Comments on: Palm Desktop for Windows Vista Final Version Released

Palm Desktop for Windows Vista After over eight months of dealing with the quirks and limitations inherent in any beta software release, Palm has finally posted a final release version of the Palm Desktop software for Windows Vista. This new version is still listed at v6.2 but without the beta tag.

This new build is compatible with Windows Vista Basic, Premium, Business, and Ultimate 32-bit editions. 64-bit editions of Vista are not supported. Windows XP, surprisingly, in both Home and Professional 32-bit editions are supported by this version, but only for users of the new Palm Centro. Another surprisingly supported OS is the XP-based Windows Media Center Edition (a notable first for the Palm Desktop).

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Better late than never.

VampireLestat @ 1/16/2008 1:53:02 PM #

jeez, was a long wait.

The Beta Has Been Working Just Fine

DarthRepublican @ 1/16/2008 2:30:56 PM #

So far my Treo 680 and Palm TX have worked just fine with the Beta version so I was pretty content to wait.

RE: The Beta Has Been Working Just Fine

Doo @ 1/16/2008 2:51:16 PM #

Wait for what?

RE: The Beta Has Been Working Just Fine

BigBrotha @ 1/16/2008 3:27:26 PM #

Yeah, exactly!
Wait for, that stuff which worked for nearly 10 year, now doesn't!
Great work Palm!
Keep working hard, and soon we don't have to look at anymore of your failures.

RE: The Beta Has Been Working Just Fine

PhrkOnLsh @ 1/18/2008 11:22:01 AM #

You could always get a WinMob device. At least you wouldn't have to whine about it so much since PalmOS is such a crappy Operating System.
...Right? <_< >_>

Best Regards,
Ryan Rix
TamsPalm -- The PalmOS Blog

Ok, I'm confused...

zkam @ 1/16/2008 3:54:06 PM #

As a Windows XP user, who does not sync with Outlook (and still uses the Palm Desktop app for calendar/notes/contacts), then is there ANY benefit to upgrading? The only thing listed under "Whats New" that might be of interest is:

Integrated Desktop: Provides a single desktop and conduit compatibility across all Palm OS 3.5.x through 5.4.x devices.

... and I'm not sure what that means. I guess this would allow me to continue to sync with my old Visor?

Seems like a big step backwards in many respects... No color coding? Really? Why?

BTW, I am using a brand new Centro, which came with Desktop 4.2 / Hotsync 6.0.1. Am I missing something? And will the old version remain available?

solution for Palm USB driver problems

cyberry @ 1/16/2008 4:35:46 PM #

for a while my computer crashed when trying to sync my Palm TX with Windows XP Media Center edition, even though previously I'd had no problems. The problems carried over to syncing with the Centro - so I haven't been able to sync the Centro at all.

Does anyone know if the update to the Palm Desktop would also mean that the PALMUSBD.sys driver has been modified? I'd download the new version in a second if it would solve my sync problem.

(Note - per the Palm website, the Palm driver is not compatible with Win XP Media Edition. however, i synced my TX with WIN XP ME for about a year - i think one of the Windows Updates must be what is causing my problem.)

- michael wms

RE: Ok, I'm confused...

sipp11 @ 1/16/2008 11:50:14 PM #

Seems like a big step backwards in many respects... No color coding? Really? Why?

>> I bet it must be Access and Palm, Inc. issue since this palm desktop is by Access. They won't care what Palm did anyway. In contrast, Palm themselves should add this feature before releasing to public.

Embarrassing

ocspub @ 1/16/2008 11:36:53 PM #

Embarrassing... these guys want to make use believe they'll deliver a whole new mobile operating system, yet they can't get a trivial desktop application to work properly one year after Vista went GA?

Come on, how hard can it POSSIBLY be to show birthdays and anniversaries? Is it that difficult in Vista apps (compared to, say, XP) to color-code cells?

