http://www.osnews.com/story/14211/SkyOS_GUI_Changes_Desktop_Composing Exploring the Future of Computing en-us Copyright 2001-2009, David Adams adam+nospam@osnews.com Tue, 07 Jul 2009 01:36:17 GMT http://www.osnews.com/images/osnews.gif http://www.osnews.com http://osnews.com/thread?110802 http://osnews.com/thread?110802 The work that can be done by a single person on this project is simply amazing. This work was literally done overnight after the latest build. Mon, 03 Apr 2006 17:28:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Nelson) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?110804 http://osnews.com/thread?110804 Now only to get rid of the thick window borders
I think part of the problem is the lack of gradient, making the borders look flat and thus thicker. But a row or two of pixels could be shaven off nonetheless. Mon, 03 Apr 2006 17:29:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Ronald Vos) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?110810 http://osnews.com/thread?110810 Yes, just that, then everyone will make the big switch to SkyOS. Edited 2006-04-03 17:40 Mon, 03 Apr 2006 17:40:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (djst) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?110814 http://osnews.com/thread?110814 Safari cant open the page "http://www.skyos.org/?q=node/508" because it can't find the server "skyos.org".


Opera: You tried to access the address http://www.skyos.org/?q=node/508, which is currently unavailable. Please make sure that the Web address (URL) is correctly spelled and punctuated, then try reloading the page.

Firefox can't establish a connection to the server at skyos.org.


Someone should have buffered their web server.


Here's the google cache if you also cant reach the site:

http://72.14.203.104/search?q=cache:LzgFuqr5kU0J:www.skyos.org/~*~@...



edit: doh, and of course as I click submit it finally opens in a browser for me. Edited 2006-04-03 17:56 Mon, 03 Apr 2006 17:54:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (TezKAh) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?110815 http://osnews.com/thread?110815 Thom, this is really good news...but wow, you are fast...
This has just now been posted on the home page !

Anyway, work on the rendering engine is a good thing because many people judge an OS by looks first
(this is especially true for SkyOS, with it's awesome bargain of getting SkyOS 5 Final and more than 2 years of Beta builds for the ridiculous amount of 30$)

A few people have been complaining about margins, skins, etc...this might mzkr them change their mind about SkyOS.

Lakedaemon
ps : OSes are like women...you start looking at the outside before admiring the inside... Edited 2006-04-03 18:08 Mon, 03 Apr 2006 17:55:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Lakedaemon) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?110824 http://osnews.com/thread?110824 Well, I still don't believe that project like SkyOS can succeed without releasing sources under some kind of free license. It is a shame that they can't see that neither Zeta or SkyOS, even though they are both interesting projects, won't change anything on OS scene. Mon, 03 Apr 2006 18:13:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (kajaman) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?110828 http://osnews.com/thread?110828 Why should someone who has put hard work and thought into something go off and release it for free? That's not how you make a buck. He has every right to keep the source closed. It's his product, after all.

Oh, and Windows, Solaris, and Mac OS were quite successful, even before the companies started opening up with some source here and there. So much for your theory. ;-) Mon, 03 Apr 2006 18:22:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Tom K) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?110830 http://osnews.com/thread?110830 >>Well, I still don't believe that project like SkyOS can succeed without releasing sources under some kind of free license. It is a shame that they can't see that neither Zeta or SkyOS, even though they are both interesting projects, won't change anything on OS scene. Mon, 03 Apr 2006 18:27:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Fuji257) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?110831 http://osnews.com/thread?110831 This is just ridiculous. I've been working on writing Pong in C/SDL for months now, and it's barely playable, and here's Robert adding awesome features to SkyOS virtually overnight. Indexfeeder, Mono, Transparency in the last, what, few months? What in the world will he add next?

