Top Ten ways PalmOS beats webOS

**cardfan** · 02/19/2009, 09:57 AM

IMO, i wouldn't say the lack of a desktop sync is a fact just yet. Surely Palm is getting feedback on that. I'd put that in the unsure category. Maybe its just my bias or that i feel strongly that one is needed.

**LonghornTreo** · 02/19/2009, 09:59 AM

Everyone needs to lighten up, he was just expressing his views as he sees them. One important thing that Palm OS will do on my current centro is allow me to keep my SERO plan. Unclear on the Pre.

**pilot1000** · 02/19/2009, 10:06 AM

LIGHTEN UP -- ARE YOU KIDDING! WE'VE GOT TO TEAR INTO THIS GUY FOR HIS FACTUAL MISTAKES!

Anyway ... regarding the "need" for users to close Pre apps ... that's the nature of any multi-tasking capability. For years I've heard Treo users lamenting the fact that they couldn't multi-task -- they couldn't keep an app open when they switched to another one even if they wanted to. It wasn't so much an "advantage" that they didn't need to close the old one -- it was a disadvantage that they couldn't multi-task!

At least it doesn't appear that the Pre is saddled with WinMob's multi-tasking debacle.

**Reeves** · 02/19/2009, 10:10 AM

I can...kinda...understand this thread's purpose, but some of the criticism in the original post seem like criticizing a a truck for not being an airplane.

I mean, "having" to close an app occurs because you are enjoying several apps running live at once...you know, multitasking. Ostensibly, you bought a Pre BECAUSE you enjoy that feature. So Palm OS not offering it is hardly an advantage. It's a different animal altogether.

Or "Stylus...some apps need one" Yes, most PalmOS apps need one. WebOS apps will not need one anymore than iPhone apps need a stylus. Assuming WebOS designers are at least as competent as the bright minds behind iBeer, iFart, and Rain Stick, of course....

And then some critiques are just baffling. "Choice of Touch or not"? I thought that's what the gesture area is for.

**anon(45821)** · 02/19/2009, 10:11 AM

Curious to know which multi-tasking OS the OP has used where you didn't have to manually close and open app.

**dd4618** · 02/19/2009, 10:16 AM

Originally Posted by NachoB

Curious to know which multi-tasking OS the OP has used where you didn't have to manually close and open app.

lol... good one

**cardfan** · 02/19/2009, 10:27 AM

I thought the Pre could anticipate when you needed an app closed? My old palm treo could..by crashing..

**reidme** · 02/19/2009, 10:35 AM

Originally Posted by NachoB

Curious to know which multi-tasking OS the OP has used where you didn't have to manually close and open app.

Actually most multi-tasking OSes will automatically close background apps if their resources are needed by new apps. Problems arise if this isn't handled well, or if the background load causes foreground apps to perform poorly. In that case you have to manually close apps. Palm has been moot on this point so far, hopefully it won't be an issue at all.

I fear the intent of my post has been misunderstood. I listed multi-tasking as one of the good things about webOS, but it does not come without cost.

**anon(45821)** · 02/19/2009, 10:41 AM

Which OS are you referring to that will automatically close a running app? I've only used Windows and apps are never automatically closed unless they crash.

**Reeves** · 02/19/2009, 10:44 AM

Yes, specific examples, please.

**tirk** · 02/19/2009, 10:54 AM

Originally Posted by cardfan

I thought the Pre could anticipate when you needed an app closed? My old palm treo could..by crashing..

That's not a feature exclusive to Palm!!

**anon(45821)** · 02/19/2009, 11:07 AM

Originally Posted by tirk

That's not a feature exclusive to Palm!!

Apple is working on that patent aren't they

**dsei** · 02/19/2009, 12:05 PM

Originally Posted by reidme

It's a fact that Palm isn't planning to provide a desktop sync option for webOS (at least initially) and PalmOS does have that. It's a fact that you have to close apps in webOS and you don't have to in PalmOS. What you quoted were my opinions of those facts. You even took the time to edit out the fact part. I'm sorry if I ruffled any feathers. I think the Pre is awesome, I just have some concerns that there might be some features that (for me) will require some getting used to and might never seem as easy to use as PalmOS. I thought there might be some other folks here who felt the same way. Mea culpa.

