A new OS Strategy for PalmSource: Palm OS 6 is a radical leap into the future. Where does that leave today's Palm?

IF YOU USE A PALM PDA or smartphone, you use Palm OS, the operating system software that makes the hardware come to life. The Palm in your pocket today is running Palm OS 5, or maybe 4, or even 3. Now, PalmSource has announced a new version of its operating system software: Palm OS 6, codenamed Cobalt. Designed for newer devices such as smartphones, Cobalt is a radical departure from Palm OS 5. So, where does that leave Palm OS 5 users--and the thousands of applications that run on Palm OS 5? Good news: PalmSource is planning an enhanced version of Palm OS 5 too, codenamed Garnet.

Why two OSs?

Because Cobalt is a full rewrite of the Palm operating system, developers and licensees familiar with Palm technology might find migrating applications to Cobalt difficult. But, OS 5 has a strong reputation in the market. So, rather than forcing users and application developers to choose between abandoning that investment or being stranded on an obsolete OS, PalmSource is opting to maintain two OSs.

PalmSource Product Marketing Manager John Cook describes Garnet as a consolidation release that combines OS 5 work PalmSource has done and adds some of the work from licensees in areas such as high-resolution screen support. As an update to the traditional Palm OS code base, Garnet incorporates new features such as standard support for a broad range of screen resolutions, a dynamic input area, improved network communication, and Bluetooth support.

"Garnet is, in many ways, the latest version of an architecture we've had for several years," Cook says. "It builds directly on what was done in OS 3 and OS 4. Iris designed for companies that are already up to speed on that version of the Palm OS--programming methodologies, the way the system is optimized, a smaller footprint. You can use lower-end microprocessors, you don't need a memory management unit, and there are lower RAM and ROM requirements for Garnet." In addition, the Bluetooth stack is now integrated, and all the languages are in one version, including English, French, Italian, German, and Spanish. There's also a Japanese and a simplified Chinese version.

Cobalt, on the other hand, was designed for newer devices such as smartphones. For example, the Cobalt architecture is a good fit for more advanced entertainment devices, as well as enterprise-centric and vertical-market devices, Cook says.

"Cobalt is the direction we're sending people, but it's not like we're flipping a switch and saying, 'Sorry, you have to go to this or nothing.' That just doesn't make sense in this industry. We're quite unlike the PC world in that respect," Cook explains.

Eventually, Garnet will be phased out, but that could be three years or more. PalmSource says it will support the OS as long as there's customer need.

"We don't promote it a lot, but we still have OS 4 available. The difference with this Cobalt-Garnet strategy is that, with OS 4, after it was done, it was done. We didn't put any more engineering resources into it. With Garnet and Cobalt, each one has a road map. So, there are engineering teams and enhancements planned for both products."

More on Cobalt

So, what does the OS rewrite deliver? Cobalt promises better compatibility with Microsoft Windows, and new capabilities such as:

* Multithreading to let more than one application run at a time

* Memory protection

* Support for more memory and larger screens

* Standards-based security

* Communication frameworks that can handle multiple connections simultaneously

* Graphics and multimedia features from the Be OS, which PalmOne acquired in 2001

Looking toward new device types

Cook emphasizes smartphones and other emerging devices as increasingly important for the company, and both Cobalt and Garnet include wireless and telephony capabilities to power such products. The market for traditional PDAs is shrinking, he explains. PDA functionality combined with a phone, GPS, or a gaming console represents the future market direction.

Researchers with IDC confirm this outlook. Interest in unconnected PDAs is already shifting towards "converged" devices such as smartphones, which combine PDA data capabilities with voice communication, they say. The increase in converged device sales should continue through 2007, with more mobile phone makers updating their models with high-end operating systems.

"You'll see Palm OS going to many more kinds of devices," Cook says. "The kind of personal information management people want to do might be quite different on a smartphone than on an entertainment device or some vertical device for enterprises. But, people still want access to those core management functions." Cobalt is built with these types of devices in mind, whereas Garnet has been extended over the years to support them.

Devices from Samsung, Kyocera, and PalmOne (including the new Treo 600) run OS 5, Cook points out, so it's possible to continue using that version. However, support for telephony and wireless connectivity has been harder to achieve with OS 5.

"[OS 5] was building on our original premise, which was the PalmPilot, a replacement for pen and paper. I'm pretty amazed at how much OS 5 has been extended," says Cook. On the other hand, Cobalt is built on frameworks, and you can plug in functionality to scale it. It also uses the Stream protocol to support advanced operations. Popular among Mac OS X and UNIX users, Stream lets you maintain multiple communications sessions at the same time.

"I could have a local area connection, manage a phone call at the same time, then have an SMS message come in," Cook says. "On OS 5, those types of things were very difficult to do. You had to be intimately familiar with Palm OS to be able to do it. With OS 6, many more companies will be able to build products that handle that kind of functionality.

To read an interview with John Cook, PalmSource product marketing manager, subscribers can access an extended version of this article at http://Advisor.com/doc/13752.