Let’s all have some fun and leave a comment about what we liked most in the OS scene this year!We don’t have an engine to simply click some radio buttons and fire away the results, so everyone will have to copy/paste the categories and fill up next to them his/her choices. Find below the categories and just some suggestions which are there just to show what goes where. Fill up your choices, don’t get influenced by the samples.
Best Hobby OS [e.g. SkyOS, AtheOS, MenuetOS, Syllable etc etc]
Best Desktop/Workstation OS [WinXP/2k/NT, Win9x,* BeOS, Linux, OSX, etc etc (no individual Linux distros here)]
Best Server OS [e.g. Solaris, IRIX, Win2k, FreeBSD, Linux etc etc (no individual Linux distros here)]
Greatest OS/distribution surprise of the year [e.g. Lycoris, Gentoo, OSX, OpenBSD etc]
Greatest OS/distribution dissapointment of the year [e.g. Lindows, QNX, AtheOS etc]
Best desktop environment [e.g. Aqua, Luna, KDE, CDE, BeOS/Tracker, Gnome, Syllable etc.]
Most profound application of the year [e.g. Mozilla, Photoshop, Evolution, Outlook XP, OOo, iCal, KaZaA, VS.NET, Eclipse etc]
*Note 1: WinXP, NT and 2k are considered the same OS (they share the same core). Win95, 98 and ME are the same between them, but not against XP/NT/2k (Win9x/ME doesn’t have the same core as XP/NT/2k).
*Note 2: Please stick to the pre-selected categories. Not that it really matters, just for consistency’s sake. We don’t want to confuse readers. 🙂
Best Hobby OS: Syllable
Best Desktop/Workstation OS: Windows XP PRO
Best Server OS: Solaris or FreeBSD. Can’t decide.
Greatest OS/distribution surprise of the year: Lycoris or Gentoo. Can’t decide.
Greatest OS/distribution dissapointment of the year: Mandrake 9.0.
Best desktop environment: BeOS/Tracker and WinXP’s Luna (I miss and like features from both at the same time).
Most profound application of the year: gobeProductive 3.
[OT: BTW, to those who are wondering: The new red-ish headlines indicate the fact that the article is an original
OSNews article, and not a link/portal to another article on another web
site. All the articles marked on our database as “features”, “interviews”, or “editorials” will be showing with a red headline. I was asked to do something to show that OSNews has quite a lot of original content, but with the everyday newsbits we post, they get kinda “lost”. Now should be better.]
Best Hobby OS: BeOS (I consider it a hobby OS because I can’t get it to connect to the Internet, so it’s not very useful)
Best Desktop/Workstation OS: Windows 2000 Professional (I haven’t used XP all that much)
Best Server OS: *BSD
Sorry, I can’t answer the Linux questions, I’ve never actually used it.
Best desktop enviornment: Aqua (shut up…I like it)
Most profound application of the year: Civilization III
Best Hobby OS: OpenBeOS <— Man, these guys can work!
Best Desktop/Workstation OS: Linux! Meept!
Best Server OS: FreeBSD.
Greatest OS/distribution surprise of the year: Gentoo
Greatest OS/distribution dissapointment of the year: QNX RtP. For awhile, I thought they had something…
Best desktop environment: KDE
Most profound application of the year: Mozilla
Best Hobby OS:
Syllable (but i have hopes for OpenBeOS)
Best Desktop/Workstation OS:
MacOS X
Best Server OS:
Solaris
Greatest OS/distribution surprise of the year:
Red Hat 8.0
Greatest OS/distribution dissapointment of the year:
Best desktop environment:
BeOS/Tracker (then KDE)
Most profound application of the year:
Phoenix
Best OS: MacOS X
Best Hobby OS: Linux
Best Development Platform: Linux
Best Joke: .Net (Agile Business)
Best Server: *BSD
Most Profound Application: Rendezvous
Best Application: MySQL
Biggest Surprise: Tablet PC (Not that I’m truly surprised)
Best Game: Warcraft 3 / Dinky Bomb (http://www.gamer.tv)
Best Ad Campaign: Tie (IBM’s Where’s the servers? and “Switch”
——
Worst OS: Lindows
Worst Hobby OS: Windows
Worst Development Platform: DOS
Worst Joke: .Net
Worst Server: NT
Least Profound Application: XP
Worst Application: SPAM
Worst Game: Too many to say…
Worst Ad Campaign: The “Butterfly” or Whatever It Is…
My 2 Pennies!
Kit
Best Hobby: SkyOS – Lengendary effort by pretty much one guy.
Best Desktop/Workstation: Win XP Pro – Stable, faster (can you believe it) than 2K.
Best Server OS: FreeBSD
Greatest OS Surprise: Lycoris – Nice
Best Desktop Env.: BeOS Tracker or QNX.
Profound Application: Xml Spy
Best Hobby OS: Syllable!
Best Desktop/Workstation OS: Mac OS X.ii.ii (get it?)
Best Server OS: FreeBSD
Greatest OS/distribution surprise of the year: tablet PC’s
Greatest OS/distribution dissapointment of the year: redhat 8.
Best desktop environment: Aqua
Most profound application of the year: phoenix.
Best Hobby OS: i dont have any hobbies :p
Best Desktop/Workstation OS: Windows XP PRO
Best Server OS: FreeBSD.
Greatest OS/distribution surprise of the year: RedHat 8.0
Greatest OS/distribution dissapointment of the year: Mandrake 9.0.
