PalmOS 5

Much Hype About Nothing?

P

almOS 5 represents a significant improvement over PalmOS 4 in many respects. But is it enough? Dis I need to upgrade to a PalmOS 5 device or could I make do with the older operating system? Going back having spent time with PalmOS 5 devices, would it be possible to go back to a PalmOS 4 (or earlier) unit?

Having read through a number of columns, articles and even entire websites, one could be mistaken for thinking that any of the “classic” PalmOS devices are obsolete and useless. Some individuals believe that the Dragonball devices are quite simply so antiquated that it’s not worth considering a PalmOS unit equipped with these processors.

But like all things, it depends on ones priorities. From my experience of PalmOS 5 devices they are certainly considerably quicker than PalmOS 4 units, but with very few exceptions the tangible benefit to the user is very, very limited other than “oh pretty responsive device.”

I’m also not a fan of Graffiti 2™. I’d not say that I hate it, but having gotten used to the original Graffiti, I’d rather not have Graffiti 2™ in a replacement PDA, thank you after all. If I want to do some heavy duty text entry, I’ll use my Palm foldable keyboard. Graffiti is great for small, confined spaces, short notes, or similar. I know I could get to learn Graffiti 2, I just don’t want to. Graffiti was introduced in PalmOS 5∙2 and by PalmOS 5∙4 it cannot be replaced with Graffiti 1.

The ability to play MP3s is useful for some individuals, actually some Sony Clié models running PalmOS 4 have the ability to replay music. I’ve used my PalmOS 5 device for music playback in the past but found that my Sony Walkman handset has better quality music. This doesn’t suffer from the frantic actions one must make when your ‘phone rings and you’re listening to music using headphones and your PDA. You have to mute the MP3 (or stop playback), remove your ear piece, find your ‘phone, put it to your ear, then answer your call. Do everything in reverse so as to continue to listen to your music. No, for me, by far the best MP3 solution is to have a mobile ‘phone that can play MP3s. It worked well for the SPV E200.

For games, yes there’s an argument for a fast processor - although Warfare Incorporated works well enough on my lowly 33 MHz Dragonball VZ processor and 160 by 160 resolution screen, it looks much better on the Tungsten T3.

For searches, there was some performance difference between the lovely Tungsten T3 and my m515 - but not enough to make a meaningful difference to my working day!

For personal information management, the later versions of PalmOS 5 encompass some (much needed) improvements, but otherwise, they are almost the same application! That’s little incentive to switch.

The above arguments ignore the battery uptime implications, too.

Update: November 2005

I wrote my original article in the third quarter of 2004 and having now upgraded my own device to a PalmOS 5 device, I’m going to update it.

In short, in Palm terms PalmOS 5 may run on hardware that represented an revolution compared to previous devices, the operating system is merely an evolution. In terms of look and feel, PalmOS 5 works in exactly the same way PalmOS 4.

There are some issues of course. PalmOS 5 is more sophisticated than PalmOS 4, mostly because it provides a Dragonball system emulator, PACE. PACE runs existing applications designed for Dragonball hardware on the new devices and the vast majority are completely fooled by the new home. There are a relatively small number of applications that do not work over PACE but most run materially quicker on the new hardware compared to the original Dragonball hardware.

The Tungsten ability to replay MP3s whilst running other applications is compromised compared to the more powerful Tungsten T3. And whilst there are delays when playing MP3s the device is still usable (but not for fast paced action games). Entering text using the keyboard whilst listening to music works.

But, whilst the faster system is a nice touch it is not essential. Comparing the Tungsten T2 with the Tungsten W, whilst the screen snaps to attention I can’t actually use the device any quicker. I don’t notice the extra half second saved when switching applications.

In conclusion, PalmOS 5 is a step in the right direction in terms of functionality. The ability to play MP3s in the background is a nice little addition but hardly earth shattering. The improved application performance is associated with the change in processor and not the operating system. There is more functionality built into the PalmOS 5 (little things like being able to change the colour scheme) but it’s evolution rather than revolution.

The bottom line is that it works.