When I first saw the Treo – then from Handspring, a company started by ex-Palm folks that was later acquired by Palm – I instantly fell in love with it. It had a great color display and a very usable keyboard. The part I didn’t fall in love with was, of course, the Palm OS. Only if this thing ran Windows Mobile… (not sure if it was called called Windows CE/Pocket PC back then… ).
It’s the same feeling I get when I lustily look at the shockingly well-designed products from another of Microsoft’s competitors – Apple. I would run out and buy a Mac Mini if it ran Windows XP Media Center – the perfect form factor and looks for a media center, imo. And if the PowerBooks and iBooks ever ran Windows, those would be the only laptops I’d ever use.
Well, seems like the first wish has already come true. Last week Bill Gates & Palm’s Ed Colligan announced the Treo 700 – a Treo that runs Windows Mobile. What probably accelerated Palm’s move to Windows Mobile is probably PalmSource – the Palm spin-off that develops Palm OS – being snapped up by a Japanese computer company.
It’d be interesting to see how the Treo 700 stacks up against Redmond’s current favorite smart-phone, the Audiovox SMT5600. With Motorola’s Razr going Windows Mobile (is that really true??) soon, we’ll have lots of cool Windows Mobile devices to choose from some time early next year.
With the Treo out of the way (or rather, hand in glove with Microsoft), I am looking forward to Intel-powered Macs next year. Who knows – it may be another wish come true!
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