For the past few years, Palm has provided a download of the IBM WebSphere Micro Environment Java
Virtual Machine (JVM) to our customers, which allowed users to install and run Java applications and games on their devices.
As of Jan. 12, 2008, we will no longer be providing this as a downloadable application from our website. We will continue to support JVM on our website, but will not be able to offer version upgrades or software downloads.
Tim P. - Product Manager
UPDATED:
There were many comments regarding the rationale for no longer providing the JVM, and we appreciate your comments on the JVM availability. The reason that this is being not being offered after the 12th, is that Palm no longer has rights to distribute the JVM for Palm OS. We will continue to support users who have downloaded the JVM, but cannot continue to distribute it.
Reason being...?
Posted by: John Arnor G. Lom | January 06, 2008 at 12:05 PM
I certainly hope this means that there is a native PalmOS version of Opera Mini 4.0 coming soon. The JVM is required for Opera Mini, and Opera is the only truely usable web browser available for the GSM Treo.
Posted by: MikeyP | January 06, 2008 at 12:31 PM
And the 6 million dollar question
"Why???"
Posted by: palmdoc | January 06, 2008 at 03:33 PM
If only I could at least have a real JVM on my WM5 Treo...
Posted by: Jason | January 06, 2008 at 05:57 PM
You can't be serious! Every smartphone needs a JVM! It's already a shame that this one is so old, but providing none is absolutely unacceptable!
Posted by: Thomas Boerkel | January 07, 2008 at 12:35 AM
Come on Palm - it's great that you are sharing info in a blog, but you know that there are two critical bits of info missing here.
1) Why?
2) What (if anything) does this mean about Palm's ongoing support of java on devices?
Posted by: Rob | January 07, 2008 at 01:50 AM
What will the plan for Java on the Palm be going forward? Is Java dead on the Palm? The $6 download was already a nail in the coffin, is this the final nail?
Posted by: Eric Holsinger | January 07, 2008 at 06:24 AM
:( So there won't be a new more stable version in the future? Java support is an important feature to have on the handheld :(
Posted by: BaDZeD | January 07, 2008 at 10:35 AM
Three days after the initial information was posted and the first replies appeared on this site - and still no further comment from Palm. That's what I call user/customer oriented communication. (o(
Thanks for the hint, though.
Thomas
Posted by: Thomas Kuhn | January 08, 2008 at 05:28 AM
Seems as Palm really wants to go out of business :-(
Posted by: Jan Raap | January 08, 2008 at 06:23 AM
Bad, Bad, Bad News :(
Why?
Posted by: Christian | January 08, 2008 at 09:24 AM
Another milestone in the slow death of a once successful company.
Posted by: owl | January 08, 2008 at 02:03 PM
which one should we choose to substitue?
Posted by: cccc | January 08, 2008 at 08:43 PM
Great. It should have died ages ago - It was not being maintained enough, so was not useful enough (except for some business users) to be worth updating - java can be very demanding on resources. Never was easy enough to install nor stable enough.
Bring on P.O.S. II ! :-)
(that's palm os II, hopefully not the other)
Posted by: Pinches | January 08, 2008 at 08:52 PM
Why are you doing that. Java is a great technology. You guys are making everything possible to make people run away from Palm OS. I've been using Palm OS for more than 6 years and was happy with it, I'm currently using the Treo 680. Unfortunately you guys seem not to listen to your customers, in the end this will cost you the market share. Everyone is still waiting for Palm OS 6 and it's still not there yet. Where is it?
Posted by: Carl Antaki | January 09, 2008 at 11:52 AM
I have been a Palm OS PDA owner for the last 10 years. I started with the Palm Pilot Professional Edition, and have throughout the years owned a Palm IIIc, Handspring Visor, Sony CLIE, and now, a Palm Treo. I have found the Palm OS way easier to use than Windows PDAs, and have been disappointed by Palm's lack of interest in maintaining their OS (they don't support developers, and every new device with the OS seems more buggy than the previous). I understand that the new Linux based OS is coming soon, but it has been years now, so you'd think it would be in Palm's best interest to maintain what they have.
Removing support for the JVM doesn't give me much hope for that. In addition, it makes me think that if this is the way they are going to treat their customers, then my next PDA/Phone will not be a Palm.
The Google Android OS looks promising. Perhaps I will be looking to that ... I'm sure some enterprising individual will write a Palm OS emulator for it to run my legacy apps.
I personally hope Palm will reconsider their decision. I doubt it, and I fear this is one the last nails in the coffin for Palm. If only they didn't spend so much money on that ridiculous Foleo ...