Mad props to Robert. Awesome work. Mon, 03 Apr 2006 18:28:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (mattst88) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?110832 http://osnews.com/thread?110832 Wonderful, I see the open source debate has broken loose in yet another SkyOS topic. How about everyone STFU about that already and leave the comments to the new enhancements Robert's added? Mon, 03 Apr 2006 18:30:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (mattst88) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?110835 http://osnews.com/thread?110835 You could make the same argument without the profanities and actually find supporters in Osnews. Now your argument goes >/dev/null (or >nul if your prefer that). Mon, 03 Apr 2006 18:36:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (dimosd) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?110836 http://osnews.com/thread?110836 It's easy to ignore them, most people just want everything given to them with no pricetag. Next thing you know they'll be asking for free fastfood and to have the source for their cash register software! Mon, 03 Apr 2006 18:37:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Nelson) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?110851 http://osnews.com/thread?110851 The profanity wasn't needed. Mon, 03 Apr 2006 18:57:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (robojerk) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?110856 http://osnews.com/thread?110856 I wouldn't call it an argument at all more of a flamebait even without the profanities. Mon, 03 Apr 2006 19:07:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (czubin) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?110859 http://osnews.com/thread?110859 Stop arguing.Neither of you will win.Anyways,I dislike those window borders.They remind me of my low-tech Zire 31 PDA,with it's thick border.It doesn't look high-tech or sleek. Mon, 03 Apr 2006 19:16:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Omega Penguin) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?110862 http://osnews.com/thread?110862 Anyway, the source of most of the SkyOS-cd is available since it's basically a proprietary kernel and BSD-services on top, and GPL'ed applications on top of those.

The source is basically avaiable for those who ask. But of course it's easier to whine... Mon, 03 Apr 2006 19:29:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (dylansmrjones) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?110877 http://osnews.com/thread?110877 It says in their website that it is an OS built from scratch. Is it another linux distribution or a seperate OS?
Nice screen shots though. I feel interested already... Mon, 03 Apr 2006 20:09:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (jbalmer) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?110883 http://osnews.com/thread?110883 "Built from scratch" as in, not built on top of anything else. It is its own OS, like BeOS or Windows. Mon, 03 Apr 2006 20:13:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (zizban) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?110887 http://osnews.com/thread?110887 it's a seperate OS. It just happens to be highly POSIX complient which makes it easy to port all kinds of software. This is why you may notice some software that is mostly known from the Linux scene.

I already tested this tranceparency and I must say that it looks pretty good. Even transparent videos and videos behind transparent windows run fine with software rendering and in vmware.

Good job Robert. Mon, 03 Apr 2006 20:17:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Darkness) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?110889 http://osnews.com/thread?110889 I checked skyos.org for a roadmap to 1.0 or whatever the "released" version will be and found none.

Why is the skyos team adding "new" features all the time instead of releasing a stable version to buy/work with ?

I like all the features they put into the OS, but some day the have to release it! don't they ? Mon, 03 Apr 2006 20:19:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (dcibils) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?110890 http://osnews.com/thread?110890 This is a common misconception. What was going to be 5.0 has instead turned into a ground up rewrite of the whole OS, so we're not "adding" new features, we're building the OS.

Now, if I had to venture a guess I'd say a general public release could happen later this year. That's just a guess though. Mon, 03 Apr 2006 20:22:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (zizban) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?110891 http://osnews.com/thread?110891 QUOTE>"You cannot believe it because when you put RMS's C0CK in your mouth that far for so long your brain loses oxygen.

NEWSFLASH: Linux (the kernel and all distros) sucks. Yes it's true, itty bitty commercial OS startups like BeOS/Zeta and SkyOS only have a few (compared to Linux) coders working away (and actually being paid!) for a fraction of the time GNU/GPL garbage has 1000's of coders (living in Mom's basement); and yet these evil closed source OS's make any Linux Distro look like crap.

Mod me down, ban me, what the f--- ever. I have to throw the Linux/Stallmanites zealots some flame fodder. They are all morons. Do you dumbfckers talk about Linux in every godamn coversation you have? Of course you do. And every messageboard too . . ." Mon, 03 Apr 2006 20:24:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (computrius) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?110894 http://osnews.com/thread?110894 If this was USENET you could set up a score file in your local newsreader to remove all of the licensing claptrap in the threads you wanted to read. Or in all threads.

Sometimes older messaging technologies like nntp ARE better than these fancy (but functionally limited) web-based discussion areas. Mon, 03 Apr 2006 20:41:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (rcsteiner) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?110897 http://osnews.com/thread?110897 SkyOS rocks! The $30 for access to every beta plus a copy of the final release when it comes out is well worth it. I'm pretty sure you can get in for free if you apply as a developer wishing to port something to SkyOS.

