OSNews

And usually they are pretty good, but in recent months I've noticed a large group of people within the windows comunity that simply turn and say "get windows 2000/XP and that'll sort it all out" which is fine provided that the people who are having these problems are planning to upgrade their hardware in the majority of cases. BeOS user groups (and Mac users for the first point) tend to be more straightforward in answering users pleas for help. Though there are a number of users who insist on making any discussion about any other OS turn into a discussion about BeOS... its a trait that wrankles with many, including myself as it does nothing but put peoples backs up and we get back to the whole "I'll not use that OS, look at the usergroup" thing again. AmigaOS, well, quite frankly the usergroups in there are fighting against the most viscious breeds of trolls there have ever been, they do answer questions and give out good advice to anyone who asks for help, but for anyone just popping in to ask something, the flame wars in these groups are enough to scare off any protential user, its a shame really because at one point the Amiga's usergroup were one of the Amiga's most possitive aspects about owning one.

About Linux, A great many people are scared of linux's complexity, and in some cases this isnt' helped by users who's only reply to straightforward questions is RTFM, especially when a lot of these manuals are written for and by very linux savy people. Come on guys, you want to knock Microsoft off its thrown yes? Well you got to make your OS more accessable to beginners. Most of the users of Linux are well versed in other OS's as well.

About Windows, to most people today this is the only OS they have ever heard of, some will have heard of Macs but not much more. These people are basically the backbone of the computer industry at the moment, without their accepting Microsofts upgrade when we tell you policy, our computers would likely be much slower than they are today. A great many of them are not computer literate per say but do want to get the job done with the minimum of hassle.

About Mac(OS), Great hardware with a nice OS thats easy to pick up and use, most first time computer users wouldn't go far wrong with one of these, shame about the price though.... Linux take note, this is a good case for Linux/BSD for the masses, it proves it can work.

About BeOS, its a great OS that has a lot of nice features, its easy to use and simple to fix when things go wrong, needs a bit of an update to be fair, so perhaps wait for Zeta to fix some of the current issues with it. Frankly its one of the easyest OS's I've ever used, things just flow. Its a shame that its app base is so cripplingly small.

About AmigaOS, well its supposed to be getting a whole new lease of life with the dawn of the AmigaOne and OS4, but as the OS isn't even out yet I cant really comment on it. Many of todays computer programmers started off with one of these. They're still ok to use and show what computing should be about: Fun. The current "Classic" hardware though is getting seriously long in the tooth and quite frankly it shows.

In general I think that many people use what they use because of need rather than want, if they need dtp or media manipulation then Mac would be the best rought, or failing that a wintel box. Windows is a jack of all trades OS, and it does everything pretty well, but when certain OS's are geared toward a particular aspect of computing then the master of none part comes into play, BeOS showed what modern hardware was truly capable of with regard media.Many people moved over to this platform simply to start a fresh, free from Microsoft but without Linux's complexity or the Macs exorbitant cost, a lot of people were seriously let down when Be Inc took a swan dive. Amiga well, quite frankly I feel sorry for the Amiga, its a damned fine platform, but after over a decade of neglect it really does deserve more. Linux despite what some would say about it is the king of servers, but as a desktop replacement it still has a way to go yet, but its getting there.

There were many things I learned whilst I worked on this article, but the one thing that kept comming back was this: Whats right for you is right for you, and that whats right for you doesn't necesarily mean that its right for others. So by all means discuss what this or that OS is doing, but don't go around slagging everything else off, its pointless and feable, or in the words of some of the IRCers that I met "slack".

About the Author
Born in 1980 in Plymouth England. Avid Amiga user (verging on the fanatic at one point) from 1991 through to 2002 and then switched to BeOS and currently run a dual boot system with BeOS and Windows 2000 pro. With BeOS r5 Dano and PhOS running on an old laptop I have.

1. "Psychology of an OS Zealot, Part I"
2. "Psychology of an OS Zealot, Part II"