“A new distribution partner for the alternative operating system ZETA OS has been announced. The worldwide distribution rights for the ambitious Operating system have been granted to Magnussoft Germany. This also means that the continuation and future of operating system ZETA, despite the problems of yellowTAB GmbH, has now been secured. A first production run to satisfy the increasing demand for version 1.2 has already been initiated. The first copies from this run should arrive at existing dealers within a couple of days.”
I checked out Magnussoft via google and got to a website that mainly shows a site selling lotsa games and very few software titles. Am I looking at the wrong website?
I suspect this announcement precedes the actual availability.
The sign of financial trouble for a proprietary OS company is not something to take lightly if you ask me. When yT first had their share of trouble, I’m convinced a lot of people (especially potential software devs) listened up pretty good. If it’s close to bankrupcy, and it’s proprietary, no one can take up development easily, meaning you’re software is in the hands of this. Nothing can scare people away more.
The funny thing is that a lot of people already predicted how difficult it’d be to make a successful business initially with BeOS, and I guess these are the ones now securing the future with Haiku, something which simply can’t get bankrupt and removed from the market as the code is free for all…
The funny thing is that a lot of people already predicted how difficult it’d be to make a successful business initially with BeOS, and I guess these are the ones now securing the future with Haiku, something which simply can’t get bankrupt and removed from the market as the code is free for all…
I’d say it’s closer to an ideal of never ‘totally’ removed from the market. An operating system is a huge beast, and it takes either a huge amount of money or a huge amount of time to keep even an open source project up to date. Easy for something popular, but not so simple for a niche OS like haiku. Looking through BeBits is a good example of just why being open source isn’t a lease to immortality for a project. Anyone could, for example, revive the gtk port. But it’s a huge beast, and I really don’t see it happening in the forseeable future.
Not sure what you mean? BeBits is very active with software updates.
We have to be worried about Yellowtab and Zeta. Two weeks ago I visited Yellowtab in Mannheim in order to update my Zeta 1.0 personally to Version 1.2 (I’m living in Ludwigshafen in Germany, approximately 8 kilometres away from Yellowtab’s office). It was not possible, no one was there, the parking site was completely empty. I also tried to contact someone from Yellowtab on the phone afterwards, but once again: no chance. Other BeOS and Zeta fans from http://www.beuser.de experienced the same. Although I hope that Yellowtab will survive, I think it will be very, very difficult for them.
Take a look here:
http://www.beuser.de/drupal/node/442?from=0&comments_per_page=10
(in German)
Erwin Meyer called the office of Schultze & Braun (they are responsible for the insolvency proceedings in the case of Yellowtab) via telephone and received the information that Yellowtab has left its former buildings and that the employees have been released.
If someone of you would like to get first-hand informations, look here: http://www.schubra.de/en/standorte/index2.php?ort=Mannheim
Edited 2006-05-23 17:28
That sounds bad for me if yT is gone. I also heard that employees left the company quite some time ago but can’t verify that…
I’m hoping that Yellowtab (yt) can bounce back and survive their bankruptcy protection. It would be great if they could continue their work on Zeta.
BeOS/Zeta is a terrific OS that has impressed me. I’ve been amazed by this OS’ speed and ease of use & would like to see Zeta progress further along.
But, should yt not make it and fall out of business, then there is comfort in knowing that Haiku will be around & eventually they’ll come out with a release.
Haiku is still Alpha but working and I believe by the end of this year we may have a Beta version of Haiku available.
http://haiku-os.org/learn.php
In the end I hope yt makes it, to further promote a BeOS based OS and because they are further along than Haiku, but should yt no longer cease to exist – which would be unfortunate, I’d still be happy with Haiku, since that means BeOS will continue on (though fairly behind where Zeta is today).
Isn’t there any link to the Magnussoft website inside that newsitem on yellowtab’s site ?
I was hoping for bright future with Zeta and Pixel [http://www.kanzelsberger.com]… now I’m confused. How is OS secured by finding distributor? How do we know this is not last release?