Best desktop environment: gnome
Most profound application of the year: phoenix
Best Hobby OS: BeOS
# It has some nice features like the file system, but a not
# really up to my desktop needs. Lack of applications, not
# stable on my computer, lack of multiple users concept and
# lack of hardware support. The looks show it age.
Best Workstation: Linux
Best Server OS: Linux
# It just annoys me alot less than others 🙂 Although I
# haven’t tried macosx yet, I will buy an ibook by the end
# of the year
Greatest Linux Distribution surprise blahblah: Red Hat 8.0
# Beautiful, stable, fast, excellent gnome desktop
Greatest Linux Distribution disappointment: Mandrake 9.0
# Lack of innovation compared to other distributions,
# “x.0” not really justified imo.
Best desktop environment: Gnome
# Not a “cluttered” feeling, easy, stable, fast, beautiful.
# Holds alot of promise for the future.
Most profound application of the year: eclipse
# It’s just great to write, debug and keep track of
# my java programs.
Best Hobby OS: Haven’t seen much interesting here
Best Desktop/Workstation OS: Redhat Linux 8.0
Best Server OS: OpenBSD
Greatest distribution surprise of the year: Gentoo
Greatest distribution dissapointment of the year: Slackware
Best desktop environment: Enlightenment
Most profound application of the year: Mozilla 1.0+
Most interesting OS Development: Open Beos or Zeta
Coolest Graphic Display Thing: SNAP looks cool, anything is better than Xfree86 If only there were a “free” version of it
Ugliest UI: I’m sorry Eugenia, XP’s luna is fugly. It’s truely deserves The Fischer Prices OS label. I prefer the classic look
Most Unexpected Development: Helix
I have to say that I am sorry I forgot all about PHP. You have to acknowledge that more and more “high-end” sites are moving towards Open Source’s PHP – and proud to as well.
Way to go to the folks behind PHP.
>I’m sorry Eugenia, XP’s luna is fugly
The windowmanager and the taskbar of Luna is pretty ugly. But the widgets are fine. And when we say “best desktop environment” we don’t necessarily ask for the most beautiful one. We ask for the one that doesn’t get in your way and make your computer usage a pleasure through its consistency and ease of use. And in this regard, Luna is great.
It is just a shame it has to be wasted on an inferior OS…
<snip>
>I’m sorry Eugenia, XP’s luna is fugly
The windowmanager and the taskbar of Luna is pretty ugly. But the widgets are fine. And when we say “best desktop environment” we don’t necessarily ask for the most beautiful one. We ask for the one that doesn’t get in your way and make your computer usage a pleasure through its consistency and ease of use. And in this regard, Luna is great.
</snip>
Linux became really usable.
BeOS workalikes continue to be developed.
New Amigas released.
PalmOS has Be-like trimmings.
Not a bad year, all things considered. The downside is WE LIVE IN A BLOODY POLICE STATE! ; )
Best OSNews article… Eugenia’a rant about Greece and why she left (Yeh!)
Best Hobby OS Linux
Best Desktop/Workstation OS Linux
Best Server OS Any Unix
Greatest OS/distribution surprise of the year RH8
Greatest OS/distribution dissapointment of the year All KDE only “Linux” Distros
Best desktop environment Gnome2 (No contest)
Most profound application of the year Mozilla
When you only use and need Linux, how can you split between hobby and workstation.
Best Hobby OS: OBOS. I’m simply calling it a hobby OS because it hasn’t reached R1 yet, at which point I would call it the best desktop OS. All of the other examples you cited were mainly hacks (Menuet), had no objectives (Sky), or were based on legacy architectures like POSIX (Athe/Syllable). Only OBOS started from the ground up with an elegant design, continued that elegance into actual coding, and continues to have a team (Glass Elevator) thinking of new revolutionary ways to change the OS, to prevent Unix-style stagnation.
Best Desktop/Workstation OS: BeOS, hands-down. Desktop-workstation does not include games. Be can run Moz/Phoenix, can check my mail, can use all IM platforms (via Jabber), can type essays (AbiWord), and can listen to SomaFM (SoundPlay). That’s all I need.
Best server OS: Unix on Alpha. Or if that’s not doable, Unix on Sparc; Solaris or Linux, doesn’t matter. For servers, hardware is extremely important. Maybe there was a time when Solaris was signficantly better than Linux, but now, all the proprietary Unix vendors have been backporting so much stuff, the difference is becoming smaller and smaller. The fact that Linux is free probably makes up for any minor technical inferiority it still has.
Greatest OS/distribution surprise of the year: The Hurd and PThreads. Only a little after year’s end, the only Unix-based OS that is actually trying new concepts (translators and μKernel) is going to be released, with support for Gnome and 90-something% of Debian packages. They always said it would be released Real Soon Now, but now that pthreads support is in beta, we’re really talking.
Greatest OS/distribution dissapointment of the year: OS X.whatever. We were expecting revolutionary changes. Apple could have designed their next OS around Be. Instead, they took the worst of all worlds from NeXT and Unix. The only good thing in the OS, Cocoa, has been promoted so weakly by Apple that it might as well not be there. I want to see an OS that supports *only* a Cocoa-like environment. (Something like OBOS.) When that happens, you can actually have the kind of cross-application integration that MS and Apple have been talking about for years.
Best desktop environment: Palm OS. There is exactly one OS that takes absolutely no training to learn how to use, and it’s for handhelds, and it’s not Symbian or CE. Why can’t desktop OS makers take a hint? Average people do not need a traditional filesystem. Keep all of their documents in a single folder, with metadata, and enable live queries. No application menus, just customizable application-metafolders. Everything installs automatically, sorts itself out, and registers itself as an available application that can handle x files; and all the user ever works with is documents and document types, and only in a very limited context. They never actually see programs, except as accessible links in a virtual menu. That’s why Palm is so successful.
