This is the problem with backwards compatibility. We take it a policy here to support
all the way back to 3.0. One programmatic
technique is to check for the OS version or libraries that are there. You can pop up
a message saying they need these libraries or
to upgrade their OS. Considering the market, expect a lot of "How do I upgrade tech
support?" calls. Jeff Hawkins at the launch of
Visor stated that only 5% of the user base has upgraded their Flashable Palm devices.
Then there are the units with masked ROMs
which can be upgraded but only with a memory patch if it is made available.
One concession is to compartmentalize your 3.5 API calls and disable the functionality
if running on an older device. You could
even have an error message saying "To use the feature, please upgrade you Palm device
to OS version X.X. Check www.palm.com for
upgrade details." The last can save you a lot of support calls. Another technique is
to put an 3.5 OS call functionality into your
app for older devices. But then, that is a bit self defeating.
Hope this helps out!
Steve
Robert Cohen wrote:
> I am working with OS 3.5. The features are great.
>
> Rob
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: DIAMOND JEFF [SMTP:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]
> Sent: Tuesday, July 18, 2000 1:20 PM
> To: Palm Developer Forum
> Subject: Using OS 3.5 calls...
>
> This is a question that generally applies to all platforms and all OS's,
> but I wanted some advice from actual Palm programmers as to how long
> they wait before writing to the highest OS.
>
> OS 3.5 has some very nice features I could take advantage of. But if I
> use it more than trivially, I'd have to write a substantially different
> version of my code to work on < 3.5 devices. And once I finished this,
> I'd have accomplished the same thing without using 3.5.
>
> Yet, obviously Palm wants us to use their new features...
>
> Any thoughts?
>
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