Newton on PocketPC

outsideroutsider
Posted:
in iPod + iTunes + AppleTV edited January 2014
Yes, I'm still whining about the Newton. But a thought occured to me; the newton 2000/2100 was based on StrongARM processors and the PocketPC uses X-scale, a new version of the StrongARM. Provided someone had legal access to Newton source code, how difficult would it be getting the NewtonOS running on PocketPC hardware? As long as the OS runs fine on it, all the apps should run with no modification, that's the nature of newton script. I'm sure some low level things will need to change, but wouldn't a robust HAL allow the NewtonOS to run pretty much seamlessly?

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 10
    frykefryke Posts: 217member
    a) a greyscale OS on a colour device? why?



    b) nobody outside of apple has legal access to Newton sourcecode



    c) apple won't 'port' newton os to pocket pc



    other than that, it's an interesting suggestion. maybe somebody could write an emulation on linux (which can be installed on some pocket pc models).



    maybe apple will someday - when everybody has accepted newton's death - bring on the killer of all other PDAs, the Newton X?
  • Reply 2 of 10
    outsideroutsider Posts: 6,008member
    There was work on a color version of NewtonOS. I think it was part of version 3.0. Fran would know more about this though since I think I heard it from him a while back.



    I wonder if all the work could be done on an abstraction layer, and run NewtonOS on top of that, sort of the way VirtualPC works on another PC. PocketPC OS would be the boot-strap...



    Imagine NOS on this... <a href="http://www.samsungelectronics.com/pda/nexio.html"; target="_blank">http://www.samsungelectronics.com/pda/nexio.html</a>;







    [ 11-22-2002: Message edited by: Outsider ]</p>
  • Reply 3 of 10
    keshkesh Posts: 621member
    Why bother with Pocket PCs? The new Palm OS 5 devices use ARM processors too.
  • Reply 4 of 10
    chuckerchucker Posts: 5,089member
    If ever, Apple will bring out the next Newton the moment everyone expects it the least.
  • Reply 5 of 10
    bellebelle Posts: 1,574member
    [quote]Originally posted by Chucker:

    <strong>If ever, Apple will bring out the next Newton the moment everyone expects it the least.</strong><hr></blockquote>

    Well, given past history, I expect this moment to be exactly when there is no market for it.
  • Reply 6 of 10
    outsideroutsider Posts: 6,008member
    [quote]Originally posted by Kesh:

    <strong>Why bother with Pocket PCs? The new Palm OS 5 devices use ARM processors too.</strong><hr></blockquote>



    Um, because Palms have itty bitty screens and you can only write on that little corner. I heard that the upper screen of palm devices do not have the accuracy and touch resolution to handle anything close to decent handwriting recognition.
  • Reply 7 of 10
    kickahakickaha Posts: 8,760member
    [quote]Originally posted by Outsider:

    <strong>There was work on a color version of NewtonOS. I think it was part of version 3.0.</strong><hr></blockquote>



    Actually, NOS 2.0 has full color support. Only the hardware is greyscale.
  • Reply 8 of 10
    g4dudeg4dude Posts: 1,016member
    [quote]Originally posted by Kickaha:

    <strong>



    Actually, NOS 2.0 has full color support. Only the hardware is greyscale.</strong><hr></blockquote>



    has anyone ever modified a newton to take advantage of this?
  • Reply 9 of 10
    keshkesh Posts: 621member
    [quote]Originally posted by Outsider:

    <strong>Um, because Palms have itty bitty screens and you can only write on that little corner. I heard that the upper screen of palm devices do not have the accuracy and touch resolution to handle anything close to decent handwriting recognition.</strong><hr></blockquote>



    Not true. Have you seen the screens on the Sony Clies? That's certainly not going to fit in your pocket.



    Also, the whole screen is touch sensitive. If we're emulating the Newton OS, it doesn't matter where you write. It'll interperet it the Newton way.



    And for the record, you can write anywhere on a PalmOS machine's screen, you just need extra software (one is called Jot) to do it. By default, they only use the Graffiti area, but even that's changing. The Sony Clies use 'virtual graffiti'. Rather than an actual seperate area, they just pop up a software area at the bottom of the regular screen when needed.
  • Reply 10 of 10
    outsideroutsider Posts: 6,008member
    Either way, PocketPC platform has more options and higher resolution screens. If NOS 2.0 does indeed have color support, an abstraction layer can be made that can take full advantage of the hardware on PPC with no changes made to the OS source code. You would simply need to make an image of the contents of the donor Newton using the Newton back up software for example, and import it. It would even be feasable to have a kind of VirtualNewton running on PPC OS that can take over the hole screen. And if Apple wanted to test the PDA waters, they would need only release a full version of NOS for the PPC. This approach doesn't stop people from installing Linux on machines that come preinstalled with Windows, and it gives you an escape in case it doesn't work, you always still have a functional PocketPC computer.



    Maybe it's just a pipedream, but for some reason I don't think this is undoable. Hell, people got MacOS to run on PCs!
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