Most profound application of the year: Gnutella2. Maybe the activities on that network are predominately illegal, but the Gnutella peer-to-peer model has so influenced the world in both a technical and legal sense that it’s impossible to ignore it. Maybe Moz might start up the browser war again, but we already have a browser. Evolution’s cool, but we already have Outlook. OOo’s cool, but we already have a word processor. Gobe… sure, it’s cool screwing the difference between different types of data and using “master documents”, but is that so revolutionary compared to peer-to-peer that it should be called the “most profound” application?
And, because we have to, Ideal Mac hardware platform strategy: AMD should use its RISC expertise to design a new uber-low-power embedded-style processor for Apple laptops and low-end devices, while Apple should switch to the POWER4/etc. platform for high-power products.
Best Hobby OS: SkyOS
Have not tried it in awhile but it is moving at an incredible rate.
Best Desktop/Workstation OS: OSX
Sure it is a little slow but it is rock solid and works as an OS should (stays out of your way).
Best Server OS: *BSD or Linux
Not running any servers to test myself.
Greatest OS/distribution surprise of the year: Mac OS X Jaguar
The surprise was that Apple charged $130 for it. (I bought it anyway and happy I did)
Greatest OS/distribution disappointment of the year: Atheos
What happened to this one? Just slowed to a snails pace.
Best desktop environment: Aqua or BeOS Tracker.
I have not used BeOS in over a year but I still have fond memories. Aqua is nice better than any other mainstream environment.
Most profound application of the year: Apple Mail.app for Jaguar.
I get so much spam and the spam filters on this thing work very well.
Sean Long
Best Hobby OS: BlueEyedOS (very impressive)
Best Desktop/Workstation: WinXP (I like it very much)
Best Server OS: Netware (Time tested)
Greatest OS/distribution surprise of the year: Red Hat
Greatest OS/distribution dissapointment of the year: All other than Red Hat (’nuff said)
Best desktop environment: Aqua (Apple is the champion of UIs!)
Most profound application of the year: is Warcraft 3 eligible? (Did something ever happen in the apps section this year?)
Was watching the slashdot crowd getting annoyed
by Osnews pointing out the flaws of all the latest
linux distros.
Best Hobby OS: OpenBEOS
Best Desktop/Workstation OS: MacOSX 10.2 Jaguar
Best Server OS: FreeBSD
Greatest OS/distribution surprise of the year: Gentoo
Greatest OS/distribution dissapointment of the year: Lindows
Best desktop environment: Aqua
Most profound application of the year: OpenOffice.org
Best Hobby OS: AtheOS (and offsprings, they’re the same thing!)
Best Desktop/Workstation OS: OSX
Best Server OS: Solaris
Greatest OS/distribution surprise of the year: Xandros
Greatest OS/distribution dissapointment of the year: No FreeBSD 5.0 yet (apparently…there’s still time!)
Best desktop environment: Gnome 2.0 (It’s better than people would have guessed…)
Most profound application of the year: Tie — OOo and Eclipse
Best Hobby OS: Syllable
Best Desktop/Workstation OS: Mac OS X (Jaguar specifically)
Best Server OS: OpenBSD
Greatest OS/distribution surprise of the year: Gentoo
Greatest OS/distribution dissapointment of the year: Mandrake 9.0.
Best desktop environment: Aqua
Man this has been a great year for OS’s, and the computer world is looking better every second. I love this site, it’s so unbiased, plus I do enjoy hearing many different opinions, and sometimes it feels good to be proven wrong. I think my head is a better size now.
Best Desktop/Workstation OS: Linux
Greatest OS/distribution dissapointment of the year: red hat 8.0
Best desktop environment: FluxBox
Most profound application of the year: OpenOffice.org
Best Hobby OS: Syllable
Best aspiring OS projects: Blue Eyed OS, Open BeOS
Best Desktop: OSX. Specifically the latest release on a dual 1Gig G4 PowerMac with that beautiful Cinema display. ( I have to stop loitering in the Apple section of local computer stores. I’m just messing around. I’m not buying the damned thing. I can’t afford it.
Best Workstation OS: IRIX (Why is no one mentioning this?)
Best Server OS:Probably FreeBSD.
Greatest Distribution: Debian. (Someday you’ll learn this and consider life before it a bit of a waste.)
Best desktop environment: Aqua
Best media OS? : Nominations anyone?
I find it interesting considering how much flak RH8 got from some of the KDE crowd, just how many people vote it best surprise/distro of the year.
Especially as a lot saying this prefer OSX or XP
Best Hobby OS — GNU/Linux: LFS
Best Desktop/Workstation OS — GNU/Linux
Best Server OS — GNU/Linux
Greatest OS/distribution surprise of the year — Gentoo
Greatest OS/distribution dissapointment of the year — RH 8.0 //winXP was always going to be a disappointment 🙂
Best desktop environment — None. They all suck. I use WindowMaker
Most profound application of the year — Blender going open — expect good things
Best Hobby OS: GNU/Hurd. It has some very interesting ideas, and although it is very UNIX compatible it doesn’t try to clone any other OS (GNU = “GNU’s not UNIX”). It is one of the few OSs I know of (along with Plan 9 and Inferno) that seems to be well-suited for distributed computing, which I think will be very important in the future.
Best Desktop/Workstation OS: GNU/Linux has proven to be a powerful OS that can also be user-friendly. Only Mac OS X comes close.
Best Server OS: GNU/Linux, with FreeBSD a close second. I also admire OpenBSD’s security policy.