“How is OS secured by finding distributor? How do we know this is not last release?”
Finding a new distributor will only help by allowing a greater number of people to take notice of Zeta in Europe.
I believe, Bernd, CEO of Yellowtab, hopes to get greater sales by using this new distributor – but nothing is for sure.
So, this could be the last release of Zeta you’ll see or maybe Yellowtab will make enough sales to continue on as a company and make their next release. It is hard to say for sure what the outcome will be, though it looks pretty bad right now for Yellowtab.
A new distributor does not secure the future of Yellowtab & Zeta (it’s called spinning news to make it sound good or re-assuring). Getting investors, either through a private or public offering, or a loan would be more positive news & is what Yellowtab really needs to inspire confidence & increase chances of surviving.
I had a bad feeling, even bofore hearing this. I received my 1.2 update disc on Monday morning. Where as the RC3 to Neo and Neo to R1 disc upgrades had been the same as the retail box, the 1.2 update is a CD in a paper sleeve with no instructions what-so-ever. Stinks of major cost cutting.
I was pleased than they don’t ship another plastic CD box. They always finish to the trash, it’s pure and useless rubbish. BTW, you can always use your old RC3, Neo and R1 boxes or recycle them
I got my CD from Mensys today and while it’s true that is just a CD in a paper sleeve, the installation worked great and this is the first release of Zeta that runs perfectly on my computer. My network adapter finally works. This version could finally be called 1.0.
FWIW, on its German page, YellowTAB is even more optimistic saying that “the continuity of Zeta is absolutely beyond all question”.
Do a review, with screenshots! It sounded promising.
I don’t mind the paper sleeve for an update like this. I would hope that they arn’t sending it out like this to new users.
I don’t really care what type of box or sleeve a disc comes in, I’ve used BeOS for a long time and I know a little secret:
Image is nothing
– I learned this by watching a former boss completely mismanage a small company because he thought “Image is everything” (a very 80’s philosophy; only good when dealing with uneducated customers)
Zeta is a remarkably good product when one considers the limited attention this OS has received. I’ll wait another ten years before I give up on BeOS as it still performs quite admirably on my PC and laptop. It may take a few more years for it to reach ‘Windows replacement’ status, but quite frankly Vista doesn’t seem to be a great option either. I was offered a Vista preview/beta disc to try out, but my hair’s thinning already – I don’t need any more stress.
Bernd posted this in YellowTab’s forums:
“You will see more news in the next days about all of that and it will also answer a lot of more questions. And i am sure you will like the answers”
So maybe it’s not the end after all…
English summary ( http://www.haiku-os.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=756&start=30 ) of this article (in german): http://www.golem.de/0605/45513-2.html
# Insolvency manager Patric Naumann said that business operations of YellowTAB have ceased
# There are negotiations with a company called Magnussoft (see http://www.magnussoft.de, a company that on first sight seems to otherwise sell computer games) to continue distribution of Zeta.
# An employee of Magnussoft confirmed that YellowTAB has been closed down and that a re-opening is not planned. A part of the employees will “probably” move to Dresden (where Magnussoft resides, I guess) to continue operations from there. Therefore Magnussoft will not only distribute, but also continue to develop Zeta, in cooperation with Bernd Korz.
# The negotiating parties promise that Zeta continues to be developed normally.
# Zeta 1.3 is going to be shown on Games Convention 2006 in Leipzig.
At the moment, though, development of Zeta seems to be at a standstill. There are promises of games conversions, e.g. a “Settlers” clone, “Robin Hood” or “Airline Tycoon”, which could be shown along with Zeta 1.3 (whether by real ports or through emulation isn’t known)
# The decline of YellowTAB seemingly has begun earlier than the bankruptcy request. According to Golem.de’s informations, the former number of 40 employees shrank down considerably in December 2005 already – in addition to wages not having been paid (according to unconfirmed rumors).
# According to Golem.de’s informations, YellowTAB has to pay licensing fees for every Zeta copy they sell, thus the source code could never be released.