The ALT+TAB functionality didn't behave quite how I am use to. In Zeta, ALT+TAB cycles through each application in order every time you press ALT+TAB. In the various window managers I have used with the X Window System, ALT+TAB usually starts with the last window that was focused. That allows you to easily ALT+TAB back and forth between two windows. With Zeta, if you have more than two windows open, you have to cycle through at least one extra window to get back to the previously focused window. If you have 8 or 9 windows open, it becomes quite cumbersome to get back to the previously focused window (if there is a way to change that behavior, I never found it).
Some people might be contented to right click the title bar of the window to send the top window to the back of the window stack [ed. note: default behaviour in BeOS/Zeta]. But I prefer to keep my hands on the keyboard whenever possible. So the idea of ALT+TAB'ing through a stack of windows is rather unappealing (to me). And taking my hands off the keyboard just to reach over to the mouse, position the mouse cursor over the title bar, and finally right clicking to send the window to the back is equally unappealing.
Zeta has support for virtual desktops built-in. Some people don't like virtual desktops, but others, such as myself, can't live without them. The virtual desktop support in Zeta feels well integrated. It's obvious that virtual desktops weren't an afterthought with BeOS. Rather the idea of virtual desktops was designed into the operating system from the beginning (some operating systems such as Microsoft Windows and OSX have 3rd party addons which allow for pseudo virtual desktop support. But they feel like a dirty hack to me). There is a desktop pager utility called "Workspaces" that is updated in real time. You can move windows between desktops simply by dragging and dropping them within the Workspaces utility.
Zeta 1.1 comes with Firefox version 1.6a1. It was good to see that Zeta had at least one major browser. Without a major browser, Zeta would be useless to many people. Zeta also comes with a browser called NetPositive. The inclusion of that browser seems utterly pointless to me. It's so outdated that it can't render any but the most basic of websites. It's also rather dumb that you can't choose to not install it, even if you do a custom install.
Zeta also comes with an office suite called Gobe Productive ('go be productive'). Some people would probably take one look at Gobe, assume it was antiquated to the point of being useless, close it out, and never look at it again. In my opinion though, it's quite useful. I'm a minimalist. An office suite like Gobe reminds me of how hopelessly bloated Microsoft Office has become.
Gobe doesn't "look pretty". In other words, it's very fast and efficient. Gobe would certainly be all I would ever need in an office suite (granted, my office suite "needs" are pretty minimal). That said, I recognize the importance of being able to open Microsoft Office documents. So it will be nice to see OpenOffice ported to Zeta (an OpenOffice port is in the works). I also think Abiword is a great, full featured word processing program. It would be nice if Zeta were able to port that over [ed. note: Abiword has been available for BeOS for quite some time].