Greatest OS/distribution surprise of the year: Gentoo Linux. Now I can compile my whole OS and keep it maintained with ease. My system is much faster now.
Greatest OS/distribution dissapointment of the year: Lindows. Their false promises, dirty marketing and poor regard for security are doing the GNU/Linux, free software and open source communities a disservice. Companies like Mandrake and Xandros have proven that this type of approach is unnecessary to create a user-friendly GNU/Linux distribution.
Best desktop environment: GNOME2. It is leagues ahead of GNOME1 and it is quite speedy. All it really needs is a bit more polish and more apps. I commend them on their accessibility work and Human Interface Guide.
Most profound application of the year: Mozilla. It is more than just an MS-killing browser suite — it is a great cross-platform application framework. OpenOffice.org would be my second choice, being a worthy competitor to MS Office (I personally think it is better).
Best Hobby OS: HURD
Best Desktop/Workstation OS: Linux
Best Server OS: OpenBSD
Greatest OS/distribution surprise of the year: Debian
Greatest OS/distribution dissapointment of the year: Red Hat
Best desktop environment: KDE
Most profound application of the year: Mozilla
Best Hobby OS: Syllable
Best Desktop/Workstation OS: Tie! OS X for digital hub/Win XP for business
Greatest OS/distribution surprise of the year: Tie again! Red Hat 8 and Lycoris
Greatest OS/distribution dissapointment of the year: Mandrake 9
Best desktop environment: Tie! OS X, BeOS
Most profound application of the year: Tie! Mozilla and GoBe 3
Also – I agree – Best Article Of the Year – Eugenia & Greece! 😉
Best Hobby OS: GNU Hurd
Best Desktop OS: GNU/Linux
Surprise of the Year: Knoppix
Disappointment: OS X
Best Public Relations: Gentoo
Worst Public Relations: Lindows
Distribution: Debian
Environment: fluxbox/openbox (yes I know they’re window managers)
Application: Phoenix – multiplatform and fast
Project to Watch: SourceMage
Based on my personal experiences as an end user only:
Best surprise OS: OS/2 Warp 4. It is classic, does everything I need to do and does it well without problems. Will continued to be developed. Much like BeOS, there is new interest in it.
Best Linux: Libranet. I’ve used them all and beta tested
Xandros. Libranet has so much more to offer.
Wish of the year: BeOS continues to be developed by various groups and that it survives to take its place as a major OS.
Another wish: that OSNEWS continues to offer news, views and interest to all interested in operating systems. It is the best operating system site in cyberspace, in my opinion.
Best Hobby OS: OpenBeOS
Best Desktop/Workstation OS: Windows XP PRO
Best Server OS: Linux
Greatest Gentoo
Greatest OS/distribution dissapointment of the year: Mandrake 9.0.
Best desktop environment: BeOS
Most profound application of the year: Visual C++.NET compiler
Best Hobby OS: OpenBeOS <— Man, these guys can work!
Best Desktop/Workstation OS: Linux! Meept!
Best Server OS: FreeBSD.
Greatest OS/distribution surprise of the year: Gentoo
Greatest OS/distribution dissapointment of the year: QNX RtP. For awhile, I thought they had something…
Best desktop environment: KDE
Most profound application of the year: Mozilla
> Another wish: that OSNEWS continues to offer news, views and interest to all interested in operating systems.
I hope so too, as I am leaving OSNews soon…
(http://slashdot.org/~Eugenia%20Loli/journal)
Best Hobby OS: BSD
Best Desktop/Workstation OS: Linux
Best Server OS: Linux
Greatest OS/distribution surprise of the year: Redhat
Greatest OS/distribution dissapointment of the year: Mandrake
Best desktop environment: GNOME
Most profound application of the year: OpenOffice.org
Best Hobby OS: OpenBeOS
Best Desktop/Workstation OS: WinXP Pro
Best Server OS: FreeBSD
Greatest OS/distribution surprise of the year: RedHat8
Greatest OS/distribution dissapointment of the year: Mandrake 9
Best desktop environment: Gnome2 (as in RH8)
Most profound application of the year: Mozilla
Best Hobby OS: Linux
Best Desktop/Workstation OS: Mac OS X (Jaguar)
Best Server OS: Mac OS X Server
Greatest OS/distribution surprise of the year:
Greatest OS/distribution dissapointment of the year: Microsoft licensing scheme version 6
Best desktop environment: Aqua
Most profound application of the year: iSync
I can only wish the best to you. It is your personality, wit, intelligence, etc. that has made OSNews what it has become. You will never be replaced, but hopefully someone will provide their dynamics create a thriving site.
From this corner of the universe, thank you and God bless.
Best Hobby OS: MenuetOS
Best Desktop/Workstation OS: OS X
Best Server OS: FreeBSD
Greatest OS/distribution surprise of the year: Gentoo
Greatest OS/distribution dissapointment of the year: Lindows
Best desktop environment: BeOS
Most profound application of the year: Mozilla
Thank you eyeleica.
Best Hobby OS: N/A
Best Desktop/Workstation OS: Linux (2.4 kernel)
Best Server OS: Solaris 8
Greatest OS/distribution surprise of the year: RedHat 8.0
Greatest OS/distribution dissapointment of the year: Mandrake 9.0.
