Max OS X 10.6 Dropping Palm Hotsync Conduit

Posted By: Tim Carroll Monday, August 24, 2009 6:54:28 PM

Quoting "sources familiar with the latest Gold Master build", AppleInsider is reporting that Apple has dropped the Palm OS HotSync conduit from Snow Leopard, the latest iteration of Mac OS X. The news is not entirely surpising: Palm have not updated the Mac version of Palm Desktop for many years now, and with the company having moved on to greener pastures with webOS it no longer makes sense for Apple to continue expending resources on maintaining the feature.

Snow Leopard upgraders still hankering for Palm OS support can still turn to third-party software to get their sync on, such as The Missing Sync from Mark/Space.

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oh great

Ed Lin @ 8/24/2009 7:18:00 PM #

This means I must rely on Missing Toilet, I mean Missing Sync... Luckily I still have my registration number on my system for this piece of garbage. I guess Snow Leopard will be worth it, I could use the freed up space on my Mac mini from installing it. (8GB less space than Leopard.) I guess this is Apple's revenge for the Palm Pre's iTunes syncing.

RE: oh great

jca666us @ 8/25/2009 4:23:22 AM #

More likely it's Apple just removing legacy code from OS X.

Everything has gotten an overhaul, including isync.

RE: oh great

LiveFaith @ 8/25/2009 5:40:13 AM #

"I guess this is Apple's revenge for the Palm Pre's iTunes syncing."

I'm sure that a few decision makers around a table grinned when the decision was made. But, Palm and Apple have always been on a competitive footing anyway. Hotsync was included to give the OS a broader appeal, like most every other feature. I would say that the decision came more from the "how do we shrink the footprint" issues. Dropping sync on a dead or dying platform is a good place to start I would think.
Pat Horne

RE: oh great

CFreymarc @ 8/26/2009 12:00:14 AM #

If a Hot Sync fell of an OS in the middle of the forest and no one was around, would it make a sound?

Bummer

Tolga @ 8/26/2009 4:34:03 PM #

I for one am not pleased about this, whatever Apple's motivation for dropping support. One more kludge to make things work...grrrrr.

Palm Desktop works fine

MrStyle @ 8/30/2009 8:51:00 AM #

This article is a bunch of... Apple removed Palm support form iSync, Apple's own software, in Snow Leopard (10.6). Palm Desktop HotSync works fine.

RE: Palm Desktop works fine

jca666us @ 8/30/2009 2:16:04 PM #

What do you expect - honest writing?

Another Freakout special - where facts matter little in his quest to document all things Palm!

Freak, can you can even afford a Mac?

If not, make sure next time you check with someone who knows what they're talking about before pulling an article like this out of your butt.

RE: Palm Desktop works fine

Tim_Carroll @ 8/30/2009 3:05:55 PM #

MrStyle: Via the linked AppleInsider report

Palm never bothered to update its Palm Desktop for Mac software to make it compatible with Apple's iSync, but Apple, in an effort to keep Macs compatible with Palm's device, created its own Palm Conduit software that linked Palm Desktop's HotSync system into iSync. This software was then incorporated as part of iSync 2.0, released as part of Mac OS X Tiger nearly half a decade ago.

Sorry if it wasn't clear enough for you.