Posted by: Zoltan Du Lac | January 09, 2008 at 08:47 PM
Guys this is a joke right?
Please don't remove the J2ME (IBM J9). I can tell you why....
1.)
As a developer I personally hate C and C++, so Java (J2ME) and SuperWaba (is also Java but with a different class lib so it can't be called Java) are the only options right now.
2.)
As a developer I don't want to write an application for every Smartphone or PDA available. This does cost to much of my free time.
I want to write one application and this one has to work in PalmOS, Symbian and Windows Mobile/WinCE if possible.
I can do that with either J2ME and SuperWaba.
By the way SuperWaba will get an update later this year so even Blackberry is supported.
I see that IBM didn't update J9 for quite some time and I also miss JSR-82 in the current application (the reason why I used SuperWaba for my latest app), but there are tons of applications available that can be used with this old IBM J9 implementation.
If you can get IBM to update it, great if not then let us decide if we want to use the old IBM J9 on our PalmOS devices or not.
Finally as I just read something about your "in the works" Linux-based PalmOS replacement (it's called Nova right?). I hope it doesn't take to long to offer Java for this OS, as this allows to start with a buch of apps for the upcoming devices that run this OS.
Otherwise you might fail to "re-enter" the market for PDAs and Smartphones. Oh, and don't forget to put WLAN into the devices.
After years of NOT listening to us customers and developers this seems to be a smart move.
I really hope you get it this time.
--
Kind regards,
J. Ulbts
Posted by: J. Ulbts | January 11, 2008 at 08:23 AM
Typical corporate behaviour
Posted by: John Beatty | January 11, 2008 at 11:19 AM
I too want to know why. I guess I'll take solace in the fact that I have it and would give it to anyone who asked. I bet there are other places to get it, too.
Posted by: Ryan N. | January 11, 2008 at 01:10 PM
Not to simply repeat what everyone else has already said, but it is simply unbelievable that Palm would make an announcement like this without some sort of justification or explanation... or even a bad excuse. Palm's decisions have been perplexing in general for a while now... but to reduce the flexibility of an already fairly inflexible and increasingly archaic and unsupported OS without giving the rapidly dwindling number of Palm followers the slightest bit of a purpose in doing so is simply appalling. The chances of this new linux-based OS arriving in time to rescue Palm from impending disaster seem to be decreasing by the second.. and that is of course making the assumption that the OS will even turn out to be everything we're all hoping it will be upon release. As a loyal Palm user for nearly a decade, this is incredibly frustrating.
Posted by: Aaron Z. | January 14, 2008 at 09:11 AM
Palm, what are you doing? You obviously have loyal users posting here that care about the products you put out... and take away! I have been a loyal customer of 6 devices going back to the US Robotics days; Pilot 5000, PalmPilot Professional, Palm IIIx, (2) Palm Vx, and now a TX! First the "Folly-O", er.. Foleo and now you are dropping the JVM? Looks like I'll be shopping for an Android device (please give us all a reason to NOT want to do this) Meanwhile... developers should look at the early SDK available here http://www.openhandsetalliance.com/
Posted by: Die Hard Palm User | January 15, 2008 at 07:50 PM
What I'm even more interested in knowing is why, on the 16th of January, is "Why is it still available for download?" Some cruel new year's joke perhaps?
Posted by: Ryan Rix | January 16, 2008 at 07:37 AM
i just retired my treo 650 and was about to buy another one. for some reason, i was compelled to buy a blackberry curve.. all i can say is that the blackberry blows the treo away.
i'm a java dev so i need a jvm.
bb comes with jvm preinstalled.
opera runs great on it.
Posted by: converter | January 16, 2008 at 01:19 PM
That's it. Having been fed-up with blazer, I googled opera and got to this thread. I guess I will go to the dark side (WM). But I promise you it won't be on any Palm machine... why should i continue to support a company that after 5 years of waiting decides to stop providing a working solution to its customers and arrogantly declares that their next OS will come out more than a year later.
Posted by: rubso | January 17, 2008 at 07:59 PM
I went to the ATT store since that is where the Palm help sends me for discussing the 650 to 680 upgrade. They told me to get a Blackberry. Is Palm trying to end the Palm OS, replace it with Microsoft, and send everyone to Blackberry?
The Java end is an interesting signpost.
The Palm has worked fine for me in the past and I'm not wild about going to a Microsoft system.
Posted by: Ernie Laitinen | January 21, 2008 at 08:30 AM