The Palm OS® Emulator is software that emulates the hardware of the various models of Palm OS platform devices. It is extremely valuable for running Palm applications on desktop or laptop computers. Create "virtual" handhelds by running the Emulator on Mac OS or Windows computers.

Figment can run on the Palm OS Emulator and use the computer's serial port to connect to the Sidewinder console, just as if you had a physical Palm handheld. Also, if your computer is USB-based, a simple USB-to-Serial converter can be used to connect to the Sidewinder interface.

Please Note: The Palm OS Emulator is a Mac OS or Windows software application written, maintained and supported by palmSource. Interactive Technologies does not support this application in any way. It is extremely useful, but we cannot guarantee its operation with your computer. If you have any problems with it, we can try to help, but any bugs will have to be resolved by palmSource.

The Pros and Cons of the Palm OS Emulator

The Palm OS Emulator will run on both a Mac OS or Windows based machine, however it requires ROM images to be loaded into it. You can do this if you own a palmOne compatible handheld, but if you do not, its nearly impossible to get one, since palmSource considers its ROM files copyrighted material. You might want to check out another tool that palmSource distributes, which is the Palm OS Simulator, which has different pros and cons.

Using the Palm OS Emulator

The Emulator software does not include ROM images. It is like a computer without an operating system. palmSource considers the ROM images from each of their handheld devices as copyrighted material and does not give them away for free. Therefore, there are two ways to get a ROM image needed for the Emulator:

• Upload the ROM from your existing Palm handheld. Instructions for doing this are included in the Emulator download file. This way you can emulate your specific Palm on your computer. This is by far the most straightforward way to go.
   
• Download ROM image files from Palm's Developer Resource Pavilion. This requires that your register with this site as a Palm Solution Provider. Since a real person at Palm will be reviewing your application before granting access to ROM images, we strongly suggest option 1 above.