Author: Frank Schneider
Date: 09:54:27 06/19/02
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On June 18, 2002 at 19:05:19, Tom Kerrigan wrote: >Can you quote the relevant passage? Because I still don't see it. >-Tom Hi Tom! The correct link is: http://www.palminfocenter.com/view_Story.asp?ID=3676 I wouldn't call this source of information about Palm vs. Pocket PC "neutral" ;-) The flood of similar stories released by palminfocenter is IMHO caused by fear. Frank Here's the text: Palm OS 5 Can Take Full Advantage of Intel's XScale Posted by: Ed on Tuesday, June 18, 2002 8:29:15 AM It was recently revealed in a silicon.com article that the soon to be released handhelds that run the Pocket PC OS on the PXA250, Intel's new XScale processor, won't see an increase in speed when compared to the the company's older StrongARM processors. As Palm OS 5 can run on these same chips, some people have wondered if it will also be limited. Fortunately, this turns out to not be the case. Companies who want to offer their processors to Palm OS licencees can join the Palm OS Ready Program, and Intel chose to do so. This means Intel was responsible for creating a Device Abstraction Layer (DAL) for its own processors. A DAL is sort of a translation layer between the hardware and the OS, intended to remove any incompatibilities between, say, Intel and Texas Instruments chips. Therefore, it was up to Intel to make sure that Palm OS 5 took full advantage of its processors, not PalmSource. It is in Intel's best interest to make the Palm OS run as well as possible on its XScale processors because it is in competition with Texas Instruments and Motorola for the Palm OS licencees' business. Gina Clark, VP of Marketing for PalmSource, said when the PXA250 was announced, "Intel's high-performing, low-power processors coupled with the Palm OS, make for a compelling and powerful platform. Palm OS licensees and the broad base of Palm developers will be able to take advantage of the full benefits of the Intel XScale technology." The PXA250 can run at 400 MHz while using the same amount of power as a 206 MHz StrongARM chip. But in order for this to happen, the handheld's operating system needs to be optimized for the PXA250. Pocket PC 2002 isn't and therefore will be limited to 200 MHz. A version of that operating system that is optimized for Xscale may not be available until 2004. Thanks to Dan Royea for the tip and Russell for his help with this article. -Ed
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