- page 2

Does this mean Palm is abandoning the Palm OS? Well, after the press announcement I had a few words with Francois Bornibus, Palm’s Vice President for EMEA (Europe, the Middle East and Africa). He told me that there is a roadmap with further Windows Mobile based connected devices from Palm. He also assured me that the Treo roadmap included Palm OS based devices too, and that the Palm OS was not going be challenged on unconnected PDAs.

Bornibus also had something interesting to say to me about Palm fans who are feeling that their hero has gone down in the most ignominious way to its arch enemy. I pointed out that a lot of Palm OS users are fiercely loyal to the OS and to Palm itself, and they might feel betrayed by the partnership with Microsoft. His response was that this reaction was an understandable one, but that Palm was not abandoning the Palm OS, and that it was simply engaged in commercial activity to reach new customers. The company was not, he said, leaving the Palm OS out in the cold.

The new Windows Mobile Treo might feel rather like Marmite and honey being chemically synthesised into a new foodstuff. But in fact Marmite and honey exist in mature markets, with customers who know which they prefer and, (unless there are some people with really strange taste-buds out there), might like both individually but would never dream of mixing them together. The smartphone and PDA markets are nowhere near maturity – not even approaching adolescence yet, and in immature markets, experimentation can be crucial.

There’s little doubt that for both Microsoft and Palm this is a Really Big Deal, but for different reasons.

For Palm it really is about access to corporate markets. Palm has been trying to break in here for most of its life, and has never been particularly successful. The Palm OS is inherently unfamiliar to office workers whose environment is Windows-driven, while behind the scenes if Microsoft’s software controls networking IT, staff are easily drawn to bolting on more Microsoft driven stuff in front of house.

For Microsoft it is about consolidating domination of the office software scene to people working outside the office. Microsoft has licensed Exchange Server ActiveSync to others, for example Nokia. So for Microsoft this is less about having the dominant OS on mobile devices than about ensuring its office based systems remain central for mobile diary, contacts and email. The sideswipe at the very successful RIM helps, too, I guess. If you are nonplussed by this, note that during the launch presentation Bill Gates pointed out that there are 130 million Exchange users, and only 15 million have mobile email: the implication – the market is huge, largely untapped, and there for the taking.

Where both companies agree is that this is about corporate customers. Consumers are definitely the poor relations in this particular strategy game, though there is no doubt that some will be drawn to the new device as they have been to the Treo 650 in the UK. It looks like we’ll be able to get a handle on which OS they prefer in about a years’ time.

A final thought while you are pondering the weighty issues above: what ever happened to Palm OS 6 Cobalt? The one actually designed for smartphones from the ground up?