Psion prepares the way for the one true OS

Psion, the flagship of British mobile computing, has struck its colours and surrendered to the Evil Empire. It is abandoning Epoc and turning to Windows CE.

Bugler, blow the last post. Plucky little Epoc. No chance against the big guns...end of a dream...brave fight against overwhelming odds...sniff...

Rubbish. Come on, snap out of it. This is an operating system, fergawdsake, not a baby. We really have got to grow out of the religious fundamentalism that warps people's judgement when it comes to personal computers.

All the minority (i.e. non-Microsoft) operating systems have their zealots, people who hold their chosen OS in a quite irrational awe. Apple has a following of legendary fanaticism. Palm inspires passion. And, before The Fall, Psioneers used to rave about the superiority of Epoc above all others.

But now Psion has ditched Epoc altogether. The company's new Next Generation Terminal, a nifty little data collection device for warehousemen, ticket collectors, traffic wardens and so on, runs Windows CE.net. And, more significantly for diehard Psioneers, the next version of Psion's mini-notebook, the netBook, will run Windows CE.net as well.

The netBook is Psion's sole remaining product with consumer appeal, because it is just about the only genuinely mobile computer with a proper keyboard and a decent size screen. It is light and robust. The battery lasts for days rather than hours. It comes on instantly - no boring bootup. And it does everything an office worker wants to do on the move.

Unfortunately, Epoc is running out of steam. It does not do USB or Bluetooth and the WiFi implementation is very sketchy.

Of course, Psion could update to its love-child Symbian, born of its relationship with the mobile phone industry. Unfortunately, Symbian has grown away from its parent, and is now so totally aligned with the needs of the mobile phone it would be just as expensive to adapt it for computer use as to go the CE.net route.

It is time for Epoc to draw to a close.

I personally am sad about this. I have been using Psion notebooks since the old MC400 and greatly value their ease of use, battery life and stylish design. But I want Bluetooth, USB, brighter screen and all the other great stuff that the new CE.net-based netBook will feature. So when it arrives later this year, I will be at the front of the queue.

But my conversion to Windows CE will not last long, I suspect.

Slowly, a new movement is building behind Linux. Right now, it is not being taken entirely seriously because its evangelists tend to be wild-eyed prophets with Biblical long hair and sandals (yes, I am talking about Richard Stallman here).

But for all the preachiness of the messengers, Linux is beginning to look like the way of the future for ordinary, run-of-the-mill desktop computers.

The software has existed for some time, and it has proved capable of running well in handheld gizmos up to the largest supercomputers. It is making major inroads into professional markets, mainly servers.

Office software on Linux is now as good as the Windows and Apple equivalents.

As Microsoft continues to enforce its registration policy, people with two or three computers at home will start to demand an operating system they can use on the old machines without paying Bill a large wedge of money for the privilege.

A market will build up for Linux games, the games people will start to supply it, and before we know it, the dam will burst and we will be free. FREE, I tell you.

Sorry. I was beginning to froth a bit there. But then, when the dust has settled and we all use Linux as God intended, it will be the only operating system. And the wars of religion will be over.