[Ham-Computers] RE: internet connection/pda phones

Mon Jun 5 21:24:51 EDT 2006

Preface...I don't have or use any of the Treo's.  But, I have used both
PalmOS and WinCE/PPC/WinMobile/whatever-they-call-it-these-days PDA's.

I'll be honest...I'm a bit biased towards one of these PDA OS'.  At
first, it was due to availability and maturity of the various OS'.  Now
it's by operation.

Both OS's do what they intend to do...operate a PDA.  But the way they
do things is like night and day.  One was designed from the ground up as
a handheld OS.  The other was made to look and feel like a desktop OS in
order to make it familiar.  Unfortunately, the former hasn't made much
progress in 3 years while the latter's gone through three "updates".  If
you haven't guess already, the "former" is PalmOS and the latter is the
Microsoft OS - I'll call it "WinCE" from here on as that's what the
"core" is called.  

IMHO, I believe the PalmOS is the best choice as a PDA OS (at this point
in time).  But, as mentioned earlier, Palm hasn't really updated the OS
in 3 years.  Yes, there have been minor revisions, but most of these
revisions are hacks/patches to the base 5.x and customized for a
particular model of PDA.  Yes, there is OS6, aka "Cobalt" which was
release a year or two ago, but no one as released any product with it.

Why do I like the PalmOS?  Due to the number of ready-made applications
available and the efficiency of the OS.  What most people do with their
PDA's is keep a calendar, a task list, and an address book.  The first
USRobotics "Palm Pilots" did this with 512K and 1MB models.  My first
PDA was a 1MB "Pilot Personal".  With that 1MB unit, I never ran out of
space plus had room for a few games.  The OS was quick, efficient, and
did what it was supposed to.  Believe it or not, I first panned the
PDA...why would anyone spend $300 on an electronic address book when a
"Day-Runner" only cost $25?  After the Pilot, I got a Handspring Visor
(blue), then a Handspring "Prism", Sony Clie NX60, Clie NX73v, Palm T5,
and currently a T|X.  I've run into many "bugs" with the various
hardware and PalmOS builds, but nothing seriously critical and
definitely no more than I would find on my desktop OS.

On the WinCE side, I've used Toshiba e300's, e740's, e405's, and some
iPAQ's.  I wish I could have tried a Dell Axiom as they're supposedly
the "best" WinCE PDA's, but it's hard to try something when they're not
available in a local store to try (sorry Dell...one negative about
direct marketing).  The main problem I see with WinCE is it's bloated
size.  The WinCE devices I've used always had 4 times more memory than
an equivalent PalmOS device.  Not unusual given the size of Windows
operating systems.  There was also the problem of non-compatible
software - apps needed to be written for specific models of WinCE
devices (usually due to different processors).  A particular app that
ran on an iPAQ might not work on a Toshiba and vice versa.  Palm ran
into a similar issue when PalmOS PDA's switched from the Dragonball
series processors, but they built a 68000 code emulator in as part of
the new OS (OS5).  This allowed most older apps to run on the newer
processors without modification.  Why doesn't WinCE have this
compatibility layer?

Both OS' had their hardware compatibility issues, but this was due to a
lack of standardization in the market.  The WinCE devices had software
compatibility issues due to differring CPU's (MIPS, ARM, XScale).
Peripherials were non-standard and device dependent (with both OS').
Today, almost all PDA's have an SD-I/O slot although newer WinCE devices
support it better (it's fully implemented in Palm OS6, but it's a
per-device hack/patch on Palm OS5).

But, again, when it comes right down to it, the number of apps available
pushes me towards PalmOS.  Simplicity of use also goes to PalmOS even
though WinCE "looks" familiar - remember, PalmOS was built from the
ground up as a PDA OS, not as a PDA OS that wants to look like a
desktop.

So why is WinCE gaining popularity?  One reason is due to the small
number of Palm OS devices on the market - they're now "single-sourced".
Another is the marketing of a "familiar look" to the OS - it's supposed
to be easier to use since it looks familiar.  But, honestly, everyone
I've shown both OS' to pick-up the PalmOS more quickly.  Microsoft's
software development kits and marketing team are also much better
funded.

Now WinCE does have some advantages...it can directly access more RAM
though this is really a moot point on a PDA.  It has better multimedia
capabilities - there are many good PalmOS media players, but WinCE
definitely has better multimedia integration.  You have "Pocket"
versions of Office apps - back to the "look and feel" thing again.
Better integration with syncing to Office apps (in Windows).  More
choices in hardware products (more than one vendor).  The "feel" of
backing by Microsoft (though this can turn off a lot of people!).

And still, as I said earlier, I believe the PalmOS is the best choice
for a PDA.  There are also other choices (such as Symbian and Linux),
but for the masses, PalmOS is it.  It's funny, MacOS is much easier to
use (and more secure) than Windows, but Windows has better software
support.  But in the case of PalmOS, it's the ease of use that sold
product and brought more software support.  Ironic, huh?  And, just as a
bit of trivia, the Dragonball processor used in the original Palm Pilots
was a derivative of the original Motorola 68000 processor used in the
original Macintosh.  In fact, the original PalmOS software development
kits were only available on the Mac!  So the PalmOS vs WinCE war is sort
of like a PDA version of MacOS vs Windows, but PalmOS has the lead (for
now).

73,

  - Aaron Hsu, NN6O

p.s.  More trivia...IIRC, I believe the first "real" PDA was the PSION.
And, if I remember my history correctly, the PSION OS is the ancestor to
the current Symbian OS used in many cell phones.

-----Original Message-----
From: ham-computers-bounces at mailman.qth.net
[mailto:ham-computers-bounces at mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of James B
Sent: Thursday, June 01, 2006 6:06 AM
To: Computers (or other) used for amateur radio, communications, or
experimenting
Subject: Re: [Ham-Computers] RE: internet connection/pda phones

Dale,

Can you give some information as why the Palm OS is better than the WM
OS?

I want to buy the Treo but can't decide between the two OS's

Any help would be great.

JB

On 5/30/06, Dale Miller <stpatrick3 at twlakes.net> wrote:
>
> Stick with the Palm OS.
> It is much better than Windows Mobile OS.
>
> --
> All the Best & 73's
> Dale Miller, KC2CBD
> Tennessee
> Ham Operator since 1997
> Member of YahooPipesmokers and ASP since February 2005
>
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