Best desktop environment: Gnome 2.0.x
Most profound application of the year: StarOffice 6.0, OpenOffice.org 1.0
Best OS: Linux Mandrake 9.0
Best Desktop/Workstation OS: ditto
Best Server OS: *BSD
Greatest OS/distribution surprise of the year: Knoppix
Greatest OS/distribution disappointment of the year: Red Hat 8.0
Best desktop environment: KDE3(.1?) with Keramik and AA fonts
Worst OS of the year : Windows (unstable, spywares, closed source, unsecure, expensive, hard to use (unintuitive), hard to install, etc. (what i said is based of my own experience, and i’ve been using computers since i’m 6 so i’m not too ackward with them :-))
Best Hobby OS : Atheos (and now Syllable I suppose)
Best Desktop/Workstation OS: XP Pro
Best Server OS: Linux
Greatest OS/distribution surprise of the year: Redhat 8!
Greatest OS/distribution dissapointment of the year: Lindows
Best desktop environment: BeOS
Most profound application of the year: Phoenix
Best Hobby OS: OpenBeOS
Best Desktop/Workstation OS: BeOS
Best Server OS: FreeBSD
Greatest OS/distribution surprise of the year: OpenBSD
Greatest OS/distribution disappointment of the year: QNX
Best desktop environment: Aqua and BeOS/Tracker (tied)
Most profound application of the year: Phoenix
Best Hobby OS: AtheOS
Best Desktop/Workstation OS: Win XP Pro
Best Server OS: FreeBSD
Greatest OS/distribution surprise of the year: OSX
Greatest OS/distribution dissapointment of the year: Lindows
Best desktop environment: BeOS/Tracker
Most profound application of the year: Opera7
Best Hobby OS: Linux
Best Desktop/Workstation OS: Mac OS X 10.2 (Jaguar)
Best Server OS: Linux
Greatest OS/distribution surprise of the year: Gentoo
Greatest OS/distribution dissapointment of the year: OpenBeOS/BlueOS etc… fracturing into separate projects
Best desktop environment: Gnome 2
Most profound application of the year: OpenOffice.org
Best Hobby OS: Open BeOS
Best Desktop OS: GNU/Linux
Surprise of the Year: Gentoo
Disappointment: OS X
Best Public Relations: Gentoo
Worst Public Relations: Microsoft
Distribution: Debian
Environment: Gnome 2
Application: (do simulations count?) Il2 Sturmovich, the best piece of historical entertainment I have found. Also with the best active community and developer support not seen in computing since the early days of 3Dfx
Best Hobby OS: GNU (The Hurd)
Best Desktop/Workstation OS: MacOSX 10.2
Best Server OS: Solaris
Greatest OS/distribution surprise of the year: RedHat 8.0
Greatest OS/distribution dissapointment of the year: UnitedLinux
Best desktop environment: While there are many good choices here, I’m still partial to Platinum MacOS9.x
Most profound application of the year: Gnome2
Best Hobby OS
MenuetOS
Best Desktop/Workstation OS
GNU/Linux
Best Server OS
GNU/Linux
Greatest OS/distribution surprise of the year
Gentoo
Greatest OS/distribution dissapointment of the year
Windows XP
Best desktop environment
Gnome / ROX
Most profound application of the year
Mozilla
Best Hobby OS: Syllable
Best Desktop/Workstation OS: Gentoo (for me)
Best Server OS: Debian, FreeBSD
Greatest OS/distribution surprise of the year: Gentoo
Greatest OS/distribution dissapointment of the year: AtheOS (because its development seems to have stopped completly, go Syllable!)
Favourite application: Tkabber
Eugenia, OS News is what it is because of you. Over the course of time, I have done certain calculations in my head and had come to the conclusion that this, your “hobby”, had to be taking up almost every waking hour of your life. I had begun to wonder how long you could possibly keep that up. I am so glad you will be doing some articles and be here to some degree. But, I’m very glad you’re going to be taking time for yourself and your family now. But, how will talking about operating systems ever be the same??? 😉
Thanks Jay.
Indeed, I will have to have a… focus shift now. But I will be around from time to time. Thank you so much for your support all this time.
Best Hobby OS: Mandrake
Best Desktop/Workstation OS: none at everything, it depends on waht you sue your computer for
Best Server OS: Solaris by far
Greatest OS/distribution surprise of the year: RH 8
Greatest OS/distribution dissapointment of the year: Mandrake 9
Best desktop environment: GNOME
Most profound application of the year: Photoshop 7
Best Hobby OS: GNU/Hurd
Best Desktop/Workstation OS: Linux
Best Server OS: FreeBSD
Greatest OS/Distribution Surprise: Gentoo
Greatest OS/Distribution Disappointment: Mandrake
Best Desktop Environment: GNOME
Most Profound Application: Mozilla
“I can only wish the best to you. It is your personality, wit, intelligence, etc. that has made OSNews what it has become. You will never be replaced, but hopefully someone will provide their dynamics create a thriving site.
From this corner of the universe, thank you and God bless.”
Sounds almost like somebody mourning at a funeral! What’s going on? Eugenia are you going? Please don’t!! You have the most critical honest reviews and OSnews is my favorite site. SOmeone answer me!
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!
Yes, I will have to go. As I explain in my journal, I want to change my life and have more time for myself, which is something I left forgotten the last 2-3 years… But I will be around from time to time.
Best Hobby OS: Syllable
Best Desktop/Workstation OS: Mac OS X
Best Server OS: Linux
Greatest OS/distribution surprise of the year: Redhat
Greatest OS/distribution dissapointment of the year: SuSE
Best desktop environment: Gnome-2/Bluecurve
Most profound application of the year: ISE EiffelStudio 5.2
Best Hobby OS:
Best Desktop/Workstation OS: Win2k
Best Server OS: Solaris
Greatest OS/distribution surprise of the year: RH 8
Greatest OS/distribution dissapointment of the year: Mandrake 9/QNX
Best desktop environment:Jaguar’s Aqua; Bluecurve
Most profound application of the year: Mozilla
Best Hobby OS: FreeBSD
Best Desktop OS: Windows XP
Best Server OS: FreeBSD
Greatest OS suprise of the year: Gentoo
Greatest OS disapointment of the year: No.
