Where would the Palm operating system be without the thousands of applications that are available for it? Perish the thought. Thankfully, new applications are released every day that extend the Visor's usefullness to things no one would have ever thought possible.

Winner: WordSmith by Blue Nomad

Take everything useful from Microsoft Word and cram it into an intuitive interface on the Visor, and you have WordSmith. In addition to being a DOC editor and a Memopad replacement, WordSmith lets users edit Microsoft Word documents seamlessly on any Palm OS device. WordSmith is "a better Word than Word," and even outpaces the Pocket PC's Pocket Word in some instances.

Hromadka: If you use Microsoft Word, you need this application. With an excellent conduit and a great interface, this application has replaced my Memopad button on my Visor. Great features like FineType fonts and color support make this product the most significant application since BackupBuddy, also made by Blue Nomad.

Ducker: There's no doubt about it, WordSmith is the best word processor out there for the Palm platform. It has almost every feature I need, and FineType makes reading the Visor's screen easy on my eyes. Wordsmith has new updates and features monthly, and their customer service rocks!

Honorable Mention: Zap! 2016 by Astraware

This is the application that brought games on the Palm OS to the level of the Nintendo GameBoy. Included in products like the GameFace joystick and BeatPlus module, Zap is a great space shoot'em up that has great graphics and sound effects, not to mention being the first 16-bit color application. This is the game that makes meetings bearable.

Last year's winner: QuickSheet 5.0

The Handspring Visor is not an island unto itself. There is a whole world out there waiting to communicate with it, and until the Visor has built-in communications capabilities, the best way to communicate is by using a Springboard module. The Communications Module of the Year connects the Visor with the world in a way that is easy and practical.

Winner: Thinmodem Plus by Card Access

When the Visor was released, the first thing people wanted was a way to use more than one module at a time. Then came promises of "combo modules" that would perform more than one function, negating the need for multiple Springboard modules. The Thinmodem Plus answers that promise; it lets users store almost 8 MB of applications and data while also acting as a 56 Kbps landline modem -- all in a standard size Springboard module.

Hromadka: This is one of the most useful Springboard modules ever made. You want more memory? Done. Want a modem? Done. This is a Springboard module that begs to remain inserted into the Visor.

Honorable Mention: VisorPhone by Handspring