The PalmOne OS Debate

The rumor that PalmOne was shopping around for another Operating System than PalmSource’s PalmOS is creating a lot of buzz.

If indeed, PalmOne was shopping for an alternative OS, this might imply that the Next-Generation PalmOS is not all that good.

But the argument can also be made that PalmOne, as a responsible company must always have a backup plan in order. After all, Dell has been qualifying and testing AMD processors for years, without ever selling one. Apple Computers has a version of their Mac OS running on intel’s X86 processor, without ever building an intel-based mac.

In the end, I’m sure that there is an immense pressure from PalmSource to keep PalmOne using their OS. If PalmOne ever goes to another OS vendor, that would mean the end of PalmSource, period.