Palm OS 6 Given to Licensees on Schedule

[Ed Hardy]

In September, PalmSource's CEO promised that the next generation of the Palm OS would be given to licensees by the end of 2003. The company said today that it met that deadline.

Read more at http://www.brighthand.com/article/Pa...ed_on_Schedule

[Scott R]

According to Palm Infocenter, a PalmSource rep claimed that the PalmSource offices were closed last week. So how did they ship it on 12/29 if no one was there to ship it?

Scott

[Ed Hardy]

I heard the same thing, probably from the same person. That's why I held off writing a "Palm OS 6 is late!" article. The only thing that was late was the announcement.

At every company I've ever worked at, people under deadline had to come in regardless if the office was closed. Or they could have sent it off on Friday night, rather than Monday morning.

I think it is interesting that PalmSource announces this at all. Microsoft didn't announce when it gave the final version of Windows Mobile 2003 to its licensees. Probably just as well, as we know it was late.

[somas1]

Originally posted by Ed


I think it is interesting that PalmSource announces this at all. Microsoft didn't announce when it gave the final version of Windows Mobile 2003 to its licensees. Probably just as well, as we know it was late.

Who knows, a PalmSource rep may have seen some of the comments on PIC and realized it would be a good idea to post this news.

[Ed Hardy]

Originally posted by somas1
Who knows, a PalmSource rep may have seen some of the comments on PIC and realized it would be a good idea to post this news.

And I started leaving voice mails and emails for people at PalmSource early last week, trying to find out if the deadline had been made.

But that's not exactly the point I was trying to make. PalmSource had to make this announcement because David Nagel said in September Palm OS 6 would be done by the end of the year. No one at Microsoft reveals when the next version of Windows Mobile will go to its licensees. Therefore it's no big deal if it misses a deadline, because the public isn't aware of it. I'm not sure the PR boost PalmSource got from Mr. Nagel's original announcement was worth the risk of the criticism the company would have drawn if it had missed his deadline.

[Scott R]

The other thing that confuses me a bit is that this is supposedly the "gold" version of OS6, right? And by "licensees" their talking about hardware manufacturers like Sony, palmOne, etc. Presumably, these companies have already been getting pre-gold copies of OS6 for the last several months. So, really, I agree that I don't see how this news is of any special interest to the average user.

Furthermore, based on comments made earlier in the year by PalmSource reps, I've been under the impression that they pushed off the release based on concerns by some of the manufacturers who were releasing OS5 devices late in the year and didn't want their sales to suffer. If true, I almost wonder if they didn't have it "ready" for release a while ago.

Getting back to a point I raised earlier...if Sony has had pre-gold copies of OS6 for a while now, I don't see why they should need several more months to get OS6 hardware released.

Ed, since you may have some additional inside info...Have you heard any word about whether PalmSource would be supplying their own Outlook conduits or will they continue to let the manufacturers sort that out on their own? It was conspicuously absent from the press release. It sure would be nice if palmOne's updated PIM apps and Outlook conduits could just be included as part of the general OS5/OS6 license.

Scott

[gfunkmagic]

Originally posted by Scott R

Furthermore, based on comments made earlier in the year by PalmSource reps, I've been under the impression that they pushed off the release based on concerns by some of the manufacturers who were releasing OS5 devices late in the year and didn't want their sales to suffer. If true, I almost wonder if they didn't have it "ready" for release a while ago.

Scott

That sounds lke the most logical explanation of all. Why make an annoucement about a new OS during the peak holiday season when you still have loads of OS 5.x inventory still in stock? It wouldn't seem like the lisencees would like that at all...

[Timothy Rapson]

Amazing. Software that ships on time. Just amazing.

It is kind of interesting how this is working. Now that PalmSource is separate from PalmOne, on might expect more of a Microsoft model where it is none of the consumers business when the gold master ships but all the licensees are held back from releasing to consumer until the date set for the big PR rollout. Looks like Palm is not going to play that at all. Look back to OS 5 and see how staggered it's actual hardware rollout was. In fact, some models with OS 4 were rolled out after OS 5 was out in other models. Microsoft never does anything like that. Once WIN 95 is done for it is done for.

It will be great to have one way of writing hi-res and twist-res on all models. I expect this will be a big boost to graphics oriented programs like high end word processors, paint, and photo programs that are of such interest to me. Does anyone know if there will be native support for TrueType fonts?

[Ed Hardy]

Originally posted by Scott R
Getting back to a point I raised earlier...if Sony has had pre-gold copies of OS6 for a while now, I don't see why they should need several more months to get OS6 hardware released.

Think back to last year. Palm OS 5 went gold in June, the first OS 5 devices came out in October. That's about 3.5 months.

[pocketfactory]

Forget about seeing anything running OS6 coming to market soon. It won't be until March before that happens.