| Palm OS is a compact operating system | | | | overhead of PACE, Palm applications usually |
| developed and licensed by PalmSource, Inc. | | | | run faster on ARM devices than on previous |
| for personal digital assistants (PDAs) | | | | generation hardware. New software can take |
| manufactured by various licensees. It is | | | | advantage of the ARM processors with PNO |
| designed to be easy-to-use and similar to | | | | (PACE Native objects), small units of ARM |
| desktop operating systems such as Microsoft | | | | code, these are also sometimes referred to as |
| Windows. Palm OS is combined with a suite of | | | | 'ARMlets'. It was also around this time when |
| basic applications including an address book, | | | | Palm began to separate its hardware and OS |
| clock, note pad, sync, memo viewer and | | | | efforts, eventually becoming two companies, |
| security software. Palm OS was originally | | | | PalmSource, Inc. (OS) and palmOne (hardware, |
| released in 1996. | | | | now named Palm, Inc.). Further releases of |
| | | | Palm OS 5 have seen a standardised API for |
| Versions history | | | | hi-res and dynamic input areas, along with a |
| | | | number of more minor improvements. |
| Palm OS was originally developed by Jeff | | | | |
| Hawkins for use on the original Motorola | | | | Palm OS 5.2 and 4.1.2 (and later) also |
| DragonBall-based Pilot PDA by U.S. Robotics. | | | | feature Graffiti 2. This is based on Jot by |
| Palm OS 1.0 was present on the original Pilot | | | | CIC. |
| 1000 and 5000. | | | | |
| | | | Palm OS 5.4 added the Non-Volatile File |
| Palm OS 2.0 was introduced with the PalmPilot | | | | System, and used Flash for storage instead of |
| Personal and Professional. | | | | DRAM, preventing data-loss in the event of |
| | | | battery drain. However, this fundamentally |
| Palm OS 3.0 was introduced, ith the launch of | | | | changed the way programs were executed from |
| the Palm III series. Incremental upgrades | | | | the Execute-in-Place system that PalmOS |
| occurred with the release of versions 3.1, | | | | traditionally used, and has been the source |
| 3.3, and 3.5, adding support for color, | | | | of many compatibility problems, requiring |
| multiple expansion ports, new processors, and | | | | many applications to have explicit NVFS |
| other various additions. | | | | support added for them to be stable. |
| | | | |
| Palm OS 4.0 was released with the m500 | | | | In December 2006, Palm (Hardware) paid $44 |
| series, and later made available as an | | | | million to ACCESS for the rights to the |
| upgrade for older devices. This added a | | | | source code for Palm OS (6.0) Garnet. With |
| standard interface for external filesystem | | | | this arrangement, a single company is again |
| access (such as SD cards) and improved | | | | developing palm hardware and software. Palm |
| telephony libraries, security, and the UI. | | | | can modify the licensed software as needed |
| Version 4.1 included a series of bug fixes. | | | | and it need not pay royalties to ACCESS over |
| | | | future years. |
| Palm OS 5.0 was introduced in November 2002 | | | | |
| with the Tungsten T and was the first version | | | | Palm OS 1.0 to 4.1 were based on top of a |
| released to support ARM devices. Described as | | | | small kernel licensed from KADAK Products |
| a stepping stone to full ARM support, | | | | Ltd. While these versions are technically |
| DragonBall Palm apps are run in an emulated | | | | capable of multitasking, the "terms and |
| environment called the Palm Application | | | | conditions of that license specifically state |
| Compatibility Environment (PACE), making the | | | | that Palm may not expose the API for creating |
| device capable of running software written | | | | manipulating tasks within the OS." |
| for older versions. Even with the additional | | | | |