Newton OS

the messagepad is powered by Newton OS
a mobile OS with great feature and even greater ideas.

besides handwriting recognition, the storage of data in databases, which could be accessed by all programs, is an outstanding feature.

Version 1.0 - 1.2
Version 1.3
Version 2.0
Version 2.1

Newton OS was a very advanced system in its time (and still is).

General Informations

There's an excellence FAQ about Newton OS by the The Newton FAQ Group. Because there are people who can write text better than I can, I limit myself to publishing pictures and a tiny bit of text. There are almost no optical differences within version 1, but for the sake of completeness I list everything anyway.

Newton OS 1.00

Running on a Sharp Expertpad (English):

Newton OS 1.10

Running on a Messagepad OMP (English):

Newton OS 1.1.00

Running on a Messagepad OMP (German):

Newton OS 1.2.00

Running on a Messagepad 110 (English):

Newton OS 1.3

Changelog for 1.3 (excerpt)¹

Handwriting recognition works more consistently for all users.
MessagePad 100: When you have more than 25 items visible in the Extras Drawer, icons are displayed properly.
MessagePad 100: Alarm windows are no longer closed when the MessagePad goes to sleep. When you turn your MessagePad back on, you can see all the notifications that arrived while you weren’t using your MessagePad.

Running on a Messagepad 100 (German):

Running on a Messagepad 120 (German):

Newton OS 2.0

Changelog for 2.0 (excerpt)²

Writing and Drawing: Get better recognition through expanded word coverage.
Notepad: Create different types of notes using “stationery” such as Note, Checklist, or Outline [...]
Extras Drawer: View packages by icon or by name and tap the scroll arrows to view additional items.
Filing and organizing information: Organize applications and application information in folders.

Version 2.0 also added support for ethernet cards and networking support.

Running on a Messagepad 130 (German):