PalmSource said the next version of the Palm operating system for handhelds will offer improved multitasking and graphics capabilities.
Version 6.0, code-named Sahara, will be launched Dec. 29, PalmSource said Monday at the PalmSource Developer Conference in Munich, Germany. The operating system will continue to be marketed alongside the current OS 5, with OS 6 aimed at higher-end devices. The Palm OS powers more than 30 million devices and remains the leader in the market for handheld computers, despite increasing competition from Microsoft's Pocket PC and smart-phone makers.
Larry Slotnick, chief product officer at PalmSource, said Palm OS 5 was "limited and restricted" when it came to multitasking or running applications in the background; particular difficulties arose with resource-hungry applications such as media players. Slotnick said that the issue was resolved in OS 5 by allowing applications to set priorities. "A couple of developers did figure out how to do it in version 5, but it was not in the preferred fashion," he said. "We have now done it in a way (in version 6) that makes it an absolutely standard mechanism."
News source: C|Net News.com
