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Thanks for the overview of 1.5 Thom.

A few points:

I would disagree with you on the point about what to compare it with - if one intends to use Zeta as one's primary OS then it must be compared with Windows, Linux, BSD and OSX. I see what your point is, but I think that if Zeta cannot stand on its own merits against these, then it remains a secondary OS/hobby OS for most users. Which is fine in itself if that is what is wanted.

Having to pay for DVD burning is a bit of a downer, especially given the price of getting Zeta in the first place. Again I understand why this might be (rewarding the devs!), but it could be just too much to ask. Maybe not.

"After the big ones (Windows, Linux, Mac OS X, BSD) Zeta certainly is the most viable alternative operating system."
Well, the same could be said of eComstation. It's not as pretty, but it has the WPS, OpenOffice, MySQL, Apache, fairly recent Java, etc, etc. I think that what is best is going to be very subjective, so I would have to disagree with the "certainly" you used. Users of other OS's will have their own favourites.

Other than that though, a good read with good illustrative screenshots. Thanks.

thanks

I would guess the vast majority of BeOS/Zeta users are using multiple computers anyway so the fact that BeOS can't do everything yet is not really a serious problem although the Office side is the weakest link for me, Gobe does look pretty old today.

Perhaps the USB hub problem was a not enough power issue for unpowered hubs. I have a USB1 hub that works fine with R5 with KB & optical mouse but fails on another W2K PC, KB demands too much power, maybe the R5 PC puts out more current than the W2K PC, who knows.

Shame about BeOS - if Be had managed to keep it going I might be using it even now instead of Linux.

Personally I'm putting my hopes behind Haiku but Zeta could eventually merit serious consideration for someone who doesn't care about FOSS software.

Thanks for the review! I'm still behind the times at Zeta 1.2, haven't made the upgrade yet to a Magnussoft version. Any chance you could try if it boots on an Intel Mac? When I tried the 1.21 LiveCD it went through all the icons in the splash screen and then just sat there.

Is it possible to install 1.5 from scratch with no upgrade?

I remain committed to seeing Haiku succeed and become the standard for carrying on where BeOS left off. If Haiku could shape itself into an ARB and their code be viewed as a reference implementation, I'd be pretty happy with that. It would allow proprietary solutions to thrive on the "added value" of Windows, navigate past the elitism of OS X, and nuke the ego fragmentation of Linux. Win-win-win.

What's wrong with login screen and wallpaper resizing? It looks really crappy to me... is it so difficult to make it properly?

Hi Thom, I can't find out what your preview is good for. I guess there are enough of happy Zeta-OS users, who are not willing to see that this system is far behind its predecessors BeOS in many points.

Until today I haven't found an official statement at the Zeta-OS-site where AbiWord is or why it is not delivered as promised. In the Zeta-OS forum I found that the sources are out. But it seems that no one get it running caused by missing libraries. Bernd asked in the forum for developers - again I have to ask: Where is an official statement or invitation for developers.

Apologies that MultiUser isn't working perfectly yet I found somewhere in the forum too (for me these informations are not official if I have to search for it).
Sorry, can you tell me why these informations are hidden? I tell you what I guess, the reasons are: Zeta-OS wants our money. But sorry I don't have enough of it to waste for promises and/or dreams.
If I think a project is worth to be supported with my money I like to be kept clear.
For example I'm also a registered SkyOS user and I can't remember someone tells me: we did this and it's working perfectly. In SkyOS progress it's more transparent, you know what's going on (Java, mySQL, etc. are included in a better states as they are in Zeta/haiku/BeOS). The fact is, no one offers me one upgrade after another for cash. I payed once to be involved in the developing releases and got the final version 5 when SkyOS will be finished for free.

Sorry but Zeta nor the upgrades of it aren't worth the price they demand. I can't see where Zeta is going to. (Will it be a haiku distro when haiku-os r1 will be out?)

Why don't you like OOo but Firefox and AbiWord? As a purist of BeOS you should still work with NetPositive.

And Firefox (BTW. version is 2.0.0.2 not 2.0.2) is as I read in the forum far away from stable (in zeta multiuser environment) and it's not developed by magnussoft/Zeta.

WilmaCon: Because I haven't read it anywhere else before, and I guess it's important to say, WilmaCon is just a samba CLIENT there's no server yet (problably later). So you can access from Zeta to SMB-shares but not in the other direction.

For your problem with WilmaCon and Vista probably this article helps you:
http://www.builderau.com.au/blogs/codemonkeybusiness/viewblogpost.h...

My conclusion:
I agree with your comments about MultiUser. MultiUser was one of the reasons I ordered the upgrade for, I find out it's unusable as far as I understand MultiUser environments.
Another reason to upgrade was AbiWord, but it isn't included. There are no official informations and I have to ask you, what did we get for the money?
For me Zeta-OS is currently more in a state of an HOBBY OS, like Syllable or SkyOS, more than BeOS was in its days. And I think it's far away from "Professional" how magnussoft/Bernd T. Korz titles the Zeta-OS 1.5 upgrade.

I noticed with 1.1, 1.2 etc. that there are a lot of things broken especially concerning some apps. I had major crashes of the OS while useing wifi, I had to connect multiple times to get an ip adress (DHCP has always been a PITA with BeOS). Lack of ACPI made it a PITA on my laptop in general, it would become extremely hot as well.

Thom, a few questions;

Have they finally made DAE over SCSI?
Does mp3 playback from NTFS become slugish when you quickly seek with Soundplay and/or SP crashes?
Are it's (icon) file loading times still as slow?

I hope they'll do some serious QA and maybe after a few years I'll use it again :-)

So there is a severe lack of usable software, a lack of hardware support, some major bugs, you have to pay for the OS and then extra for basic functionality like DVD burning.

Apart from that are there any disadvantages to using this OS?

I bought Zeta from Yellowtab, but I still have not upgraded to the Magnasoft version. They make it such a pain to prove your a customer.... send CD in, customer number, money,fingerprints, DNA sample, doctor certified stool sample.... Okay, maybe not that bad, but everytime I go to Germany, they lose my luggage. How do I know they won't lose all proof of ownership?
Even worse, I'd like to purchase some of the games they are producing for Zeta, but they are only for the Magnasoft version of Zeta.

well, some people have arrived at their OS nirvana already. It sounds as though you are totally happy with your OS of choice whatever it is (you didn't say).

However, you really should'nt knock other peoples choices or the product that they choose simply because the criteria for making that choice doesn't match yours.

Personally I'm delighted that you seem to want for nothing in your OS world, but bear in mind others might want something else in theirs.

Cost, bugs, hardware support, software availability are synonymous with platform/OS development. Some people are more than willing to accept the above frustrations in their search to find an ideal OS for their exact needs, sheesh! I've been looking for 10 years and have come close only once or twice.

I know I'm responding to potential flame-bait but youpeoplepissmeoff...each to his own.