Best Desktop Environment: Windows XP
Most profound application of the year: Tablet PC
Best Hobby OS: Syllable
Best Desktop/Workstation OS: Linux
Best Server OS: Linux
Greatest OS/distribution surprise of the year: Gentoo
Greatest OS/distribution dissapointment of the year: Suse Linux
Best desktop environment: KDE
Most profound application of the year: Netbeans
Best OS: Linux
Best Hobby OS: i’ll give my vote to OpenBeOS, mainly cause they have a set goal, and i admire that.
Best Server OS: the only server OS i’ve used this year was linux.
Greatest Distro of the year: Debian 3.0 !!
Best Desktop Environment: its not a desktop, but the best environment is ion window manager.
Most Profound application of the year: I’ll give this one to Galeon, the best browser i’ve ever used, hands down.
Best Hobby OS : SkyOS
Best Desktop/Workstation OS : Windows XP
Best Server OS : Linux
Greatest OS/distribution surprise of the year : SymbianOS
Greatest OS/distribution dissapointment of the year : AtheOS
Best desktop environment : MacOSX
Most profound application of the year : Borland C++Builder 6
Best Hobby OS don’t know, never tried one
Best Workstation OS Linux — the one I use at work
Best Desktop OS Windows XP — the one I saw doing things that Linux didn’t, or did not as easily.
Best Server OS Linux — 8:22am up 63 days, 15:16.
Greatest OS/distribution surprise of the year Lycoris — the one that did almost as Windows XP. Almost.
Greatest OS/distribution dissapointment of the year ELX — the one that don’t live up to the hype.
Best desktop environment KDE 3 with Keramik — the one I’d love to see everywhere.
Most profound application of the year Mozilla — the one I use everyday, everywhere. I.E.? What’s that?
All of the above, IMHO. Obviously.
Best Hobby OS:OpenBE OS
Best Desktop/Workstation OS: WinXP
Best Server OS: Win2k
Greatest OS/distribution surprise of the year: Knoppix
Greatest OS/distribution dissapointment of the year: Lycoris
Best desktop environment: Luna
Most profound application of the year: Eclipse
Best Hobby: SkyOS
Best Desktop/Workstation OS: Windows XP PRO
Best Server OS: Linux
Greatest OS/distribution surprise of the year: Aros, couldn’t do much with it but it got me excited.
Greatest OS/distribution dissapointment of the year: … dunno
Best desktop environment: Syllable
Most profound application of the year: Eclipse (without any doubt)
Best Hobby OS: Syllable
Best Desktop/Workstation OS: OS X
Best Server OS: Linux
Greatest OS/distribution surprise of the year: Xandros
Greatest OS/distribution dissapointment of the year: OpenBeOS
Best desktop environment: Aqua
Most profound application of the year: Kate
favourite hobby os: redhat 8
best desktop os: os x
best server os: os x server
best linux: redhat 8
best application: gyazmail
biggest surprise: no surprises
my wish for the future: everything stay the same! did i mention i love my mac?
Best Hobby OS: BeOS 5 MAX
Best Desktop/Workstation OS: Windows XP Professional
Best Server OS: Debian 3.0
Greatest OS/distribution surprise of the year: Lycoris Desktop/LX
Greatest OS/distribution dissapointment of the year: Mandrake Linux 9.0
Best desktop environment: Windows 2000 / XP in Classic mode
Most profound application of the year: OpenOffice.org 1.01
Best Hobby OS: DOS 6.22 (my favourite)
Best Desktop/Workstation OS: Windows ME
Best Server OS: Linux
Greatest distribution surprise of the year: WHAT?
Greatest distribution dissapointment of the year: AmigaOS (how long can it take to reborn amiga???)
Best desktop environment: KDE
Most profound application of the year: MS paint. (I think it is Bill’s best child. He wrote it himself?)
The best thing in OSNEWS are icons.
Best Hobby OS: netbsd
Best Desktop/Workstation OS: freebsd
Best Server OS: solaris or freebsd
Best Network Appliance OS: openbsd
Greatest OS/distribution surprise of the year: freebsd
Greatest OS/distribution dissapointment of the year: winxp
Best desktop environment: cde
Most profound application of the year: OO
Best Hobby OS: BeOS
Yeah, it didn’t used to be a hobby OS, but the fact that it has been discontinued and the fact that there are so few applications make it sort of a hobby OS (that is useful for some). It’s fast and powerful.
Best Desktop/Workstation OS: Win2k or Linux
Depends on what you need, but they are both quite useful I prefer dual boot.
Best Server OS: OpenBSD
1 remote hole in 6 years that’s all I have to say.
Greatest OS/distro surprise: Debian
I guess this was a tough one…It just always seems to be there for me and it works better than other distros on bleeding edge hardware.
Greatest OS/distro dissapointment: Red Hat 8 and Lycoris
Red Hat 8 had apps segfaulting out of the box. Configuration apps, XMMS, etc. Lycoris just plain wouldn’t let me load nvidia video drivers.
Best Desktop Environment: Gnome/Win2k
I work more efficiently in Gnome. It’s so nice and customizable. It’s slow and unstable though. Win2k allows me to work quite nicely with good stability.
Most profound application: Vim
What do I use more?
