Linked by Michael Saunders on Mon 2nd Aug 2004 18:21 UTC
Tired of endless Windows security problems? Intrigued by Linux's power but discouraged by its complexity? Tempted by Mac OS but not thrilled with the hardware cost? If so, you might want to investigate the growing bunch of hobbyist OSes -- Syllable, SkyOS, Haiku, MenuetOS, Visopsys, ReactOS and others. Syllable is perhaps the most promising of them all; it's a maturing open source desktop OS with an evolving kernel & device driver range, and is targeted at the home/small-office user.
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You are making a very common mistake there. The fact that Linux has only like 2-3% of the desktop market now is because Linux wasn't designed with the desktop in mind. Comparing Linux to Syllable/SkyOS is like comparing apples to oranges.
Linux only seems to be a desktop OS because og all the patchwork and KDE's and Gnome's built around it; integration between various parts of the OS is practically zero. The fact that X, for example, runs on Kernels ranging from BSD to Linux to QNX to Windows kind of says it all: Linux' GUI (the defining component of a desktop-oriented OS, together with apps) wasn't made specifically for Linux. That's what kept Linux so long.
Syllable and SkyOS, on the other hand, are designed with desktop in mind. Integeration between the various elements of the OS's are good, there's an eye kept on usability, and therefore it will take Syllable/SkyOS far less time to get to the point where Linux is now.
Also software companies are more willing to develop for an OS backed up by a single "company", then for an OS that hasn't. Look at BeOS: Commercially backed applications everywhere, even though it's marketshare was and is neglicable. Then number of apps on BeBits and BeZip are huge.