Picking the Best Mobile OS for You

If only picking a smartphone OS were as easy as picking a desktop platform. For many, deciding what to stick on your desktop or carry around on your shoulder is a bit of a religious experience. Your mind is made up, practically from birth. If you switch from PC to Mac (or visa versa), you know you’ve made a significant shift in your technology habits. Thankfully, switching handheld platforms is not nearly as traumatic. Still, you may be locking yourself into 2 years with the same device so the decision should be made carefully.

An article in the New York Times accurately points out… “Two operating systems run more than 95 percent of the world’s computers, but dozens of systems are behind the 2.5 billion mobile phones in circulation…” There are too many directions to turn for smartphones alone. Palm? Windows Mobile? S60? Blackberry? Linux? iPhone? How do you choose?

You may know which network provider you want to use, based on the pricing of the plans and the coverage where you plan to use the phone. You may know which voice or data plan you want based on how many minutes you expect to be on the phone in a given month, how many text messages you plan to send and how much you plan to be online.

Before you decide on the hardware…thinking about things like the device weight, battery life and phone operations…you have to consider where your priorities are for the software. Here are some suggestions to guide your decision:

Ease of Use
By far, Palm OS (now ACCESS Garnet OS for those playing the name game at home) is the easiest mobile operating system to configure and master. If you want it simple (but not necessarily simplistic) and you want your operating system to do what it’s supposed to do and then get out of the way, then you should consider a Palm/ACCESS-based smartphone, such as the Treo. Palm and Symbian S60 devices (most popular worldwide) tend to be more reliable and easy-to-learn compared to Windows Mobile. While ultimately a Windows Mobile device can do much more with its many different configuration options, Palm/Garnet and S60 (and yes, even Blackberry) tend to be a better experience right out of the box if someone does not have previous experience with the operating system.

IM’ing
If sending/receiving instant messages (not necessarily SMS) is a priority, then you may want to consider the TMobile Sidekick. Otherwise lightweight for business use, Sidekicks are known for how easy it is to click off those quick messages. If you use a device on a different platform, you will probably need to rely on 3rd party software for instant messaging, such as Agile Messenger (with a version for all major platforms). Be forewarned, these messaging applications tend to be CPU and battery intensive. Consider your hardware carefully if this is a priority, or stick to your phone network’s SMS text messaging.

Speed of Text Entry
While overall speed is device dependent, if you want to enter a lot of text in a hurry then stick with Blackberry. There’s a reason for all those over-used thumbs. While other operating systems try and be “Blackberry-like” with its keyboards, the Blackberry software is designed for email communications and more time banging out text. Other keyboards may be more comfortable, but especially with Windows Mobile devices, you’ll find yourself tripping around the menus before and after you’ve typed that email to send or file it. The new Blackberry Pearls have SureType predictive typing that has been getting decent reviews. You can get fast with any platform with practice. But as a general rule, if you’re going to be spending the majority of your time on your device composing messages, then you may be leaning towards a true Blackberry and not one of the wannabes.

Desktop Compatibility
Are you planning to sync your handheld with your desktop computer? If so, your desktop platform choice may help steer you where you need to go for your handheld. When it works (which should be most of the time), Windows Mobile devices do a much better job of syncing data between Windows PCs than Palm-based devices do. It’s easier to set up, and you never have to remember to manually hit a “sync” button. If you are running Mac OS X, and you want your phone to sync with your desktop out of the box, then you should be considering a Palm OS Treo or, of course, the new Apple iPhone. Years ago, the thought of syncing a Macintosh to a Blackberry or Windows Mobile device was a distant dream. Now two companies, PocketMac and Missing Sync make software that allows a Mac to sync with devices that were formerly Windows-only-need-apply.

Software Selection
These devices do a lot right out of the box, but the real power comes from what you add to it. Maybe you like games to pass the time. Or e-books. Sync your financial application. Install a better email or text applications. Enter 3rd party developers. Palm used to be the undisputed champ in this area, but Windows Mobile has caught up fast and has appeared to take the lead. If the availability of software downloads is a priority, then you’ll definitely want Palm or Windows Mobile. Handango, a popular online store for handheld software across multiple platforms, currently shows 12,746 software titles for Windows Mobile, 10,435 software titles for Palm OS, 1,438 software titles for Blackberry, and 7,264 titles for Symbian OS. This is by no means a definitive list since not everything available is sold on Handango, but it’s a realistic picture of the market nonetheless. If you want to have the option of 3rd party tools at all, you’ll want to stay away from the Apple iPhone for the foreseeable future. It doesn’t appear that Apple will be opening the development doors anytime soon.

“Hacker” Factor
Do you like to tinker? We’re not talking just themes, skins and ringtones here. Do you want to change your menus to do exactly what you want them to do? Rearrange your startup screen just so? Do things to your handheld that will most definitely void any warranties? Windows Mobile or Linux is your handheld operating system, then. Visit xda developers forum for an idea of the possibilities…and please, backup first.

Elegance
It’s clear from the demos that Apple’s iPhone will be the winner in this category for the conceivable future. It’s simply gorgeous. The interface is as close to a scene out of Minority Report that we’re going to get in a smartphone. But is it one operating system in a crowded field too many? We’ll know in June when the device hits the streets.

What do you look for in your mobile operating system? How do you choose?

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