“As the Palm OS continues to grow in popularity, some handheld
hardware makers are abandoning rival Microsoft’s… Windows CE. To
compound matters, the Redmond, Wash., company is falling short in
its efforts to simplify an operating system that developers say is
too complex for palm-size devices.”
“The main attraction of the new palm-size operating system
version, code-named Rapier, is supposed to be a simplified GUI that
takes a lesson from 3Com Corp.’s Palm OS. But, according to some
developers testing Version 3.0, changes to the GUI are superficial
at best.”
“NEC… scrapped plans for developing a palm-size CE device
after building a prototype two years ago. Motorola Inc. entertained
developing software for CE two years ago but decided against…
Last month, consumer electronics giant Philips Mobile Computing
Group, of Campbell, Calif., announced it was dropping its Nino line
of CE devices…”
“As Microsoft struggles with CE, the Palm OS from
3Com’s Palm Computing division has become the hands-down favorite
in the palm-size market. Palm OS is expected to grab 80 percent
of the market for palm-size PCs this year, according to
International Data Corp., in Framingham, Mass., while
Microsoft’s market share will remain stagnant at about 13
percent.”