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Originally Posted by Ed Hansberry
Palm/PalmSource never developed an OS from the ground up. To this day, the Kadak kernel lies at the heart of what the PalmOS programs use to do their jobs.
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What kernal they used is definitely beyond what I know, but keep in mind that ALP is NOT an OS built from the ground up. Its built on mobile Linux and mainly what the ACCESS/PalmSource developers are doing is building PIM apps and other applications programs and writing a Palm OS emulator. Both of which they DO have extensive experience with.
ACCESS themselves, without PalmSource, would have very little chance of building a new phone OS and getting companies to license it. With the Palm OS brand and PalmSource's experienced development folks, they do have a reasonable shot at it.
Of course no company has announced any real commitment to using ALP yet, but I've got to believe that someone will. I'm guessing at least a company focused on the Asian market will and hopefully Palm, Inc. will as well.
At this point, I'm getting a bit off the original topic, but if I were in charge of ACESS, I would have first rolled out a mobile linux for "dumb" phones. Then add PIM apps and such that look similar to the Palm OS apps and synchronize with Palm Desktop and Outlook. Then finally add the Palm OS emulation layer. If they had done that, there probably would already be some devices out there and they'd already have some market penetration.
But back to the topic at hand, Palm, Inc. getting the perpetual license for Garnet ensures that they aren't *forced* to go to all WinMobile devices or have to wait until ALP is released and becomes stable. It gives them some assurance that they can continue to milk Garnet Treo's for the next year or two or however long they can.