Who is Who in Mobile Operating Systems

The desktop computing world is dominated by Microsoft Windows, but with a few smaller companies in there swinging, like the Mac OS. The smartphone market is much more complicated. There are five or six mobile operating systems slugging it out for dominance.

To pick out the right smartphone you should really have some basic idea of the differences between these.

BlackBerry

BlackBerries were one of the early success stories in smartphones, and they continue to sell very well to companies and business users. The hallmark of these devices is something called push email, in which messages are delivered immediately to the user's handset.

The company behind the BlackBerry is Canada's Research In Motion (RIM), who has been working hard in recent years to widen the appeal of its products to consumers. It has met with some success with models like the Pearl, but still has a long way to go before the iconic image of the BlackBerry user is something besides a corporate executive.

All BlackBerries are made by RIM, but they are available from just about every wireless carrier around the world. There's a limited range of shapes and sizes, as all of them include a built-in keyboard of some type and don't employ touchscreens, this point anyway. Selecting items on the screen is done with a trackball.

The market for third-party BlackBerry software has never really gotten off the starting line. There are applications for these devices, but comparatively few.

iPhone

In the last year or so Apple has shaken up the smartphone market with the iPhone line. These devices have convinced millions that they should upgrade from their old, rather limited, phones to something more powerful.

Of course, all iPhones are made by Apple. There are currently only two devices, both of which use the same form-factor: a tablet shape with a large touchscreen and no hardware keyboard.

The iPhone offers the best mobile web browser available, and a great many people find the whole device easy to use.

Apple is just getting its system for third-party software off the ground, so the selection of applications is limited when compared to the other options. Most users of this smartphone line are consumers, and the vast majority of software titles available for it are consumer-oriented. This means you're more likely to find software related to Facebook than you are to Lotus Notes.

Still, Apple is working to make the iPhone and iPhone 3G more usable to business people, but there's a great deal of work to be done in this area.

Palm OS

Palm, Inc. got its start making PDAs, but has since moved into the smartphone business, as these are basically PDAs with a phone grafted on.

As it stands now, there are a limited number of Palm OS phones on the market, and virtually all are targeted at consumers. This includes the popular and inexpensive Centro, which is available in numerous countries. This uses a tablet shape, with a built-in keyboard and a touchscreen.

There is a really huge library of third-party Palm OS applications, including ones for both business users and consumers.

Symbian S60

Those in the United States can be forgiven for being unfamiliar with Symbian S60, as it hasn't caught on in this country. But it's very heavily used in Europe. This isn't surprising, as the lion's share of smartphones running this operating system are made by the Finnish giant Nokia.

Many of the consumer-oriented models running Symbian S60 have a numberpad, while most business-oriented ones have a keyboard. But both have one thing in common: no touchscreens. Instead, they are primarily controlled with directional pads.

The price range for these models varied widely. There are many low-cost devices but also high-end ones loaded with cutting-edge features.

There is a related but still very different system called Symbian UIQ. This is a touchscreen-based, and it has some fans in Europe, it really hasn't found much of an audience.

Windows Mobile

Just as Microsoft makes an operating system for desktops and laptops, it also makes one for smartphones. This is called Windows Mobile, and looks and acts a bit like it's big brother, the regular version of Windows. There's a Start Menu, for example, and a File Explorer, and a version of Office. But don't try to push the similarities too far. Applications written for Windows XP won't run on Windows Mobile, and vice versa.

In general, this operating system primarily appeals to business people. It's well connected to Microsoft's enterprise software, like Exchange Server, and this appeals to IT managers. Still, there are companies who make consumer-friendly devices.

Windows Mobile is one of the most powerful smartphone operating systems available, but not the easiest to use. There is a wide variety of third-party software for it that appeals to both business users and consumers.

It is developed by Microsoft, but licensed to a variety of other companies. That's why you'll see Windows Mobile devices from HTC, Samsung, Motorola, and even Palm from wireless carriers around the world.

There's probably a greater variety of shapes and sizes for Windows Mobile devices than any other mobile platform. Many have hardware keyboards, while others have numberpads, and still others depend heavily on their touchscreens.

There are two editions of this operating system, one for smartphones with touchscreens and a second for smartphones without touchscreens. These editions look and act differently, and software is not cross-compatible.