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OS 5 Upgrade
By: dampeoples @ 01:30 AM

Is it gonna be possible to upgrade a Palm OS device to OS 5, providing it has the flashable memory to do so?
Also will any of the new generation programs be backwards compatible?
Re: OS 5 Upgrade
By: Felipe @ 06:39 AM

quote:
Originally posted by dampeoples
Is it gonna be possible to upgrade a Palm OS device to OS 5, providing it has the flashable memory to do so?
Also will any of the new generation programs be backwards compatible?


I say no to both questions? But I could be wrong. :-)

I think 5.0 is for the newer processors. If that being true, the only way new programs will work on older versions, is if someone come out with an emulator (if that is even possible).

__________________
Felipe Garcia
Happy Treo 600 user, so far. Thanx Cingular for having an unlocked phone.

My Treo 600 is my phone, my PDA, my watch, and my MP3 player. Oh yeah, I take a picture once in a while with it. Convergence is such a great thing.

Nope
By: yardie @ 08:16 AM

OS 5 is useless on the current crop of devices with their dingy 33 Mhz processors. So much for upgradeability of the OS. This is one more reason why I don't mind buying Handspring's products. New OS usually require new hardware to take advantage of them anyways.
Sorry, we have no upgrades today (or ever)
By: bookrats @ 04:29 PM

No, and here's why...



There have been some interesting discussions on VC about what Palm OS 5.0 is going to buy you. I think it comes down to:

The other buying features for OS 5.0 (hi-res graphics, MP3 playing, etc.) can be found on various other current Palm OS PDAs (Clies, Handeras); but with OS 5.0, there will be a single consistent API for all Palm developers to use to access these capabilities.

Much of the really "new" stuff appears to have been pushed off for Palm OS 6.0, from what I hear on VC (and other boards) by Palm developers.

__________________
Jeff Meyer

"And he died like he lived: with his mouth wide open."


By: dampeoples @ 04:31 PM

Any talk on whether or not OS5 devices will run OS6?

By: mikedemo @ 09:38 PM

This brings up that old question I keep bringing up. Why bother include flash ram. It is almost never used by 99.9% of users. Almost no upgrades. No apps included to utilize it as a back up for when you lose all battery power or need to Hard reset. Jeez what a waste.

__________________
-Mikedemo
It's all about how you spend the money.

Re: OS 5 Upgrade
By: dkessler @ 12:26 PM

quote:
Originally posted by dampeoples
Is it gonna be possible to upgrade a Palm OS device to OS 5, providing it has the flashable memory to do so?
Also will any of the new generation programs be backwards compatible?


No one knows for sure yet. From what I've heard, there's nothing in the OS 5 APIs that would preclude them from being implemented on Dragonball hardware (OS 5.0 APIs don't seem to offer any access to the advanced features of the new ARM kernel). However, it would be extra work for Palm and would probably put a serious crimp on new device sales so I'm not sure they'll be motivated enough to do it.

As for new apps being backwards compatible, apps that don't use any of the OS 5 only APIs should be able to run on older devices. Keep in mind that it looks like all OS 5 apps will still be Dragonball code (unless developers use inline ARM assembly language) and will run in "Dragonball emulation" mode on ARM devices.

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<ul><li>Dave Kessler<br>President - Kopsis, Inc.</li></ul>

Re: Re: OS 5 Upgrade
By: Toby @ 03:36 PM

quote:
Originally posted by Felipe
I say no to both questions? But I could be wrong. :-)
You're partially wrong on the second.
quote:
I think 5.0 is for the newer processors. If that being true, the only way new programs will work on older versions, is if someone come out with an emulator (if that is even possible).
5.0 is written for the ARM processor, true, but there is very little that's likely to change right away from the PalmOS _API_ standpoint between 4.0 and 5.0. Basically, 5.0 is an ARM port of 4.0 from everything that I can tell. PalmSource estimates that 80% of current applications should run on 5.0 without modification. The real advances are not likely to come until the next generation PalmOS (I don't think there's any commitment yet as to whether it'll be called 5.5 or 6.0 or whatever).
Re: Re: Re: OS 5 Upgrade
By: mikedemo @ 01:45 AM

quote:
Originally posted by Toby
. . . The real advances are not likely to come until the next generation PalmOS (I don't think there's any commitment yet as to whether it'll be called 5.5 or 6.0 or whatever).


Again I say why bother with 5. The truth is it is going to be Palm OS 4.5.

PS:Toby, I just got back from a convetion in New Orleans. Had a lot of fun on Burbon street. Great eats there too. Louisiana showed this New Yorker a good time

__________________
-Mikedemo
It's all about how you spend the money.

Re: Re: Re: Re: OS 5 Upgrade
By: Toby @ 02:16 PM

quote:
Originally posted by mikedemo
Again I say why bother with 5. The truth is it is going to be Palm OS 4.5.
I don't know if I'd even say that. It seems that it's going to be more like OS 4 for ARM.
quote:
PS:Toby, I just got back from a convetion in New Orleans. Had a lot of fun on Burbon street. Great eats there too. Louisiana showed this New Yorker a good time
That's NOLA's strong point. They really do the tourism thing well (too well in some ways because people often confuse NOLA as being the culture at large for the region).
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