Best Hobby OS: Linux
Best Desktop/Workstation OS: Win2k or Linux
I run Win2k at home so that my technology impaired family (parents… bah!) can use it. While it is “not bad” (as in: it’s the only OS from MS that doesn’t p*** me off, and it tends to get the job done), I still feel limited by it when I come home from university where I use KDE.
Best Server OS: OpenBSD
FreeBSD comes close, but OpenBSD has to be the most solid system in existance, and ultimately that’s all that matters when you run a server.
Greatest OS/distribution surprise of the year: Debian
They actually nodged it up a number to 3.0, and I managed to install it without any hazzle. Sure it’s a little confusing that you have to switch virtual terminals during the install to get your ADSL connection working, but once you have that down, it’s a breeze (“nv”, “emu10k1” and other stupid driver names aside, that is).
Greatest OS/distribution dissapointment of the year: RedHat 8.0
I hated this thing. Sure it’s all nice and pretty, but it didn’t take 5 minutes from having it installed until I started hating its guts. First of all, the menus were just [i]too newbie-friendly. What’s with “Web Browser” instead of “Mozilla”? Why does it have such a fugly icon and not a more lizzard-like one? ADSL using PPPoE just refused to work when using their friendly wizard the first couple of times. Somehow I got it working the third time, but I have no idea why it suddenly worked. And why won’t it let me change that fugly red hat in the lower left corner to a Gnome foot? These, and lots of other small annoyances just add up to immense frustration and hairpulling. I regret having wasted an entire day downloading those 3 CD’s — that bandwidth could have been used a lot more productively.
Best desktop environment: Gnome 2 or KDE 3.1
KDE 3.1 is just beautiful and overall nice to use. However, I must commend the Gnome guys for their work on making a desktop environment based on a filosophy that is more true to that of UNIX. There is a lot to be said for doing it their way rather than the KDE teams more monolithic approach, but that doesn’t change the fact that at the moment KDE 3.1 is more complete.
Most profound application of the year: Mozilla and its relatives (except Netscape – because it’s basically just a repackaged Mozilla but with pop-up ads)
I finally have a browser that is not an automated add-delivery system with the ability to install spyware on my computer without my knowledge. That alone should be enough reason to move away from that other browser (which shall remain nameless). Thanks to Mozilla, it is finally a joyful experience for me to browse the web again. That it feels the same both here at the university and at home is just a bonus.
and you can see why…
Best Hobby OS: Amiga, actually got a couple the last year and the more I learn the more time consuming hobby it becomes.
Best Desktop/Workstation OS: Windows 2000 Professional
Greatest OS/distribution surprise of the year: To me, Amiga since I’ve never used it before.
Greatest OS/distribution dissapointment of the year: Didn’t like RedHat 8.0, can’t really explain why..
Best desktop environment: BeOS is king
Most profound application of the year: Opera 6
Best Hobby OS: AmigaOS
Best Desktop/Workstation OS: Linux
Best Server OS: Linux
Greatest OS/distribution surprise of the year: LindowsOS
Greatest OS/distribution dissapointment of the year: WindowsXP
Best desktop environment: KDE
Most profound application of the year: Evolution
A focus shift? Let’s hope there is no OSNewsIA or even a EugeniaIA/Eugeniaia. E-I-E-I-O.
Beos learned and Microsoft will learn that the world isn’t ready for tablets or internet appliances.
Only when the cost goes down and durability goes up. Who want to drop a tablet PC and have ir break? Something like digital paper is the future.
Like the newspapers in Minority Report.
Eugenia, please give us more journals so we’ll have something to remember you by. *tear runs down cheek*
Best Hobby OS : Syllable
Best Desktop/Workstation OS : Windows XP
Best Server OS : FreeBSD
Greatest OS/distribution surprise of the year : Lycoris
Greatest OS/distribution dissapointment of the year : Slackware
Best desktop environment : Aqua
Most profound application of the year : OOo
Best Hobby OS: AROS
Best Workstation OS: Linux
Best Server OS: Linux
Best desktop environment: BeOS/Tracker
Best Hobby OS: OpenBeOS Really hoping this project works out.
Best Desktop/Workstation OS: Windows XP And *only* because the software I need is available only on it, I don’t like Microsoft or their products themselves *at all*.
Best Server OS: Linux
Greatest OS/distribution surprise of the year: SuSE 8.1 Not a surprise in comparison to older SuSE distributions, but to other current Linux distributions — it’s simply so much better than anything else.
Greatest OS/distribution disappointment of the year: Lindows Breaking every possible Linux convention in one package — not for me at all.
Best desktop environment: KDE
Most profound application of the year: Cubase SX This one was the easiest choice in this list by far; a truly, truly remarkable piece of brilliant UI and software design and really tight coding in one package. My congrats to Steinberg for creating the best piece of music software the industry has seen so far.
