially since the OS is not a multi-tasker.
I can live with the occasional hiccup. I love it. I'm actually going to Glamour Shots on saturday to get some portraits of me and my 650.
Let's face it. As much as love the Palm's simple and well-done interface, the overal system architecture is a creaky mess. No multitasking (so no running an SSH client and tunneling through it, for example), no memory protection (anything crashes, the Palm will soft reset), and a byzantine memory structure (storage memory, cache memory, and active memory, with strong indications that cache isn't managed very well). Hotsync has been outgrown, VFS has been bolted on; it's a mess architecturally. It's very much what the Classic Mac OS was looking like in the mid to late 90's, but with less of a defined plan of how to get themselves out of it.
(Actually, if you delve into it, Palm replicated a lot of Apple's original design philosophy in the Palm - multiforked files, flat file system, metadata bits, limited multimedia capabilities - because they too were dealing with huge constraints to be able to bring the Palm to market when they did, in the form factor they did.)
However, despite ALL of that, it's almost a perfect device to actually USE. The interface is clean, works well, and is extremely intuitive (if a bit basic in the built-in apps). There's a huge amount of third-party support and developers to choose from. Palm's hardware designs lately have been real winners.
I also hope that Access/Palm is working feverishly to pull off an "OS X" and create a new system that will transparently run the old apps in a sandbox. Then we'll finally be able to have our cake and eat it, too.
I just did a paper for Marketing on MS vs. Palm. Last year, the Palm OS lost market leader status to MS but Palm's hardware market share is well ahead of the rest. I don't see how Palm will be able to maintain market share with their OS due to MS knocking them down and RIM nipping at their heels. RIM OS shipments grew 356% in 2004! Palm OS needs to find another market or get prepared to sell within the next five years.
>>First off, I have a Sprint Treo 650, with all the newest updates.
I thought you were one of the few with a Treo 700w. Is it at least more stable, is the 240x240 screen bearable, and how's one handed usage. Is it a worthy upgrade to the Treo 650?
Surur
#3, it's not as hard to do the Verizon update as they make it sound. It took me twenty minutes.
Wondering how long Palm plans to support Palm OS, it doesn't seem worth while any more...
All Palm has to do is put Cobalt into the 700p, give it a 1.3MP camera, at least 64mb ram, and make it STABE for chrissakes, and people_will_flock to it.
This is a fact. It's simple, Palm. Simple.
The T650 is not really a buggy device. Yes, it has some problems, but mine and many other people that I have known do not have any problems with it.
Are the problems people have with the T650 due to Garnet? Really?
Windows Mobile will be a better solution? Really?
Microsoft has learned though, that's the amazing part in all this for me. Microsoft's boot is clearly on Palm's throat, but the whole Netscape thing appears to have taught them to leave competitors wounded, but alive and thrashing, rather than simply go for the kill.
Windows Mobile is VERY enticing to those wishing and needing to sync up with MS Office apps at work, and is probably a relatively decent product now. The momentum of development for the Palm OS really halted back in the days of the handspring split, where some founders wanted the hardware to be more flexible. Since then of course Palm Os and hardware direction has been a bit of a mess, and enough up in the air for MS to come in and develop a stable alternative.
The Treo could have been out as a smart phone category killer since 2000 at least, but look, its five years later and now there is competition.
Which mobile os or gizmo do you think is most likely to attract a NEW user these days?
I certainly don't have a Cingular device - I have an entirely generic bought-unlocked GSM Treo 750. I don't have any issue with the radio turning off unexpectedly. I *do* have an issue with the machine freezing solid at totally random intervals - when it's lying on a desk charging, for example.