What's up with OS5

[Unregistered]

Okay, here's the deal, I want to upgrade to the NZ90. In my anticipation, and while I'm saving, I have been browsing through most of the threads. As I've been doing so I have come across the phrase many times "does not work on OS5." So what's the deal? In my experience with computers, whenever an operating system is upgraded, most programs made for the previous OS work fine, if not better, on the new one. This bothers me because I have a lot of programs that are necessary for my line of work on my SJ30 which I cannot do without if I upgrade! What's the deal?

[aaronrkelly]

Its not simply an upgrade in operating systems but also an upgrade in microprocessor architecture....Motorola Dragonball to ARM processor. That is where most of the problem lies, any program relying on the older OS have to be emulated - which makes some programs uncompatible or behave strangely. Its just the way it works.

[cbulock]

Well, most time when an OS is upgraded thats it. This is running a completly diferent processor. So, really, the fact that it runs almost everything that previous Palm OS's do is amazing. So this is much more than just an OS upgrade an it's really the only time that I can think of that a major OS was upgraded and swithched processors while mantaining so much compatiblity. When PPC switched processors, all the apps that weren't made for the newer processors have to be redone.

[denony]

Palm OS 5.0 drawbacks

- No 160*160 support (only 320*320 or higher applications work)
- Can handle 16 MB RAM only (32 MB for Palm OS 5.2)

[cbulock]

Originally posted by denony
Palm OS 5.0 drawbacks

- No 160*160 support (only 320*320 or higher applications work)
- Can handle 16 MB RAM only (32 MB for Palm OS 5.2)

160 * 160 apps are still supported in OS5. Just that the bitmaps look blocky.

[denony]

Originally posted by cbulock


160 * 160 apps are still supported in OS5. Just that the bitmaps look blocky.

Hmmm....
Please play to AnotherBottle (http://www.palmgear.com/software/showsoftware.cfm?sid=F25EEFED-D2CE-4015-9B1B8C8E8C50BD5A&prodID=43185), (160 *160) with a Palm OS 5 device . Tell me your score !

Then tell me if the 160*160 support is good :)

Thank you

Denony

[hansschmucker]

Wait, you're talking about different stuff!
a) 160x160 applications, that draw a complete picture into memory and then copy it to the screen. Those will NOT work, as the NX screen has twice the screen width and so, the program will copy every odd line to the left and every even line to the right side.

example:
picture on a 8x8 screen

00$$$$00
0$0000$0
0$0$$0$0
0$0000$0
0$0000$0
00$00$00
000$$000
00000000

will look like this on a 16x16 screen

00$$$$000$0000$0
0$0$$0$00$0000$0
0$0000$000$00$00
000$$00000000000
________________
________________
________________
________________
________________
________________
________________
________________
________________
________________
________________
________________


b)Applications that use the POS libraries to draw the pictures. Eventhough the pictures will still be low-res, the system automatically multiply the coordinates x2 and thereby make them work.

[denony]

Originally posted by hansschmucker

00$$$$000$0000$0
0$0$$0$00$0000$0
0$0000$000$00$00
000$$00000000000
________________
________________
________________
________________
________________
________________
________________
________________
________________
________________
________________
________________

Yes, actually, this is what AnotherBottle displays on my NZ90. :(
Consequently, I can't play with it : not compatible with Palm OS5 but it works great with Palm OS 4 when Hires is disabled !

[jwittman]

I had the same concerns before I upgraded my PDA because I had a lot of software. I have found that all but two of my applications (from the same developer) and hacks (of course) are compatible with OS5. I made a list of all my "critical" apps and checked each one on Palmgear to make sure they were OS5 ready before I upgraded.