Of course licensees _should_ always evaluate their options when they create a new device. Depending upon the device they're creating, they'll evaluate a possibly different, but definitely intersecting, list of providers: Symbian, Linux, Palm OS (68k, OS5, OS6, Linux), Windows CE, XP Embedded, QNX, etc.
But, I did not assume that it was going to take some time. They've been working on this for over a month so far (based on when they acquired this technology), clearly someone "sold" you on this early on (was it George or Mike or Cyril?), so they've done _some_ work. However, what I'm stating is that PalmSource doesn't typically ask their licensees if they would purchase X or purchase Y prior to implementing it. Rather, they implement major low level OS changes WITHOUT discussing this with their licensee and developer base. That's a very risky proposition REGARDLESSS of how long it takes to release it.
As far as finally having an ARM port of their product... They've had one since OS 5 that they could have done this with. Rather, they decided to acquire Be, use a bit of their technology, write a homegrown KERNEL for use on the new OS6, and now move on to Linux. It would have been much better to base this on Linux prior to the move to OS6. Now, this latest release of OS6 is the third release that's finally done.
It doesn't matter if you know Linux or not. It is clear that PalmSource is slowly offshoring all of their development to China, and this is just another indicator. Just start looking for work elsewhere. It is only a matter of time.
Certainly Palm has a fully-developed sales channel, as do some of other Palm OS licensees. However, you're making the assumption that these licensees, palmOne in particular, are going to pick up this release. palmOne, and other licensees, are going to look at this very closely and make that determination _after_ PalmSource has almost finished development. That doesn't give me a warm and fuzzy.
I'm shorting my stock right now.
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Of course licensees _should_ always evaluate their options when they create a new device. Depending upon the device they're creating, they'll evaluate a possibly different, but definitely intersecting, list of providers: Symbian, Linux, Palm OS (68k, OS5, OS6, Linux), Windows CE, XP Embedded, QNX, etc. But, I did not assume that it was going to take some time. They've been working on this for over a month so far (based on when they acquired this technology), clearly someone "sold" you on this early on (was it George or Mike or Cyril?), so they've done _some_ work. However, what I'm stating is that PalmSource doesn't typically ask their licensees if they would purchase X or purchase Y prior to implementing it. Rather, they implement major low level OS changes WITHOUT discussing this with their licensee and developer base. That's a very risky proposition REGARDLESSS of how long it takes to release it. As far as finally having an ARM port of their product... They've had one since OS 5 that they could have done this with. Rather, they decided to acquire Be, use a bit of their technology, write a homegrown KERNEL for use on the new OS6, and now move on to Linux. It would have been much better to base this on Linux prior to the move to OS6. Now, this latest release of OS6 is the third release that's finally done.
It doesn't matter if you know Linux or not. It is clear that PalmSource is slowly offshoring all of their development to China, and this is just another indicator. Just start looking for work elsewhere. It is only a matter of time.
Certainly Palm has a fully-developed sales channel, as do some of other Palm OS licensees. However, you're making the assumption that these licensees, palmOne in particular, are going to pick up this release. palmOne, and other licensees, are going to look at this very closely and make that determination _after_ PalmSource has almost finished development. That doesn't give me a warm and fuzzy. I'm shorting my stock right now.