Sunnyvale-based mobile phone maker Palm has released into the wild a new operating system version for the users of a Palm Pre or a Palm Pixi device out there, namely webOS 1.4, which comes with a series of nice enhancements when compared to the previously available platform version, and now we learn that it has also launched a new version of its webOS Doctor for these devices. Those Pre and Pixi owners who are not able to get the new webOS 1.4 update on their handsets can now perform a fresh operating system installation using the webOS doctor, the company notes.

As most of you might already know, the webOS Doctor is an application meant for both PC and Mac users, which enables them to overwrite corrupted or altered operating systems with a new, fresh flavor of the webOS platform. Basically, the Java-based webOS Doctor is the last hope for those who are not able to use their devices anymore.

In other words, in case something goes terribly wrong while trying to install a software update on a Palm Pre or Pixi, and the handset becomes unresponsive, one can fire up the Doctor on the desktop computer at home, and then install a fresh version of webOS on the phone.

As the guys over at precentral note, the webOS Doctor has been designed so as to perform a clean install of the operating system on the mobile phone, yet newer versions are not wiping out all files on the device, meaning that one won't lose all personal files stored on the Media partition on the Pre or Pixi.

However, performing a backup before starting the update process can prove a great idea at all times. The new webOS Doctor has been made available for download from Palm for all users of a Palm webOS-based mobile phone on Sprint, O2 or Verizon. Those interested in downloading the solution will find it available on Palm's website.