RIM's BlackBerry 6 OS

Research In Motion has overhauled its BlackBerry operating system with the latest version, called BlackBerry 6, now available on the all-new BlackBerry Torch. Just as that phone features an entirely new look, so, too, does the software it runs.

RIM designed the BlackBerry 6 OS with the goal of delivering a powerful, but still user-friendly platform that offers the bells and whistles needed to compete with today's best mobile OSes, like Apple's iOS and Google's Android. So, how does BlackBerry 6 compare? Read my full review of RIM's new mobile OS to find out.

BlackBerry OS is a proprietary mobile operating system, developed by Research In Motion for its BlackBerry line of smartphone handheld devices. 

The operating system provides multitasking and supports specialized input devices that have been adopted by RIM for use in its handhelds, particularly the trackwheel, trackball, and most recently, the trackpad and touchscreen.

The BlackBerry platform is perhaps best known for its native support for corporate email, through MIDP 1.0 and, more recently, a subset of MIDP 2.0, which allows complete wireless activation and synchronization with Microsoft Exchange, Lotus Domino, or Novell GroupWise email, calendar, tasks, notes, and contacts, when used in conjunction with BlackBerry Enterprise Server. The operating system also supports WAP 1.2.

Updates to the operating system may be automatically available from wireless carriers that support the BlackBerry OTASL (over the air software loading) service.

RIM's BlackBerry 6 OS videos

Third-party developers can write software using the available BlackBerry API (application programming interface) classes, although applications that make use of certain functionality must be digitally signed.

RIM's BlackBerry 6 OS video