But linux is very poor example of this. Its horribly organized, crash prone (and no, its not the hardware, as I built this machine myself with quality very common OS neutral parts. For anyone to say an OS crashes alot because you have cheap hardware is a HUGE cop-out of the worst kind, and is in denial about the REAL problem with the software

Stable releases of Gentoo Linux don't crash on me. Sometimes I can make it crash by using unstable alpha versions of system software (kind of like copying DLLs from an unstable build of Vista into XP - risky), and once I got a bad stick of ram (that caused problems with both Linux and Windows). That's how far I have to go to make it crash.

Frankly I don't see how a decent distro could be crashing on you unless you did something to make it crash. Mon, 03 Apr 2006 20:54:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (StringCheesian) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?110900 http://osnews.com/thread?110900 I don't know if he was modded down for his views on linux, or for his amazingly filthy mouth and aggressive and antaganistic comments, though I believe it was the latter. I don't believe it takes such appalling behaviour to make a point, but then again, I'm Canadian. :-) Mon, 03 Apr 2006 20:57:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (BluenoseJake) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?110908 http://osnews.com/thread?110908 It's a'boot time somebody made it clear!

Great work Robert, you never cease to amaze. I wish you success in this project, as I'd like to have a desktop I enjoyed! Mon, 03 Apr 2006 21:06:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (ormandj) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?110911 http://osnews.com/thread?110911 Most patrons of this site seem to have the policy of: You have your right to an opinion, as long as it doesnt contradict ours.

Computrius, get real. His use of profanities was unacceptable. I don't care what kind of opinion was expressed: I saw the profanities and set its score to -5. The guy is lucky I did not remove the post altogether. Mon, 03 Apr 2006 21:13:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Thom_Holwerda) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?110918 http://osnews.com/thread?110918 cant wait for the final release! SkyOS is looking better and better. Mon, 03 Apr 2006 21:32:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (helf) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?110921 http://osnews.com/thread?110921 Some company is going to pay Robert millions of dollars for SkyOS someday. This work is going to pay off big time. Like Steve Jobs and NeXT. Mon, 03 Apr 2006 21:42:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (ApproachingZero) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?110938 http://osnews.com/thread?110938 On the switch to offscreen bit maps, lots of plusses, but 1 minus surely, every window now needs a 32b ? pixmap as large as its bounds rect. For most small windows not much of a problem, but what happens if you load up say 50 full color images and they all fit half the monitor, that might add up to quite some megs of ram. On a 32b 1600.1200 monitor that would be 4MBytes per half screen size window. Anyway it helps normal use but will hurt use where too many windows are up or will limit the no of such windows.

Curious if SkyOS stores jpegs after expansion or decoded on the fly say through the clip region.

Also I would add that the vast majority of pixels in most windows (except the content regions) are usually from a limited pallette and really only needs a few bits per pixel, seems a shame to use 32b for everything although it will be faster and simpler to do so.

my 2pixels Mon, 03 Apr 2006 22:22:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (transputer_guy) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?110952 http://osnews.com/thread?110952 OSS fundies: Open Source, Closed Reality. Mon, 03 Apr 2006 22:55:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (ronaldst) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?110954 http://osnews.com/thread?110954 does anyone have the mockups of this project's UI?

I don't remember the UI being like that. Mon, 03 Apr 2006 22:58:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (ronaldst) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?110955 http://osnews.com/thread?110955 Yeah, I'm sure his dreams include selling something he worked most of his life on for a few millions. Mon, 03 Apr 2006 22:58:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Varg Vikernes) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?110959 http://osnews.com/thread?110959 I think that the decision between open source and closed source is really very similar to political theory. You can't necessarily prove that democracy is better than socialism, nor can you prove that anarchism is better than the other two, or any other political theory. Instead what usually happens, is there are attributes that each one does better at.
It's all in what you prefer, which is what is so cool about the world of Operating systems, you can do any direction you like, make whatever ethical choice you need to make in order to feel justified in how you use your computer, and, whether or not anyone else feels similar, I love that.

So, in all reality, this is why Open Source/Closed Source flaming will never end, is because neither trumps the other.

