PalmOS and WinMo Treos - I Use'em Both - What I Like Best on Each

In my role at Palm as the director of wireless solutions (a role that lets me experiment with lots of applications on my phones!), I carry about one of every model we make. One for each carrier, each form factor, each operating system, and I run a variety of applications starting with the killer core -- PIM/Email, to the over the air stuff (audio books, music and video), to maps and GPS to Sales Force Automation.

So the idea of these posts are to talk about what I like on each phone and what bugs me on each.

First some background to see if you can identify with my style:

I'm a male, +/-50 year olds. Runner/Biker (road and mountain). BIG music and movie fan. Do more email and text than voice (50-100 emails a day on Exchange, Yahoo! and MSN and 50 text messages per day vs. five phone calls a day. I'm married with teenage daughters (thus the texting). I believe in work/life balance and go out of my way to see my kids in sports and plays, and to make room to ride, run and travel.

So what do I like. I tried to think of some of the core things on each OS that make a difference - what are the things that when I switch from one to the other that make me go "dang" when it's not there:

-Palm OS (Treo 650, 680, 700p) - I love the application buttons. I love pushing the email button and getting my email. Push the Calendar and see the calendar. I use the Secondary (option/button) to get even more functions - web, text, camera...whatever I program.

-Windows Mobile (Treo 700w/wx, 750) - Multitasking is great. I can start a download of an audio book from Audible and then switch back to email and continue working while the book downloads. Or type in a URL like www.dyestatcal.com (daughter's track results) in the browser and while it brings down all the fancy pictures, I switch back to Google Maps or a text message, then switch back a minute later and the page is all there ready to be read.

Or put them in reverse: When I'm on the PalmOS, I'd really like to multitask, and when I'm on WinMo, I'd really like the direct control of the application buttons.

Next time I'll talk about music players...or Sales Force Automation...or my Tivo...

Joe Fabris - Director of Wireless Solutions

Comments

[bob]

Joe,
Thanks for the post. A couple of questions. On the Palm (I assume you use the 700p), are you having any issues with lag between apps, skipping with music, bluetooth issues, or any resets? On the WM, any issues with apps not fully ending or memory errors?

Thanks,

bob (a long time Palm user)

[May C of palmdiscovery.net]

Again, great to see another Palm contributor to the blog. I really like the variety of postings presented so far. It's certainly nice to get both a corporate view and a human, personal view to balance things out. A company is nothing without the people behind it.

Great to hear there's another fan of Audible. Yes, it's annoying that Palm OS can't allow the AudibleAir to download while I go to another program. I have to wait until the download is finished.

Although multitasking is great, I find that I can easily forget or get lost in all the opened apps until I discover that the Win Mo Treo has slowed to a crawl.

I hope that when and if Palm OS supports multitasking that we can close the app when we decide to do so, rather than have it like Win Mo where I have to "Stop All" or select what I want to stop. At least allow us to have the minimized button and close button like we have in windows so that we can either have it minimized or closed completely. So we can address it asap rather than find out later that everything was still running in the background.

Just a thought.

[Alan Grassia]

Hello Joe, glad to see that the "Director of Wirelessness" being posted here on the Palm blog.

You touched on one of my favorite features of the Palm OS platform: The speedy access to my information by using the hardware buttons. The ability to quickly move between applications and my data is awesome.

I recently had a chance to use a Treo 700wx along side my Treo 700p for a month. While I did like the ability to multitask with Windows Mobile, I still prefer the Palm OS. I'm looking forward to the day when my Palm OS Treo will be able to multitask and provide me the same easy and quick access to my applications and data.

Cheers!
Alan G

[nick]

hey sounds like me. im 23 i have the palm os for work with goodlink installed along with volume care and thats it just keep it simple. then i have the beast the Treo 750 with all kinds of goodies on it. ive learned new tricks to mimick the one touch of hte os. options and call =message options and windows =calender

[Phil Hodgen]

I am posting using my real name to show I am dead serious here. I am Tastypeppers on Treocentral. I have purchased 4 Treos in the last 18 months for personal use.

I have just one word to say: conversation.

Unfortunately this post isn't conversation. This is the equivalent of talking about the weather when there is a lot more going on.

We (the user community) care. Don't blow us off.

[Vinodh Kumar M.]

Hey Palm,

I was hoping this blog would be much more interesting and useful to us customers.

- mvk

[Jeremy]

Nothing personal, but I thought this blog was set up to communicate with the Treo community. Why are you posting success stories and advertising the Treo models? We know what the features are! Tell us something that we don't know.

[BaDZeD]

Have you tried anything like Accesorizer or SubLauncher on your PalmOS device?
Sorry for the weird question but just wanted to hear an oppinnion.

[Bill Taroli]

Well, that's great. You just echoed small part of the sentiment already expressed countless times in all variety of owner forums. So I guess the good news is that you're in touch with the market. But what I'd like to know is what you're planning to do about ADDRESSING these issues. To whit: Why comment about how Garnet doesn't multitask -- we hardly need to read this blog to know that -- when you could tell us more about the upcoming Linux release or tell us how our Garnet apps will run on it unmodified.