I don't think we can say this is 100% true at this point. From Mitch Allen's (Palm) Facebook Q&A:

Charles, the Pre and webOS will migrate your data from Palm Desktop to the Pre and there will be a number of options for you to manage your data after it�s migrated. We are committed to making the transition easy for all Palm customers, especially those of you who have come to rely on it as an essential.

I highly doubt Palm would leave its non-cloud users with no syncing options..

**reidme** · 02/19/2009, 12:18 PM

Originally Posted by NachoB

Which OS are you referring to that will automatically close a running app? I've only used Windows and apps are never automatically closed unless they crash.

Windows Mobile works that way, in theory. The first version didn't even include a way for users to close apps, but 3rd parties quickly came out with app closing utilities because of all the problems it caused. Desktop OSes rarely have to close apps because they have plenty of memory (counting virtual memory), but it still leads to crashes as you pointed out.

**Reeves** · 02/19/2009, 12:24 PM

Originally Posted by reidme

Windows Mobile works that way, in theory. The first version didn't even include a way for users to close apps, but 3rd parties quickly came out with app closing utilities because of all the problems it caused. Desktop OSes rarely have to close apps because they have plenty of memory (counting virtual memory), but it still leads to crashes as you pointed out.

Then WebOS works the exact same way...in theory. You can keep opening up cards or windows or whatever until you get tired of them. How is this a unique critique?

**Darth Pooh** · 02/19/2009, 12:30 PM

Originally Posted by mikah912

Then WebOS works the exact same way...in theory. You can keep opening up cards or windows or whatever until you get tired of them. How is this a unique critique?

I am not sure but I took it as the having to close out of apps was VS. Palm OS as a negative only in the sense of a learning curve. But then again the entire device is a learning curve... I don't think the OP expected his views to be shredded to such lengths as they have been here.

**Reeves** · 02/19/2009, 12:38 PM

Originally Posted by Darth Pooh

I am not sure but I took it as the having to close out of apps was VS. Palm OS as a negative only in the sense of a learning curve. But then again the entire device is a learning curve... I don't think the OP expected his views to be shredded to such lengths as they have been here.

I don't mean this in a snarky way, but it's a learning curve to press the only button on the face of the device and to drag a card offscreen when it is a touchscreen-oriented device to begin with? Contrast that with Windows Mobile or Android.

**sraatc17** · 02/19/2009, 12:41 PM

Originally Posted by Darth Pooh

I am not sure but I took it as the having to close out of apps was VS. Palm OS as a negative only in the sense of a learning curve. But then again the entire device is a learning curve... I don't think the OP expected his views to be shredded to such lengths as they have been here.

As a fairly new member of the forum the first thing I think of before I post is how much shi* am I going to take for this post. HAHA. You have to b ready to be ripped apart.

**Rhody** · 02/19/2009, 12:44 PM

I have never seen a Pre first-hand, but I have read a lot of articles and seen a lot of videos. So take this for what it is worth.

On the subject of closing apps, my impression is that you absolutely do not have to close apps, and that the Pre surpasses all other mobile operating systems, and even to an extent desktop operating systems, in this regard. The Pre will virtually keep a limitless number of applications "live" on the surface. But what goes on under the surface is very different. From what I have read and seen, the Pre will checkpoint applications that were least recently used, or perhaps at the bottom of the card stack, and close them, but keep an appearance of the application alive as a card. The user can always wake the application by selecting it, and the checkpoint is used to revive the application. If I have time, I will try to find where I saw this, but I believe it was in the original CES presentation.

The point of closing applications is ONLY to clean up the desktop. It's purely for simplifying the UI, or, at best, to close applications that might use system resources or to abandon an action that is no longer necessary (e.g., you decide not to write that email after all).

**anon(45821)** · 02/19/2009, 12:50 PM

What makes me think this is not that case is that when demoing cards, the presenters will note that what you are seeing in the card view is a live view of the app.. meaning, if something changes in the app while you are viewing the cards the view is going to change on the card. So the app is not just idly sitting in the background waiting for you to open it again.

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