Best Desktop/Workstation OS: Windows 2000/XP
Best Server OS: Linux
Best desktop environment: Windows
Most profound application of the year: Mozilla
Best Hobby OS: OpenBeOS
Best Desktop/Workstation OS: BeOS
Best Server OS: FreeBSD
Greatest OS/distribution surprise of the year: Gentoo
Greatest OS/distribution dissapointment of the year: LindowsOS
Best desktop environment: Aqua
Most profound application of the year: mono
Best Hobby OS: AtheOS
Best Desktop/Workstation OS: Linux
Best Server OS: Linux
Greatest OS/distribution surprise of the year: Gentoo
Greatest OS/distribution dissapointment of the year: Lindows
Best desktop environment: GNOME
Most profound application of the year: Mozilla
Best Hobby OS: Syllable
Best Desktop/Workstation OS: WinXP
Best Server OS: NetBSD
Greatest OS/distribution surprise of the year: RedHat 8.0
Greatest OS/distribution dissapointment of the year: Lindows
Best desktop environment: KDE
Most profound application of the year: OpenOffice.org
Best Desktop Environment: pwm
Greatest Server OS: FreeBSD
Best Hobby OS : OpenBeOS
Best Desktop/Workstation OS : Win2k
Best Server OS : freeBSD
Greatest OS/distribution surprise of the year : Syllable
Greatest OS/distribution dissapointment of the year : AtheOS
Best desktop environment : BeOS/Tracker
Most profound application of the year : Mozilla
Best Hobby OS : SkyOS
Best Desktop/Workstation OS : WinXP/2k/NT
Best Server OS : Solaris
Greatest OS/distribution surprise of the year : OSX
Greatest OS/distribution dissapointment of the year : Lindows
Best desktop environment : Aqua
Most profound application of the year : OOo
Best Hobby OS: Uninunium
Best Desktop/Workstation OS: Linux
Best Server OS: Linux
Greatest OS/distribution surprise of the year: Gentoo
Greatest OS/distribution dissapointment of the year: DOJ/M$ deal
Best desktop environment: KDE (nicely integrated programs)
Most profound application of the year: JUnit
Best Hobby OS: SkyOS
Best Desktop/Workstation OS: Linux
Best Server OS: IRIX
Greatest OS/distribution surprise of the year: Gentoo
Greatest OS/distribution dissapointment of the year: Lindows
Best desktop environment: KDE
Most profound application of the year: Evolution
Lion Vollnhals
Best Hobby OS: OpenBeOS (hooby for now…)
Best Desktop/Workstation: BeOS
Best Server OS: Linux
Greatest OS/Dist. Surprise: Zeta (coming out in December, stay tuned) and RedHat 8
Greatest OS/Dist. Disappointment: Mandrake 9 (feels like it’s still 7)
Best Desktop Environment: BeOS/Tracker
Most Profound Application (er.. profound??): Phoenix (a breath of fresh air in the browser war, cross-platform too)
DaaT
http://www.beosjournal.org
Best Hobby OS: BeOS and childs
Best Desktop/Workstation OS: Linux
Best Server OS: Linux
Greatest distribution surprise of the year: Gentoo
Greatest distribution dissapointment of the year:
Best desktop environment: ROX
Most profound application of the year: Galeon
Best Hobby OS Linux
Best Desktop/Workstation OS MacOSX
Best Server OS Tie – Solaris and *BSD
Greatest OS/distribution surprise of the year MacOSX Jaguar
Greatest OS/distribution dissapointment of the year Lindows
Best desktop environment Aqua
Most profound application of the year Mozilla
Best wishes to you Eugenia in your new pursuits, and DO visit time to time. Take care.
BEST OS : WINDOWS XP PRO !!
BEST FUTURE OS : WINDOWS XP LONGHORN !!
BEST HOBBY OS : WINDOWS 98 SE !!
BEST DESKTOP : WINDOWS XP PRO + OBJECTDOCK + Y’Z SHADOW !!
BEST WINDOWS WANNA BE OS : LINUX + KDE/GNOME !!
ALL TIME BEST GUI : NEXTSTEP !!
Best Desktop/Workstation OS: Windows XP Professional (for the common user, for me linux is best)
Best Server OS: Linux
Greatest OS/distribution surprise of the year: Gentoo
Greatest OS/distribution dissapointment of the year: Mandrake 9.0 (not a bad dist, but it should have bin much better)
Best desktop environment: KDE 3.1 (Windows XP is a good number two, but only if you hack the visual style engine and change skin, luna is probably the most awful look i have seen in a desktop-envorement)
Most profound application of the year: Mozilla
Best Hobby OS: BeOS and childs
Best Desktop/Workstation OS: MacOS X Jaguar
Best Server OS: Linux
Greatest OS/distribution surprise of the year: Gentoo
Greatest OS/distribution dissapointment of the year: Lindows
Best desktop environment: KDE
Most profound application of the year : OpenOffice
Best Hobby OS: Syllable
Best Desktop/Workstation OS: Win2K (unfortunately)
Best Server OS: FreeBSD
Greatest OS/distribution surprise of the year: Gentoo Linux
Greatest OS/distribution dissapointment of the year: Mandrake 9.0
Best desktop environment: As everything nowadays is themable, I guess the only real contestants are Aqua and BeOS/Tracker.
Most profound (?) application of the year : Mozilla 1.0
Best Software License: …just jocking.
Best OS – WinXP Pro still
Worst OS – Linux (It gets more bloated with each release)
Best Server – FreeBSD (Nice to use and configure)
Best Hobby OS – AROS, I wish these guys lots of luck!
Best desktop environment – Windows desktop
Best Dev Platform – Win32 with MS Visual C++ 6
Most profound application of the year – Battlefield 1942
Best Hobby OS [Gentoo]
Best Desktop/Workstation OS [Linux]
Best Server OS [Linux]
Greatest OS/distribution surprise of the year [Gentoo]
Greatest OS/distribution dissapointment of the year [OSX]
Best desktop environment [KDE]
Most profound application of the year [Misapplication of US Justice in the MS fiasco]
Best Hobby OS: Syllable
Best Desktop/Workstation OS: GNU/Linux
Best Server OS: GNU/Linux or *BSD
Greatest OS/distribution surprise: Gentoo
Greatest OS/distribution dissapointment: Debian
Best desktop environment: Gnome
Most profound application: GCC and OpenOffice (although OOo can improve a lot)