In all reality, as long as everyone knows all the possible choices available to an individual, in a non-biased and informative fashion, then there is no need to state one's preference as that would be commiting an "appeal to the people" fallacy.

I apologize for the lengthy comment, I've been wanting to say this for a long time. Mon, 03 Apr 2006 23:21:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Kantian) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?110960 http://osnews.com/thread?110960 It's what all modern OSes already do, so I wouldn't be too worried.

Why do you think memory usage shoots up? Mon, 03 Apr 2006 23:22:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (sappyvcv) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?110963 http://osnews.com/thread?110963 it's unbelievable who skyos evolves. robert is a genie and skyos rocks! Mon, 03 Apr 2006 23:38:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (aurora) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?111010 http://osnews.com/thread?111010 @Thom, do you remove posts on a regular basis then? Is the board censored at your whim? Spam I can see, profanities... maybe. Opinions I sure hope not!Edited 2006-04-04 02:46 Tue, 04 Apr 2006 02:45:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (TheMonoTone) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?111117 http://osnews.com/thread?111117 @Thom, do you remove posts on a regular basis then? Is the board censored at your whim? Spam I can see, profanities... maybe. Opinions I sure hope not!

If you're so distrustful, read the comments from -5 up. That way you can see that the comments modded down are invariably full of profanity or utterly off-topic. Tue, 04 Apr 2006 10:48:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Ronald Vos) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?111137 http://osnews.com/thread?111137 Sky OS looks soooo neat, I bought into the beta program etc.

I have ONE BIG problem though!

Maybe it's me but they seem to be adding tons of cool features, but none of the features are ever complete.

So they are adding UI updates but none of the new features they just added to the latest beta seem to be complete. (Meaning there are a lot of bugs and they don't seem to be focusing on getting a release canadate out etc)

I understand that they have like 5 people in the whole company, but it seems that there is a lot of braging about new features then I try them and they don't work worth a darn. (But the features are there)

Maybe I am over reacting, but that is my take. Tue, 04 Apr 2006 11:53:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Windows Sucks) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?111152 http://osnews.com/thread?111152 I've been reading all this SkyOS stuff for a few years now but I don't beleave any of it because I've never seen the real thing and there are no downloads for it. I also refuse to pay for an unfinished product. Tue, 04 Apr 2006 12:41:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (pupdawg) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?111156 http://osnews.com/thread?111156 I can assure you that everything you see (for example in this video) is real. Every beta tester can confirm that.

http://www.skyos.org/media/videos/mediastation/presentation.html

There are no free download links since it is a closed beta program, but in the future, some kind of liveCD should be available to give people the opportunity to try SkyOS.
You also don't pay for an unfinished product but for the final product plus all intermediate releases untill the final release.
The closed beta program is just to keep out people that would just download and try but never report back with bugs or problems and thus not contributing to make SkyOS better. Tue, 04 Apr 2006 12:57:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Darkness) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?111235 http://osnews.com/thread?111235 I realize it probably has something to do with that, but Its not just that post.. I see it over and over again, with reletively innocent posts that just basically say they dont like linux, that are modded down for seemingly no other reason than that. This is why only admins should have a say in what gets modded down, and "votes" should not be given to visitors. Look at my post for example.. No profanity there, what happened other than that people just didnt like what I have to say. Tue, 04 Apr 2006 16:15:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (computrius) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?111253 http://osnews.com/thread?111253 Its a good thing most people dont believe Trolls then, eh? Tue, 04 Apr 2006 16:52:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Shannara) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?111255 http://osnews.com/thread?111255 I would reply to the post above my parent, but unfortunately, OSNews is STILL BROKEN. I wonder when the site developers get a clue ... Tue, 04 Apr 2006 16:53:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Shannara) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?111257 http://osnews.com/thread?111257 Not true, if you look at the -5 right above you, you can see that trolls are not only permitted but encouraged on OSNews to mod people down for fun.

The post in reference have no profanity and is reasonable. Tue, 04 Apr 2006 16:56:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Shannara) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?111259 http://osnews.com/thread?111259 Think of it this way. Once the OSNews mods decide to do their job, we wouldnt have any off topic comments. Tue, 04 Apr 2006 16:57:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Shannara) Comments