Palm OS Colbalt simulator: My thoughts

[billbuckner]

Palm has released new simulators to allow freeloaders *Cough* Developers to get a taste of the new OS. Some things in OS Colbalt (Henceforth named OS6) are neat, and some bizarre.

First impressions
When I started up the simulator for the first time, I saw a pretty "Palm Powered" logo for a few seconds, then a not-so-pretty "Palm OS Loading" logo for a few MINUTES. (This is seen during EVERY soft reset) Oops. If this is included in the final product, then :lol:

Actual Use
The basic OS is nice, with a cool looking status bar, soft screen. and hme buttion that are very PPC like. Tap on the time in the status bar, and a little window shows the time in bigger letters, and nothing else. Useless. A little button in the corner in the little window takes you to clock settings. Operation is similar in all other status bar icons. Stats bar icons do not dissapper when not needed, unlike PPC. I could find no evidence of multitasking in the OS. :?:

Applications
Address book was the only PIM app that impressed me. It lets each name have three "Personas" Buisness, Personal, and Other with seperate phone numbers, addredded, etc. Rather reminds me of the Newton's "Owner Info" application. All other apps are the same. Note pad is gone, and Memo Pad STILL has no drawing. No multiple catagorizing is avaliable. Dat book looks slightly different, but has no different features, and is actually scaled back from the T|T3 and T|E versions. Palm web pro is now called "Internet", Versamail now called "Mobile Mail" and Real/Kinoma replaced with Media Player.

Conclusion
If Palm is not making any changes, than I believe OS6 is a dissapointment. :twisted: If you want, get the simulator at www.palmsource.com. Yow have to register. :|

[Ed Hansberry]

No multiple catagorizing is avaliable.that is just mind boggling to me. I bet lass that 50% of my current PIM records are assigned to just one category.Dat book looks slightly different, but has no different features, and is actually scaled back from the T|T3 and T|E versions.So much for standards. Can you imagine a M505 user upgrading to a T|3 then to a T|Whatever with OS6 and all 3 address books are different, and the "latest" is less powerful than the previous? :roll:

[dmacburry2003]

LOL, very OS 5.0 looking. Also, that thing in the Media icon looks a bit like a Portable Media Center :?

I like the (new I think) digitizer calibration app.

How nice of them to forget multitasking! Now I know what they are doing at Palm Source... making fancy icons... Well, now they are catching up with Microsoft :wink:

Hehehehe, if MS thinks that Palm has a chance of surviving, they better think again 8)

Edit: Aha! I think I have found the multitasking!!! Ohhh, ahhhh! If you tap and hold on the "Home" icon in the softbar you will see a list of open apps. :!:

Edit #2: Well, its not entirely multitasking. If I open Phone Pad and type a number, then switch to Memo and back again, it does not save the number I had typed. However, if I open a new memo and type some junk, it will retain the junk when I switch to Phone Pad and back. I will switch and the "hakldja;dsjf" memo will still be open.

[billbuckner]

I noticed that it takes a bit of time to switch apps. Also, it closes an address card when you switch while looking at it.

[c38b2]

How many programs can you actually interact with at once on your PPC? Just one - the one on top. Palm OS allows only one running program at any given time, thus saving memory and processor speed. To simulate multitasking, the system will have a background thread that programs that require multitasking can create. So you could download a file, talk on the phone, and lookup an address all at once.

The catch here is that the apps have to be specially coded to do this. Current apps cannot be running in the background, only OS6-exclusive apps can build this functionality in.

[Wiggster]

How many programs can you actually interact with at once on your PPC?

Depends on how you refine ''program". I've got Wisbar advance, HandyMenu, Fitaly, IE, and MultiIE all running at the same time. I then press my Alt-Tab to switch over to Inbox, where I'm downloading an attachment, or any other program, and they are exactly as I left them.

[Fishie]

How many programs can you actually interact with at once on your PPC? Just one - the one on top. Palm OS allows only one running program at any given time, thus saving memory and processor speed. To simulate multitasking, the system will have a background thread that programs that require multitasking can create. So you could download a file, talk on the phone, and lookup an address all at once.

The catch here is that the apps have to be specially coded to do this. Current apps cannot be running in the background, only OS6-exclusive apps can build this functionality in.

So as i said on these boards long ago: Mark my words OS6 will not have true multitasking.

It doesnt have true multitasking.

[billbuckner]

If the sim is true, Palm users will not be able to complain about soft reset times on PPCs anymore. It now takes 20 seconds to soft reset.

[c38b2]

Essentially, no, POS6 does not have true multitasking. Can you give me a scenario where the multitasking POS offers is inadequate when compared to PPC?

adwignall, I suspect that most of what you listed are either OS hacks or program enhancements. I can't imagine anyone able to see the windows of two programs running on their PPC as is possible on the desktop. This is what I meant when I said 'only 1'. :wink:

Finally, I really hope that the soft resets don't take that long on the Palm. It's not a heck of a wait (as simulated on my 2.6GHz P4) but it does take longer than before. Also, I have noticed that doing certain things with the simulator not only lock up the simulator but my entire computer! I hope that the 'final' version of OS6 is a little more stable. :wink:

[Ed Hansberry]

Essentially, no, POS6 does not have true multitasking. Can you give me a scenario where the multitasking POS offers is inadequate when compared to PPC?
If you can't open an open an email that has contact info someone has sent you, copy and paste back and forth like you can on a PPC without the Contact form continually closing on you, that is inadequate.

[c38b2]

Essentially, no, POS6 does not have true multitasking. Can you give me a scenario where the multitasking POS offers is inadequate when compared to PPC?
If you can't open an open an email that has contact info someone has sent you, copy and paste back and forth like you can on a PPC without the Contact form continually closing on you, that is inadequate.
You could copy everything you need to the 'Note' portion of the contact record and move back and forth from the note to the info... but I understand your need to save the state of the program.

[Ed Hansberry]

If you can't open an open an email that has contact info someone has sent you, copy and paste back and forth like you can on a PPC without the Contact form continually closing on you, that is inadequate.
You could copy everything you need to the 'Note' portion of the contact record and move back and forth from the note to the info... but I understand your need to save the state of the program.
I could do a lot of things but why should I change how I work to accomodate the shortcomings of the OS? This is the same argument that was given to me about having multiple addresses for one user. "Oh, just cram it in notes. Why do you need to have actual address in another field?"

THat is just one example. However, I am going to wait until devices start shipping to see how it really works. Everyone should do the same, especially when it comes to performance. I've seen emulators PCs for Pocket PC run slower than it really does on an actual device.

[dmacburry2003]

Uggghhhh. Now that I really played with the SIM I can see that it is really, really buggy. EWWW!!!

I don't even know why you would want one of these devices :evil:

I'll wait until the devices to come out just to laugh my head off at how the new Windows Mobile OS kicks Palm OS A$$ 8) LOL, they really want us to wait for the new Windows Media Player for Pocket PC :wink: