Palm has confirmed that it is dropping the PalmOS operating system to concentrate fully on the webOS currently being developed for the forthcoming Palm Pre.

Palm president Ed Colligan has told investors that PalmOS is being officially retired, and that the company's Centro platform will be the last to use the software.

"There will be no more PalmOS products," he said. "We will transition to webOS as our core operating system, in addition to supporting Microsoft Windows products in the enterprise segment of the market."

PalmOS was introduced in 1996 and proved an instant hit with consumers and business users. Palm eventually sold its software division to Access, and PalmOS became GarnetOS.

Colligan said that the company is now working to transition as many developers as possible to the new operating system. He is optimistic, since webOS uses standard XHTML, JavaScript and CSS applications, and developers will not need to learn new code.

Colligan was also dismissive of hints from Apple that it may sue Palm over the new Pre device, likening the situation to two porcupines circling each other but being careful not to get pricked.

"There are no issues with Apple over patents right now," he said. "We have built a very extensive patent portfolio in the mobile space. The reason you do that is to have a defensible position in the marketplace."

Meanwhile, more details about the forthcoming Palm Pre handset have been posted on Sprint's web site, which is selling the phone exclusively in the US.

The device will have about 7.4GB of user-available memory, stereo Bluetooth and multimedia messaging services.