It's great that you guys are communicating. Now let's see about making it useful and valueable for people to come a read it! :D

[Chad Garrett]

Somewhat impartial, but I feel the hidden Palm love!

[Eric]

You can ask Ed to make a dual boot Treo (Palm OS/WM 6*). This will decrease the number of Treo's to taken with you.

*) WM6 supports now 320x320 screens. Seems to me there is no hardware difference anymore between a new Palm OS or WM6 Treo. Or I'm overlooking something.

[Bruce Baird]

Joe:

Thank you VERY MUCH for sharing your thoughts and personal experience using various Treos. I currently have a Treo700p and I'm struggling with the decision to stick with the Palm OS or switch to Windows Mobile 6. Your comments as well as others on the new Palm Blog are very valuable in this decision process.

[Leathernuts]

I had the WX for 2 weeks. After the new wore off, I went right back to my 700p. Prior to the p, I have always had WM devices. Maybe WM6 will be better, but I prefer the p currently. Would just like to have the update. Has anyone even mentioned the 700p update on this blog site yet? (lol)

[Richard S]

I've been a palm owner since the Palm IIIxe came out. I currently own the 700p. I like everything about it except the delay between applications and the unreliable BT pairing. Save the featue promo for the palm web side. If you're not going to be forthcomming with info on current smartphone and PDA updates and upgrades then try on of these topics next.

What features/functionality would like to see in the next palm OS or WMobile?

What features of other smartphones do you wish your treo/PDA have? (I like how the blackberry cases are integrated with their handhelds)

If you could only have three programs on your palm, which would it be? Why?

If you lost your palm tomorrow, how would that affect your productivity/personal life? (I rely on my palm so much, It has become an extension of my brain).

I'm sure the other posters can think of many more meaningful topics.

What do you guys think?

[Mark S.]

Joe,

Great post--well written! I like your style. You have expressed my sentiments exactly. The hardware buttons are the reason I chose the 700p--I'm so used to them from previous Treo models that I couldn't deal with the thought of going to the Windows interface. That's one reason the iPhone doesn't really attract me right now. I want one button access to applications, and I'm willing to put in first & last initial when looking up contacts--I don't want to scroll through all of them! It's too bad we can't have a wide screen Treo! :(

Obviously you are aware multi-tasking would be nice, so I'm sure you'll do something about it as soon as you are able.

I currently carry a Sprint Treo 700p when I'm here in the U.S. and a Treo 650 from Cingular when I travel overseas. It would be nice to be able to sync two devices without having to uninstall and reinstall the software.

The built in calculator is great--I was thrilled when I found out it could do binary & hex. The other thing I really wish it had is RPN. I really, really like the old HP calculators. To me, RPN is so much more efficient than doing "plus" and then "equals". With the standard calculator you constantly have to store things in memory or retype them. With RPN, it's automatic as long as you do your calculations in the right order. But instead of 4 registers in the stack, how about 9!

A question: I really liked the shortcuts on the Treo 600. Why do I have to go down two times on the main phone screen before I can get to my own shortcuts & speed dials on the right?

[a guy named Joe]

Re:
http://blog.palm.com/palm/2007/04/palmos_and_winm.html#comment-67390150

Bob,

the four phones I spend the most time with right now are a Sprint 700wx, Cingular 750, and an Orange (sorry, Copper) 680, plus a future one...

So I'm not personally getting the 700p issues that have been raised. But believe me, Steve, the product manager who posted on that the other day is well aware and is working to make the MR available. He also posted an update on the post to what will be included in MR:
http://blog.palm.com/palm/2007/04/anatomy_of_a_so.html

On all the phones, and this is not a Palm thing, it's a Joe thing, I reset them every day, whether they need it or not. Sort of like I restart my PC once a week, just because.

On WinMo, I also periodically press and hold the OK button to quickly get to the memory app and shut down all apps. That press and hold thing is a "Palm enhancement", since WinMo didn't have such a tool to let users quickly get to memory.

agn Joe

[a guy named Joe]

Re: http://blog.palm.com/palm/2007/04/palmos_and_winm.html#comment-67433086

Eric,

A dual boot would be cool, but we haven't had as many people ask for that as a dual radio (CDMA/GSM). In the duel of the duals, I think the dual radio woudl win.

We are excited to get the 320x320 in WinMo. We pushed hard to get that. And you are right, the HW differences are getting smaller - by design. We're taking a platform approach - get the phone HW designed and then optimize the SW for the carrier and the OS. We are hoping to get more phones out to more carriers quicker.

agn Joe

[a guy named Joe]

Re: http://blog.palm.com/palm/2007/04/palmos_and_winm.html#comment-67423026

Bill -

You'd be surprised how many people don't know what a Treo can do, even if they own one. Most people using a phone don't even consider the concept of multi-tasking. Sorry if it felt like I was low-browing (I rather Lowenbrau, believe me).

