"In the third quarter of last year, devices running Microsoft's software outsold those with Palm OS for the first time, according to the research firm Gartner Inc.
'No question that Microsoft has made significant inroads compared to where they were just a couple of years ago -- which was no where,' said Charles Golvin, analyst for Forrester Research.
Rumors have circulated for months that Palm was ready to embrace a Windows platform. Palm spent years trying to fend off Microsoft's forays into the sector."
As much as I've been a Palm fan for years, I think I'm looking forward to this. Ultimately the Palm OS is just too awkward when it comes to networking. I've had friends with Windows CE based PDA devices and they seem to be able to stream MP3s and do all kinds of cool things without any trouble. They have a way better browser than the crap that gets bundled in with Palm devices.
I have a Sony Clie that kicks ass - that is once I managed to get it configured properly. It has a huge screen (480x320), Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, plays MP3s (but not streaming), and one of the worst designed cameras in the history of the universe*. Sadly the battery life isn't too great. But feature wise it is amazing. But it's also discontinued (the entire Sony Clie line was discontinued in the US). And it's also got a highly customized version by Sony of the Palm OS. So once it dies, it's dead. Game over. And quite frankly, you have to be an incredible computer wiz to even make it work. What a mess.
Since Microsoft has spent years trying to get this phone business going, they probably have something decent by now. I'm hoping. I know there have been buggy releases in the past. Hopefully Palm put an end to that. Well, if I do get one of these, it won't be one of the first ones off the assembly line - that's for sure. Palm has had glitches on product rollouts too.
But longterm, I think this is good.
* The worst camera in the world: you can only take 2-5 pictures with the flash before you have totally drained the battery. Mind boggling. And since you need the battery for everything else, you're pretty screwed. Still, if there is something you really want a picture of (2 megapixels), and the Clie is all you have, then fire away! Just make sure every shot counts.
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