Palm OS vs. Windows Mobile: The Debate Continues

For the last three weeks or so, I've been carrying around what look like two copies of the same phone -- the new Palm Treo 700w that I reviewed in yesterday's paper, and the older Palm Treo 650 that I bought last summer.

I've had a lot of trouble telling the two apart. Several times, I grabbed the wrong one when I didn't notice minor differences like the placement of the Verizon logo (top right of the 700w, top left of the 650), the more rounded corners on the bottom of the 700w, and the Windows Mobile logo on the back of the 700w.

For Palm to adopt its competitor's operating system seems fundamentally bizarre. It's one of those shifts that seem simply unimaginable -- like, say, Apple switching to Intel processors or the leadoff hitter for the Red Sox signing with the Yankees.

Quite a few years ago, I wrote review of Dell's first Axim handheld and was surprised by how much e-mail I got in return from fans of Microsoft's handheld software -- called Pocket PC at the time, Windows Mobile today.

Although it's hard to find passionate advocates of Windows on desktop and laptop computers, on the portable-device front Microsoft seems to have a lot of fans. And when they read comments like "Windows Mobile takes more steps than the Palm OS," they want to know how I can prove that.

In some cases, I come to my decision from simple observation. For example, I like adding software to a Palm more than on a Windows Mobile device. That's because almost every Windows Mobile program I've seen has arrived on my PC as a little executable program that, when launched, runs a standard installer routine and deposits the program on the handheld.

That bugs me -- why do I have to risk my computer's safety by running some strange application every time I add new software to a smartphone? (There's always the chance some clown will decide to try to hide some spyware in one of these downloads.)

I'd rather see Windows Mobile applications distributed as Palm programs are -- small files that, when double-clicked, open my usual sync software which, in turn, will send them over to the device.

But in some cases, there's no substitute for taking obsessively detailed notes of my use.  For example, I spent an hour or so Thursday morning conducting the in identical set of tasks on the 700w and the 650, writing down each button I pressed, each key I tapped and each screen icon I pressed with my thumb, starting with the device off and finishing with the task completed and any input properly saved.

I did these tests one-handed, so using either handheld's stylus wasn't an option. The final "scores" also don't count any actual typing of data, which would be the same on either device, just the steps needed to get to and from data entry.

The following was taken from my notebook ("center," down," "up," "left" and "right" refer to the five-way controller on both handhelds, while "left soft key" and "right soft key" refer to the two unlabeled buttons below the 700w's screen, which invoke left and right menus in most programs -- just in case anybody is dying to repeat this research on their own):

First test: Look up my wife's cell-phone number and dial it.