We've started to talk more lately about a lot of things we've been doing behind the scenes, like getting the rights to PalmOS, acknowledging the development of a new OS, buying Chatter Mail and adding Paul Mercer (iPod UI dude) to the team, plus Opera announcing a relationship with us. Things are happening.

[Jerry F. Giardina]

Well, thanks for the last Post Palm! Appreciate the comment on Audible, I will be using Audio Gateway for BT soon if the new Treo 755p has a full SD card. I tried to respond twice last night using my Treo 700p to write my comments; Perfect night; Thunder storms in the Dallas area put the power out! Not bad, maybe a blessing when you have two teen age sons. (No TV, No internet)except for my trusty Treo. To sum it all; I made my comments twice and fell asleep and was unable to post them. So this morning I am trying to recollect my thoughts. First of all I would like to add to the post that said for Palm to give us a dual boot system. (I'd 2nd that) But why not add GPS; Sprint now gives this in some of the data plans this for free. Then I go to gadgetsonthego.net this morning and they have the article on LBS (location based services) Another feature I would like to see in the near future is that we get a hybrid Palm with CDMA and GSM. Blackberry is going to have that feature soon. I would like to make some comments on the lag. I have this gut feeling that the "lag" is going to be less of a problem when we get our rom updates. Palm is certainly well aware of the problem and why would they not attempt to fix it in some fashion. I know that I did contact a Palm store in California and the agent said the lag was less on the Treo 680 than the 700p. So I am cautiously optimistic. I have had Palms since the begining starting with the Palm Professional and have bought almost every model. I just bought two Weather program (the price was right) for my Wife's Treo 650 and my 700p. I like the program since it also shows sunset times. It's very graphical(not that I need another weather program; On Demand, Treo Alarms; Worldmate Pro and the newest Saguaro. I guess I am a die hard Palm-Treo fan. Just wanted to add a few comments this morning as we look forward to the release of the Treo 755p on May 14 from Sprint. Have a good day Palm Fans!

[a guy named Joe]

Re: You touched on one of my favorite features of the Palm OS platform: The speedy access to my information by using the hardware buttons. The ability to quickly move between applications and my data is awesome.

I recently had a chance to use a Treo 700wx along side my Treo 700p for a month. While I did like the ability to multitask with Windows Mobile, I still prefer the Palm OS. I'm looking forward to the day when my Palm OS Treo will be able to multitask and provide me the same easy and quick access to my applications and data.

Cheers!
Alan G

Posted by: Alan Grassia | April 23, 2007 at 06:17 PM

Alan -

Thanks for the note. The buttons are a Palm thing that we love - instant access / instant on. We'll keep trying to make our secret salsa taste ever so good on future devices and migrate what we can to WinMo. And Linux is known to multi-task...

agn J

[a guy named Joe]

Re: http://blog.palm.com/palm/2007/04/palmos_and_winm.html#comment-67408646

Phil --

Thanks for the feedback. Paul, who organizes this at Palm, is trying to get a range of people at Palm talking. I'll take your comments and those of others to heart and talk as openly and honestly as I can and still be an executive at a publicly traded company.

agn Joe

[a guy named Joe]

Re: Have you tried anything like Accesorizer or SubLauncher on your PalmOS device?
Sorry for the weird question but just wanted to hear an oppinnion.

Posted by: BaDZeD | April 23, 2007 at 08:38 PM

On Launchers -

I used to try Launchers a lot before we got the keyboard on the Treo. But now I basically take away all category references from the basic launcher so all my apps are always in the "All" view and use the first letter of the apps to get to them fast. A good example is - I press the Home button to turn on the Treo and get to the launcher and press "w" on the keyboard to get right to the "W"eb browser at the bottom of the luancher. Once I started doing that, combined with direct access via the custom buttons, it's been the best, fastest way to launch an app.

[a guy named Joe]

Re: http://blog.palm.com/palm/2007/04/palmos_and_winm.html#comment-67403248

Nick - ah to be 23 again and have a Treo...

On the button mimick on WinMo, the thing that bugs me is that it takes two hands to get the secondary feature on WinMo, but only one hand on the PalmOS.

Here's what I mean:
On Palm OS I can press the option button, release it, then press the "calendar" button to get the secondary feature. I can do that with one hand.

On WinMo, I have to press the option button and *hold* it, then press the "Windows Flag" button to get the secondary feature. It takes two hands.

agn J

[macfixer]

Ahh, to be working for Palm and having two Treos to play with.

How about the rest of us?

//k

[Jerry F. Giardina]

I can hardly believe; I knew that Sprint was going to come out with a dual radio phone from BB when I made the earlier post this morning. And lol and behold I go to gadgetsonthego.net and I see the phone is going to be released in July with Sprint. Palm can you help us out here? Hope that this type of Treo may be your vision of the future Palm. It's one of our dreams!