SAN FRANCISCO, California (AP) -- The software that popularized the handheld computer was dealt a large blow Monday, as Palm Inc. announced that it would use Windows software in its latest Treo smartphone.
The announcement comes at the expense of the PalmOS, which is maintained and sold by PalmSource Inc., a company that was spun off from Palm Inc. in 2003.
The PalmOS was a large part of what made Palm handhelds a breakthrough product in the middle of the 90s. It was simple to use and ran well on processors which were, by today's standards, very slow.
Microsoft's early attempts to catch up to Palm and extend its Windows franchise into handheld computing were poorly received. The software giant was criticized for attempting to replicate the capabilities of a personal computer on gadgets with tiny screens and poor computing capacity.
But the hardware improved rapidly, and Microsoft steadily put out new and better versions of its software, while PalmOS was hobbled by its origins as software for gadgets with modest processors and memory.
In announcing the Treo phone on Monday, Palm CEO Ed Colligan said Microsoft Corp.'s Windows Mobile 5.0 operating system was chosen because it offered features that PalmOS could not.
"It's about growth and about taking this whole category to the next level," he said. "We think that this operating system offers some functionality that the Palm operating system doesn't necessarily have. Certainly it does some things better."
Colligan stood beside a former rival, Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates, and Verizon Wireless Chief Executive Denny Strigl as he made the announcement in San Francisco.
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