Comments on: Palm responds to Microsoft's claims

As you may be aware Micorsoft has declared war on Palm and has make some very exaggerated comparisons to Palm OS devices. Palm took the time to separate the buzz around the "Pocket PC" and look at the facts. Read the article for an email sent out to Palm developers from Palm's VP of Product Strategy, Michael Mace. "Microsoft's handheld has more PC features than Palm handhelds. And just like last time, when the smoke clears we think Palm will still be on top."

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Palm verse Pocket

Jerry @ 4/20/2000 3:06:12 PM #

Will continue to be an ongoin saga, as usual you will have your Pocket MS people and then your Palm people or Visor. I have owned both and now enjoy my Visor every day. Let's see who comes out with what next.

RE: Palm verse Pocket

Dekkard @ 4/21/2000 9:33:32 PM #

M$ just doesnt get it...what makes the palm OS work is that it only does so much. Sure, you can play with word and excel docs on a pocket pc...But who wants to!!!!!!...geeze spend another 700 bux and get a laptop..btw... i freakin love my VisorDlX...i can carry 4 ebooks, the 2000 Formula 1 schedule,...195 memos and 10 games and i still have over 4meg of memory open plus battery life is stable at about a month.rawk on!

The story

Beren @ 4/20/2000 4:20:50 PM #

Palms OS is: "O MAIS GRANDE DO MUNDO" Operative System for HandHeld or Palm PC Created.......

Microsoft......AaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhzzzzzzzzzzZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ....... I don´t have time.

Advice for new buyers

Vijaya Babu @ 4/20/2000 6:32:08 PM #

With MS pushing it's Pocket PC this spring, it is more advisable to wait, before jumping in. I'm not advising you to go for Pocket PC devices, but wait for the Palm product prices to come down. 3Com will try to lead in this competing and compelling market, by slashing the prices (I hope!). Wait for a sleek device, with rechargeable battery and voice recording feature...may be a reasonably priced Vx with reasonable memory will fill our pockets, this summer! I can just wish good luck to 3Com/palm.

Advice for new buyers (2nd opinion)

Tinuviel @ 4/21/2000 12:03:07 AM #

With anything computer related the price will always come down and there will ALWAYS be something better just 3-6 months away. That is why I waited 10 years to buy my 2nd computer (that and the fact I have my fill of them at work) First the 286 then the 386 then the 486,then the sx dx dx2 Pentium etc etc. Same goes for the Palm. Every 6 months Palm comes out with a new model or doubles (or in the V's case quadruples) the memory.

So does this mean you should wait? Wait for what? Yes in 6 months there will be a Palm VIIc and probably 3 months later there will be one with 8megs. But by then the next generation will be right around the corner (in another 6 months)-The ones with bluetoth and 320x320 (FED?) color screens. Then 6 months after that high speed wireless and voice recognition etc etc.

The point is if you want a Palm now, then go out and get one now. Then start saving up for next years model because it's a certainty you'll want it. And it's also a certainty that a year from now you'll also see another post just like the one above "Just wait 3 more months and...."

MS Too much...again

Paul @ 4/21/2000 3:28:44 AM #

After reading the MS press release, I feel that MS is doing exactly what they did with the last WinCe OS/PDA and it's the thing that was their ultimate downfall. They are just trying to put too much into a PDA.
Also, they claim 16-32megs of memory will give you this fantastic amount of storage, but the overhead of these units effectively divides the memory's usability by half or worse.
It'll be interesting to see if the public will fall for the same product in a different package.

RE: MS Too much...again

Makurosu @ 4/21/2000 9:34:41 AM #

That's true. When Microsoft went down last time, they said they were going "back to the drawing board" to produce a handheld for $300 that weighs less. Now, here they are again selling the same thing they had last time: $500, 9oz., and more junk than I want.

And why do they keep pushing that stupid voice recorder? Is this really something that people want?

Maybe I just don't fit into their marketing stereotype. You know, the 16 year old pimply-faced kid with the baseball cap on backwards (you've seen the ad).

Yep, same weight, same interface, same garbage

Tinuviel @ 4/22/2000 2:19:33 AM #

And am I surprised? No. Monopolies don't innovate, they stagnate. This is why it took Ma Bell 80 years to invent touchtone dialing. Problem with Microsoft is, they just don't understand the fact hey are not a monopoly on the handheld front, so they think the public will be satisfied with the same garbage they push on the PC.

Let's see, have they done away with the start button and file trees? No. Has the battery life improved significantly (or at all)? No. Does it still crash regularly? Yes. Do they still have a 3rd party software interoperability problem among the different platforms/cpu's. Yes. And what's all this fuss about it being able to read electronic books? The Palm's had that for years! And voice recording is NOT the killer app. Neither for that matter is being able to download (in 25 minutes) and watch a 30 second video clip.

So, nice try Microsoft, but I think I'll wait for the next Palm generation before buying my next handheld- That will be the one's with bluetooth, wireless internet, and the 320x320 color screens. Till then I'm quite happy with my IIIc.

RE: MS Too much...again

I.M. Anonymous @ 4/22/2000 3:31:31 AM #

Yeah, it appears from stats I've seen that the PPC is still windoze and slower than any Palm at running even basic apps.

Also, the new HP545 screen is passive matrix, and pales in comparison to the Palm IIIc's screen.

And, for games, I am sorry but its palm hands down. Using Depth 0.4.1, run Giles Goddard's Tank in 1-bit screen depth mode. Then compare with the pitiful Battle-zone pro for wince...

Also, try finding any color games for microsoft handhelds that come within 100 yards of Zap2000 or Astroids.

Cheers!

Gary

Microsoft Comparisons

Krewson @ 4/22/2000 12:13:48 PM #

Microsoft seems to enjoy posting fiction. Their post comparing NT to GNU/Linux was silly, but the outcry was enjoyable. If the Palm became multi-tasking, then there would be no comparison for many years to come. Why multi-task on a handheld? When downloading information becomes more real than fantasy and interactive information scrolls accross your screen as you update your organizer, then multi-tasking will be the only way to go.

John Krewson
http://www.janustechguild.com" CLASS=NEWS>http://www.janustechguild.com

I tried both...

Robin Sheppard @ 4/24/2000 10:31:03 AM #

My experience: I used to own a WinCE pocket PC. It was great for carrying the local bus schedule in an Excel spreadsheet. As far as data entry, the keyboard was too small to be of any practical value. I gave it to my daughter, who never uses it because she say's it's too hard to figure out.

Now I've got a Palm IIIX. I'm faster with Graffiti than I was with the CE keyboard, I use it for far more things, and my daughter is green with envy, because it's so simple to use.

'Nuff said.