iPad OS?

fireants22 · February 7, 2002 3:46PM

I was bored and just giving some thought on the OS apple would use [if they were ever gonna release a PDA in Tokyo]...

There are some that donT think Apple will be using a hybrid version of palmOS5 because it has just been recently seeded to developers...But I think if thats what Apple wants to use, Apple gets. Im sure they could have come across a usable OS long before [with some money passing hands with Palm of course!] Just look how Apple is able use the new NVidia graphics cards before Windoze.

What do you think?

blackcat · February 7, 2002 5:19PM

[quote]Originally posted by fireants22:

I was bored and just giving some thought on the OS apple would use [if they were ever gonna release a PDA in Tokyo]...

There are some that donT think Apple will be using a hybrid version of palmOS5 because it has just been recently seeded to developers...But I think if thats what Apple wants to use, Apple gets. Im sure they could have come across a usable OS long before [with some money passing hands with Palm of course!] Just look how Apple is able use the new NVidia graphics cards before Windoze.

What do you think?<hr></blockquote>

In a way, it might explain why Palm is being weird about PalmOS5 - see <a href="http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/4/23955.html"; target="_blank">http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/4/23955.html</a>; for why.

Also, Apple loves ARM, and Palm seem to be going off hardware.

What better way to sell a new (expensive?) OS to licencees than to demo it in a stunning Apple PDA?

guitarbloke · February 7, 2002 5:22PM

If, and it's a big if, this device ever gets released, wouldn't they use the same cut-down version of OS X they have in the iPod?

davegee · February 7, 2002 6:10PM

[quote]Originally posted by Guitarbloke:

If, and it's a big if, this device ever gets released, wouldn't they use the same cut-down version of OS X they have in the iPod?<hr></blockquote>

iPod using a 'cut-down' version of OS X?!?! Where do people come up with this stuff??

guitarbloke · February 7, 2002 6:39PM

[quote]Originally posted by DaveGee:



iPod using a 'cut-down' version of OS X?!?! Where do people come up with this stuff??

<hr></blockquote>

I have no idea. I probably heard it here

- guess the BS detector was switched off on that one

[ 02-07-2002: Message edited by: Guitarbloke ]

davegee · February 7, 2002 7:09PM

[quote]Originally posted by Guitarbloke:



I have no idea. I probably heard it here

- guess the BS detector was switched off on that one

<hr></blockquote>

Heh... you gotta be real careful what/who you listen to around here. Oh and just so you know, the OS used with the iPod is Pixo <a href="http://www.pixo.com/"; target="_blank">http://www.pixo.com/</a>; (pixo was formed by ex-apple folk btw).

Dave

guitarbloke · February 7, 2002 7:09PM

Hmm.... supposedly it's Pixo, although they don't refer to it on their site. Supposedly they were also involved in the Newton.

Curiouser and curiouser.

Oops - sorry, didn't spot your reply 'till later

I think I got mixed up with all of those rumours about the iPod being a PDA - I temporarily forgot that about the time of these updates, suddenly every fanboy dream becomes a "press release"

[ 02-07-2002: Message edited by: Guitarbloke ]

koffedrnkr · February 8, 2002 1:05AM

why would apple want the palmOS? for one reason only...the number of palm apps. why use graffiti when the newton's handwriting recognition is far superior? why be hobbled by palmOS 4.0's lackluster multimedia support when multimedia is where apple needs to be? if anything, apple should build its own operating system...one that is deeply connected with OSX and then license palm for emulation. that way, it's an apple handheld that can be built with mac tools, but it is also compatible with the palm software base. the best of both worlds...

[ 02-08-2002: Message edited by: koffedrnkr ]

nebrie · February 8, 2002 3:10AM

[quote]Originally posted by Guitarbloke:

Hmm.... supposedly it's Pixo, although they don't refer to it on their site. Supposedly they were also involved in the Newton.

<hr></blockquote>

It is Pixo, it says so on the iPod About Screen.

cdhostage · February 8, 2002 5:52AM

Pixo got royally screwed in this deal. They won't make he same mistake if Apple decides to release an iPad. They were paid a flat sum for the iPod OS, and they'll be smart enough to demand a per-profit for an iPad OS.

thinkingdifferent · February 8, 2002 7:07AM

[quote]Originally posted by cdhostage:

 They were paid a flat sum for the iPod OS, and they'll be smart enough to demand a per-profit for an iPad OS.<hr></blockquote>

No, they charged a flat sum. Should Apple have said "Hey, ya'll aren't charging enough so instead of a flat rate we will pay $$$ per device sold."

<img src="graemlins/oyvey.gif" border="0" alt="[No]" />

fireants22 · February 8, 2002 7:17AM

There will definately be no "cut-down version of OSX", but he "key" is that OSX is fully compatible with the PalmOS [as per the keynote address...]. Now that Palm has split its company into 1.software [palmOS] and 2.hardware [the lame m505 piece of shit], Apple isnT really cheating the PalmOS.

