Today there are many operating systems available. Every vendor or community round it tries to make it as good as possible. Having different goals, different legacy and different cultures, they succeed in it more or less. We (end users) end up with big selection of operating systems, but for us the operating systems are usually compromise of the features that we would like to have. So is there an operating system that would fit all the needs of the end user? Is is the BeOS clone Haiku?
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Member since:2005-07-06
*adds a bunch of gloss, bubbles, gradients, fades, opacity, bouncing alerts, huge ass widgets, 1024x1024 icons*
Better? 
Don't hit me 
I adore the simplistic nature of the UI. It stays out of the way, mitigates the amount of screen realestate it uses up and lets you focus on the apps at hand. Like it should.
The amount of wasted screen on most mainstreams OS/UIs is amazing to me.
...I still love NeXTs interface
*edit* C'mon, guys. There was NO reason to mod her post into oblivion.
Edited 2009-12-21 21:13 UTC
Member since:2006-02-15
*adds a bunch of gloss, bubbles, gradients, fades, opacity, bouncing alerts, huge ass widgets, 1024x1024 icons*
Better? Don't hit me
Bouncing alerts is more of an OS/application (mis?)feature, not related to UI looks. And I don't use desktop widgets in either Linux or Windows, I actually like to keep my desktop very clean and undistracting. 1024x1024 pixels icons aren't really all that useful either. Scalable ones would be more useful all around.
Don't assume too much of me 
The amount of wasted screen on most mainstreams OS/UIs is amazing to me
Having something look good and modern doesn't mean it has to waste screen real estate. I personally also like clean, uncluttered interfaces and that is indeed one of the strong points of Haiku's UI. Yet, the color selection, widgets et al, it all just seems so awfully plain and outdated in my eye.
Member since:2007-03-20
Worth mentioning, there is a happy medium...
http://www.haiku-os.org/community/forum/haiku_ui_mockup
http://www.haiku-os.org/community/forum/ui_and_uig_related_discussi...
Also, the freetype patents have expired (where it counts) - there is no excuse to release alpha2 with horrible looking fonts (like a1)... turn on the hinting please, for the sake of humanity!
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Member since:
2006-02-15
I pay a lot of attention to how my software and OSes look and what kinds of animations there are, if any. And I just have to say that I really hate how Haiku looks. It might be an awesome OS in lots of various aspects, it might perform exceptionally well and all that, but I just haven't been able to even try it out because of the looks of it.
I know there's a whole lot more important things still to concentrate on than looks, and for many developers the original BeOS-like looks are really the thing they prefer, but I still wish they'll someday get around to upgrade the looks of it all for us who aren't as nostalgic about BeOS. Perhaps include both the nostalgic look and an improved one and let the user switch between those, or just ditch the nostalgia and go for a completely revised look. I dunno, I am still gonna keep my eyes on Haiku and try it out if it ever starts looking like anything which doesn't make my eyes bleed