What does the future of Sharp Zaurus look like?

Trisoft and Conics have both confirmed that they can still source the Z but that Sharp has abandoned plans for making new models. It appears that Sharp might still be quietly making the existing models (1000 and 3200) for corporate and government use.

Make it blossom before it fades!
Multibooting is the way to go.
The *nix on the Z will outlive the shelf life.

No Mark you aren't crazy.

No other device on the market matches the flexibility of the Clamshell Zaurii. It can be a PDA, a mini Linux notebook, a BSD server, a media player, an English/Japanese dictionary or all of the above. Your communication choices are almost unlimited because you can swap in whatever you need through the CF slot and/or USB On the Go. (Wifi, BlueTooth, Ethernet, GSM, etc...) It's a very flexible platform that allows you to mold the device to the way you want to work or play.

When I heard through the grapevine that Android was made to work on actual hardware; I knew it was going to be a Zaurus that ran it.

Wow... you are really a "Zaurus person"!!
I don't think it really matters for now whether Sharp will pull out the Zaurus altogether from their production lines. The communities are already there. And we are enjoying the device and the OSs very much.
And changes will come sooner or later when the Zaurus becomes really outlandish among the newer and better *nix-friendly gadgets. Then we will migrate again, just like how many people move from Palm/PPC to Zaurus years back (I for one).
Interesting to see that quite a number of programs for Sharp ROM are still under active development in the Japanese communities, e.g.

Ebt/EBt-lite: http://www001.upp.so-net.ne.jp/tokada/SL-C...t_index_en.html
Ruby on Rails: http://www7a.biglobe.ne.jp/~ruby-gaia/Ruby...2000_tab03.html
NeoCal: http://bxk07344.blog.so-net.ne.jp/2008-02-20

And this sweet spot too: http://www.focv.com/ipkg/

I am going to parted my internal disk where Debian lives to make partitions for Cacko to run in NAND. Then my Zaurus setup is more or less complete. :)
Android on SD/internal disk will be even better, but I have to wait for a supporting kernel that can also boot debian off the internal disk.

Yeah ... there is nothing we can do about the tiny 3.7" display. That's one big reason why eventually I relied more on my Eee PC 701 (just around 265 EUR).
The Fujitsu U810 is surely great too, but its price tag is my show stopper. I paid the same for my Macbook!
The hardware of N810 is surely better (can't imagine how it could not after 4 or 5 years!), except its keyboard: the one on the Z really rocks here thanks to its separate number keys and numerous application/function keys that can do a hell lot better than N810.
After all, it's a great pity that Sharp does not launch a linux version of EM One... it could have blown all UMPCs and handhelds out of the water!

The Zaurus (barely) fits under the "slide it into my pocket" category which is a must for me. With the exception of the Nokia only the Zaurus also has the instant capability which is another must for me. Therefore, an eeePC, U810, or a Kojinsha are all out of the running for me. The Nokia is pretty much a non-starter for me too thanks to it's heavily compromised keyboard (which all sliders suffer from IMHO). Does the Nokia have the equivalent of the Zaurus' Diagnostic Menu NAND backup and restore facility? I found it incredibly powerful that I can backup my entire working system to external media before doing something new and dangerous. :)

I have access to plenty of other large screened machines wherever I go so the VGA res on the Zaurus has never bothered me. My Zaurus replaced a 480x320 Palm Tungsten|T3 and a 480x160 Psion series 3a so the Zaurus has always been a major step up for me resolution wise.

The Zaurus is still an ideal pocketable device for doing PIM, reading (non-PDF) ebooks, browsing not too heavy websites, operations in the shell and small scripting. Yet it's no laptop replacement. It is not a matter of how much *nix it can do, but is its inherent hardware limitations, particularly the tiny screen and the thumbboard. Speed is also an issue when it comes to heavy duty jobs. This is hard fact and nothing can change that.

Bigger machines like the Kohjinsha and the Eee PC (and many more kins are mushrooming) do a much better job in actual word processing, editing, reading PDF docs, browsing "normally" and fulfill pretty much what an ordinary computer user would do on their computers. At first I also frowned on the form factors of these ultraportables being not so pocketable compared to the Z. But the eee (again, it can be any other similar beast) really surprises me by its portability. It feels almost exactly like carrying an average, not so thick hardcover. Being able to do touchtyping and read working documents. Its linux-friendliness is also a factor for the huge buzz.

Interestingly, though, I am using both now and don't feel any competition or contradiction between the two. I enjoy running Emacs (esp. Org-mode -- check out this cool screencast) on every big and small computer in real daily use. Unison connects and unites them all (including my Macbook too). Both my C3200 and EeePC 701 are living together happily in my back pack and in my 9" DVD player case ( this one actually).
(The nokias can also run Emacs, but I agree with Holovector that the compromised thumbboard would also comprise a lot of key operations/combos.)

Back on to the topic: forget about the Win Mobile business. It's an outright terrible platform and nightmare for those who dream of using such a pocketable to do real things (browsing, processing office documents, not to mention all the magic in *nix), and most additional applications are closed source and commercial.