With the issue of the iPad-OS, for sure the OS will be different than palmOS?but with OS5 still as the base. With what Ive heard so-far in regards to OS5 [from the PalmSource convention] it is Palms next revolutionary step [their current BS is 8-years old]. To draw a comparison: palmOS4 into OS5 is like Apple's redesigned OS9 to OSX. In current form of OS5 their old destop-persay and apps run using an emulator, very cool. [can we say OSX-classic mode comparison?] Anyways you can figure out a lot more into the future of OS5 from the jap-URL : <a href="http://ascii24.com/news/i/topi/article/2002/02/06/633400-001.html?"; target="_blank">http://ascii24.com/news/i/topi/article/2002/02/06/633400-001.html?</a>;

-make sure you use Babelfish if you donT read Japanese. Im sure Apple could develop and mold OS5 into an experience more "newtonesque" to make all us mac-heads happy, and whats not to say they already have....Tokyo macWorld is just little over a month away

>ThinkingDifferent: and don't worry, Apple will definately be pay Palm licensing on a per/unit deal.

willoughby · February 8, 2002 11:19AM

I wonder if it would be possible to merge the Newton OS with the Palm OS. That way we could have the Newton's on screen handwriting recognition and the Palm's wonderful...uhhh...what does the Palm do better than the Newton? Oh yeah, nothing

macanoid(tm) · February 9, 2002 3:17AM

I wonder where BeIA all fits in.

Palm acquired Be and it's BeOS/BeIA a while ago, so I wouldn't be suprised if PalmOS 5 is heavily based on BeIA.

For those not familair with BeIA: It's a lightning fast OS especially developed for Internet Appliances such as handheld. It had awesome multimedia and multitasking capabilities and a low memory footprint.

To see just what BeOS was capable of, download this 20 minutes video - and be impressed with what they were capable of doing on a lowly dual PII/266.

<a href="http://bezip.de/app/1130/beos_demovideo_20minutes.mpg"; target="_blank">http://bezip.de/app/1130/beos_demovideo_20minutes.mpg</a>;

ducasi · February 9, 2002 3:54AM

From reading the Register's article (URL above) it looks like the PalmOS transition between 4 and 5 is just a change of processor, like Apple's change from 68K to PPC. Old PalmOS 4 programs work in OS 5 by emulation (if they are not too low-level), but there are no big changes to the actual OS - it's just faster.

When Apple changed processor, not much of the OS changed, just some of the rules - especially if you were writing low-level code. (See the parallel?)

PalmOS are saying that they have a new version 6 of their OS which will use the ARM chip properly, and will be all-singing, all-dancing.

Apple said they would have a new Mac OS 8, code-named Copland, which would be all-singing, all-dancing. (See the parallel?)

Well we all know what happened with Copland and how long it took before an OS that really took advanage of the PPC appeared. Apple needed to buy in an OS - it could have been Be, but it turned out to be NeXT.

So Palm have bought Be, and that will be their OS 6. They say it will appear sometime in the next two years. (How long did it take to get NeXT into Mac OS X?)

So, PalmOS 5 is nothing new compared with PalmOS 4. It ain't a revolution. PalmOS 5 will be based on PalmOS 4, PalmOS 6 will be based on BeOS.

Anyone expecting Apple to come out with a PDA based on a PalmOS, in turn based on BeOS will have a very long wait ahead of them.

Now isn't it funny that the guy in charge of PalmOS today was the guy in charge of Copland all those years ago? I wonder if history will repeat itself...

[Edit - tidying up..]

[ 02-09-2002: Message edited by: ducasi ]

aries 1b · February 9, 2002 11:52PM

A ten GB hard drive, 128 Meg of RAM (?).... Could you stuff those into a PDA and have any acceptable battery life? The iPod has a 5GB HD, however much RAM...

Damn, (?)could(?) you stuff OS X into a PDA and run Palm OS (and thereby all of the Palm OS based SW) in emulation? Is there a microprocessor that is fast enough and efficient enough to do that?

OS X?

iTunes on the PDA?

It would kill the iPod....

Ha! Put a monitor connector on the side (or something).... A monitor run from your PDA. iPaq does something like this already; you can hook your iPaq to a video projector and run a powerpoint slide presentation from it. I saw that done about three months ago.

Perplexed but hopeful,

Aries 1B

fireants22 · February 9, 2002 11:58PM

ducasi> the comparisons/parallels between these two company-histories are astonishing.

Even Palm acknowledges the similarities [Copeland and the development of OS5/6]...check it out: <a href="http://www.palminfocenter.com/view_Story.asp?ID=2966"; target="_blank">http://www.palminfocenter.com/view_Story.asp?ID=2966</a>;

Great interview.

iPad OS?

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