Earlier we filled you in on Palm's plans to minimize its dependence on PalmSource and Microsoft by developing its own Linux-based OS. Now Palminfocenter tells us that Access, the new owner of PalmSource, has released some preliminary info and screenshots of its own next-gen Linux-based OS, given the provisional name of the Access Linux Platform (ALP), at the ongoing Linuxworld Conference in Boston.

PalmSource says that ALP's rooted in the Palm OS for Linux project and is the combination of this project, the NetFront mobile web browser and several open source projects.

Another temp name for you folks - MAX is what the new user interface is called, and it's supposedly an evolution of the current UI. Importantly, it bridges the gap between traditional phones and PDAs by supporting how both are operated (dedicated buttons versus touch-screen and stylus-based operation), and will also - at long last - allow for multitasking and running several applications at the same time; Palm's current OS can't do that, while Microsoft's can.

It seems to us that with their exhibit at Linuxworld, PalmSource isn't taking Palm's challenge lying down. Now let's see how Palm responds to this.

[Via PalmInfocenter]