>Wouldn't Java require a 32 bit system?
I can't think why it should. Oh, if you're going to port sun's
implementation to something with a segmented architecture you might have
some work to do, but if you're re-implementing from scratch it's much of
a muchness. I think that the main complications would have to do with
thread and exception support, but I don't think they'd be beyond a
solution.
As to GadgetMaster's worry about graphics, sure, you won't get your
little zoomer to do a lot by way of smooth animation or vrml or anything
like that, but who knows what kind of grunt GEOS devices's are going to
acquire over the next five years? Zoomers are lovely boxes, but they
were designed, what, four years ago? Don't think that they're all that's
possible now. Think about things like Nintendo's $180 "Virtual Boy" -
that's what possible now. Next year, who knows?
And perhaps one point of a JVM implementation, if it were to be
undertaken, would be to take advantage of the nokia/geos partnership
that we've heard about here. Or it could be done in order to vastly
broaden the software base of the existing PDA's - there's tons of
graphics-unintensive applets being written out there; the java
explosion is making even web penetration look slow.
Probably the likeliest person to get involved in a GEOS/JVM would
be John Feras - IZL is no JVM, but there are distinct similarities. If
John is reading this, perhaps he'll comment?
Pete.