Which handheld operating system is right for you?
Now you have a general overview of what each operating system has to offer, but you still may be asking yourself, which is right for me? This will largely depend on what types of functionality are important to you. Palm and Windows Mobile handhelds offer mass appeal to general consumers and business users alike with their mix of productivity and entertainment features. For years, these two handheld operating systems have competed fiercely to woo handheld buyers, but now, they're almost evenly matched in terms of the core applications: an address book, a calendar, a to-do list, and memos. Palm still holds the advantage in PC synchronization as it works with both Mac- and Windows-based computers right out of the box, and the operating system benefits from a large library of third-party applications; however, Windows Mobile is by far the champ of multimedia capabilities.
For e-mail fanatics, the BlackBerrys' combination of push technology and integrated QWERTY keyboards is hard to beat, and though they've generally been more business-centric devices, RIM has made a push to reach more customers with consumer-friendly models and has successfully done so with the RIM BlackBerry Pearl and Curve series. Still, the entertainment features lag a bit behind the rest as does the Web browsing experience. Finally, Symbian might not be the most recognized OS among the group, it offers corporate users powerful productivity and security tools, and the versatility of the OS opens itself up to more general audiences. The only setback has been the limited number of Symbian-based smart phones available in the United States.
To further help you with your buying decision, we've rounded up some of our top product picks for each handheld OS. Check them out below.
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