Do you need multi-tasking?

[zhamilton1]

Do you have a need for using many applications at once?

[sindu]

Yep...

[briandavis]

Could definitely be useful...

[Talula]

I don't get it. My PPC supposedly Multitasks. Sure, it has lots of programs open at once. But I can only actually be using one at a time. And I'm still at least 2 taps away from every other program. How is this any different than what we do on the Palm OS. Oh yeah, and sometimes I foget to close all those programs. Then I can't sync.

[hansschmucker]

We already have extentions, DAs, hacks, silkplugins, background applications ... POS has great multi-tasking capabilities, however most applications choose to save their data, close themselves and just restore the data at the next startup, which isn't much slower then staying in memory and redrawing the screen on restore, as most programs are only about 300k in size anyway.

[hansschmucker]

Oh and I use multitasking to listen to music while doing any work.

[OcellNuri]

The apps I find I need true multitasking with are all of my "online" apps such as Netfront, WebproV, Verichat, Cliemail.... etc.

Transfering data between different apps would also be easier if we had multitasking.

[n2ifp]

I can do only one thing at a time :)!

[hansschmucker]

Originally posted by OcellNuri

Transfering data between different apps would also be easier if we had multitasking.

How come? I mean a browser with auto-disconnect disabled, a cache wich will always display the old version until it has retrieved the new version of a file and a open last page on startup option wouldn't be any worse would it? Has IMHO not much to do with multitasking

[RMCF]

In a such a small screen, multitasking can actually be a negative point. One of the main things I hated about my PPC is that it had all these apps open, but on the PALM it is much more usable.

I hope OS5 doesn't get into the PPC mentality of bloated soft, and bigger processors.

[OcellNuri]

Originally posted by hansschmucker


How come? I mean a browser with auto-disconnect disabled, a cache wich will always display the old version until it has retrieved the new version of a file and a open last page on startup option wouldn't be any worse would it? Has IMHO not much to do with multitasking

I agree with you, that if you have the right setup then there is not much of a problem. I am thinking of other situations though.

I recently got SplashID and had to get all of my information from the MemoPad into SplashID. Everytime you exit SplashID, you have to put in the password to get back in. This made it pretty tedious. Also, while in the built in address book, if you leave and come back it does not keep a contact open. I have also found myself wishing for multitasking while using Mapopolis. If I leave ther app to look up a phone number or note, I lose the route I have plotted.

I am on no way dissatisfied with how the PalmOS behaves. I think the one-app-at-one-time approach has kept things simple for the user, and the developer as far as free memory and other resources go. I am honest, though, when I say there are times when I wish I could have more than one app going at once.


*Posted from Latin class on the NX*

[sadrik]

I never really missed multitasking until I got my 802.11b card for my NX70v. Then it became absolutely necessary.

I always inhabit IRC when I'm online, and the ability to be able to background an IRC client to check out an URL is a nobrainer. Currently, you're left with jumping in and out of IRC every time you want to watch Netfront crawl and complain about pages too big.

Argh.

[gferreroferri]

Specially for internet ussage with instant messenger programs and web browsing I really miss the multitask! Would it be possible to develope a software in order to handle tasks?

Guillermo

[hherbzilla]

Originally posted by gferreroferri
Specially for internet ussage with instant messenger programs and web browsing I really miss the multitask! Would it be possible to develope a software in order to handle tasks?

Guillermo I agree with you and Ocell. This is where I miss it.

[hherbzilla]

*Posted from Latin class on the NX*You sick little monkey.

*ahem* Actually, I took 2 years of Spanish in HS and then 2 years of Latin in college. WTF was I thinking?

[falafel]

Part of Palm's elegance is its lack of multi-tasking.. - Palm makes it simpler - the way programs stay where you last left them, multi-tasking isn't needed in most circumstances.. Palms at this point in time are pretty much only for data entry and retreival, and simple fast processing of information (ie, calculators, spreadsheets, converters).. Until Palms begin to process information that actually takes more than a second or two, multi-tasking seems like an unecessary feature.. I think a better solution that Palm might want to consider is something similiar to a built in 'mcphling'-type application that always runs and gives you an option through the menu bar to bookmark the part of the application that you need to access again soon..( For example a person's address in the address app.)This way, you can jump right back to that person's address from memo pad or some other app, simply by selecting a bookmarked "link" from the menu bar... Palm, are you listening? Guys, this is all we need Palm to do. We do not want multi-tasking.. That's way to Pocket-pc'esque...

[mouthdrummer]

The new generation of PDA's are actually becoming multitasking machines. I suspect that in the next two or three years, we'll see a shift more in that directions.


Hey, as long as it doesn't slow things down.