Palm's embrace of Windows for Treo clouds future of Palm OS

Computerworld - Palm Inc.'s announcement this week of a Treo smart phone that will run Windows Mobile provoked a debate among IT managers over whether Microsoft Corp.'s operating system or Palm OS is the better choice for users.
But 10 IT managers interviewed after the announcement agreed on one thing: They would prefer to deploy a single mobile operating system to help simplify support.
"Fundamentally, I'm not a Microsoft hater, and I might want Windows Mobile in five years," said Bruce Hagen, vice president of corporate information systems at Bemis Manufacturing Co. in Sheboygan Falls, Wis. "[But] we want to have one OS to support. There are too many support issues with one, let alone [two]."
About 50 end users at Bemis use Treo 650s running Palm OS to access the company's Exchange e-mail server and place voice calls through Good Technology Inc.'s GoodLink service. Hagen explained that GoodLink gives him all the functions Microsoft and Palm are promising in the Windows-based device. And he said he doesn't expect Palm to back away from Palm OS.
But Drew Mazeitis, manager of mobility at Ferrellgas Partners LP, a nationwide propane retailer in Liberty, Mo., said that Palm's market share has been "eroding quickly." With this week's news, he said, "every day we are closer to the reality that [Palm OS is] dead."
Ferrellgas uses Windows Mobile to power 4,000 custom handhelds used by propane service workers and about 50 Samsung Corp. flip phones for the company's executives.
"As much as you hate to feed the Microsoft machine, they continue to improve their products and integrate things and make it hard for you to not use their stuff," Mazeitis said.
Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Palm said the new Treo will be available in the U.S. early next year and will initially work on Verizon Wireless' cellular network (see "Palm's Windows Treo to arrive in early 2006"). The use of Windows Mobile 5.0 will let users hook their Treos into Exchange servers and deploy applications written for Windows on the phones, according to company officials.
Following the announcement, Gartner Inc. issued a report recommending that corporate users "make no further investments in Palm OS Treos for enterprise applications." The new device will enable Palm to compete more effectively against Research In Motion Ltd.'s BlackBerry and the growing number of handhelds based on Windows Mobile 5.0, Gartner said in the report.
Palm OS is developed by PalmSource Inc., a separate company that last month agreed to be acquired by Tokyo-based Access Co.
Gartner analyst Todd Kort said the