Or did you eliminate the desktop developers in one of the many rounds of layoffs and then sent your marketing intern to an evening C++ class at the local community college to fix this up?

Visit www.tapland.com for Zodiac news and discussion.

RE: Embarrassing

Dolmangar @ 1/17/2008 8:19:49 AM #

Here's another question... Sure Vista support took a while for a lot of applications. However, many other packages worked right out of the box. Vista adds more security and DRM to the mix, but I suspect that if you wrote your applications in a way that was officially supported by MicroSoft you didn't run into to many problems.

So I'm wondering what the hell was Palm doing behind the curtain with the Desktop before? The system doesn't appear to be to complicated. Everything is stored in a mostly flat file structure and then pushed back and forth via USB, bluetooth or even a network connection (I had this set up for a while just to try it). They must have kludged something to make it work, and that loophole is no longer supported.

I guess it's likely that they continued to use the same code base from the 1996/97 desktop. I got my first Palm Pro back in '97 and although I haven't tried it I could probably plug that sucker right in and sync with the current desktop, that's neat but hardly a way to show that you've got cutting edge software.

RE: Embarrassing

hkklife @ 1/17/2008 11:32:48 AM #

What makes the huge delay/shortcomings of Palm Desktop for Vista is the fact that Palm has supposedly been working closely with M$ for "years" for customizations & tweaks to WM5 (remember all of the hoopla when the 700w launched?)

So if that is indeed the case you'd think could have at least been on top of things in regards to Vista...after all, it's not like they didn't have AMPLE warning that Vista was going to succeed XP.

Sigh...

I really doubt that there are any major technical hurdles to overcome. This is just another shining example of Palm's arrogance/hubris/greed/stinginess/laziness. Much like wi-fi, voice dialing over Bluetooth, 3G on GSM, integrated GPS, larger-than-4gb storage cards, USB 2.0 Hostync speeds, 3.5mm stereo headphone jacks, screen resolutions higher than 320x320 and so on, Vista is another example where Palm just buried their head in the sand and hoped to fool theis customers with smoke'n mirrors. Essentially, Palm keeps on hoping that they will somehow be immune to the march of technological progress and, in this case, that everyone would stick to 32-bit XP Home & Pro ad infinitum.

Pilot 1000-->Pilot 5000-->PalmPilot Pro-->IIIe-->Vx-->m505-->T|T-->T|T2-->T|C-->T|T3-->T|T5-->TX-->Treo 700P

RE: Embarrassing

DarthRepublican @ 1/17/2008 10:47:17 PM #

Well the Palm Desktop is now called "Palm Desktop by ACCESS" so while Palm has been working with Microsoft, they also have to work with ACCESS in order to get things to work on the desktop. You do know what they say about too many cooks?

RE: Embarrassing

asiayeah @ 1/19/2008 10:56:23 AM #

I would suggest Palm to open-source their Palm Desktop, if it's legal for them to do so.

--
With great power comes great responsiblity.

Outlook 2007 support

orev @ 1/17/2008 12:18:16 PM #

It looks like this has Outlook 2007 support, so that's probably the biggest change.

Palm Desktop 6.2 and XP

aafuss @ 1/23/2008 6:31:57 AM #

I selected Z22 when I went to download Palm Desktop 6.2-and it is supported in XP it seems.

No support for older Palms

beerslayer @ 5/26/2008 4:26:55 AM #

The new version of Palm Desktop has at least one other major shortcoming: it does NOT support anything but the latest Palm devices. My trusty (albeit crusty) old m505 still works great and meets all of my modest needs. Having just bought a new laptop running Vista and installing a 4.x version of Palm Desktop, I was rather dismayed to discover that I could no longer install anything to my m505 during a HotSync. Both the Install tool and the QuickInstall utility are completely broken under Vista. And the 6.2 version of Palm Desktop does not support my m505! How hard can it be to patch a small install utility for Vista compatibility? If they are not going to support my device with the new version, I think they should at least patch the old version so that I can at least use it.

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