It's been an exciting month for Palm OS multitasking. In the past few weeks we've seen the launch of Multitasker 1.0, the subsequent availibility of an installer for it, and Pruss's Sub-Launcher,which, while not quite multitasking, is still very useful for suspejding applications. Oh, and let's not forget about arch-rival PDA Performance's release of the Saguaro Sneak Peak a few weeks after the Multitasker 1.0 launch(A coincidence? Methinks not). Anyway, moving onwardly...

In the last few weeks there has been a lot of feedback, both positive and negative, about Multitasker. One of the most-lamented thing about is applications:namely that they suck. I agree wholehaertedly. The applications that come with Multitasker are not the kind of killer apps that you're going to use for any length of time that actually makes Multitasking worthwhile. It's kind of cool to see a timer ticking down while moving a Sticky window around and drawing in Sketchy, but the novelty of that wears off after a whie.

The good thing is that that's being fixed, starting next monday. That's when the first Multitasker 1.0-enhanced addon program gets released, a ToDo/Tasks replacdeent called DueItToday. After that, we'll be working on eventually creating replacements for Palm's PIM suite and then--who knows? A web browser sounds kind of cool, as does an IM client or newsreader.

One thing that won't be in new versions is fancy, Saguaro-type graphics. Why? Because I have limited resources, and I would rather focus them on the functional end of the product(there's a reason why Saguaro's been in development for three years and I wrote Multitasker in a month). On the other hand, it's open source, so if someone else wants to make a version with this kind of capability, go ahead!.

Sincerely,
Nathan Whitmore