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PalmSource on Tuesday announced their long-awaited Linux-based handheld operating system, the Access Linux Platform (ALP), which will bring full Palm compatibility to handhelds with a Linux core.

"ALP brings the best of all worlds" to the handheld community, with the ease of use of Palm OS and the power and openness of Linux, said Albert Chu, Vice President, Business Development at PalmSource.


Based on the Linux 2.6.12 kernel, ALP contains an unusual number of application programming interfaces (APIs), all tied together by a new graphic interface called MAX. Old-school Palm OS apps will run in an emulation layer, and existing Palm OS developers can continue to use their familiar APIs, Chu said.

Linux developers familiar with the GTK+ interface can write applications using that API. Palm would prefer, though, that developers use the new native MAX API, which offers the most complete access to system services. Java applications will also run on the new devices.
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Read More / Source: PC Magazine