In an article for OSOpinion, Mike Berman has a thing or two to say about the past, present, and future of the BeOS. Although he makes some acute observations in an effort to generate discussion, he doesn’t mention any of the developing BeOS replacements, Zeta, OpenBeOS, or BlueEyedOS. Read the article here.
Whither the BeOS?
About The Author
Adam Scheinberg
Technology Executive • Web Developer • Father • Foodie • Music Snob • OS enthusiast
Follow me on Mastodon @[email protected]
think author made a mistake? i owned R4.5 of BeOS and it was for Windows-based systems.
As for the alternatives, I don’t really care until one of them is actually ready for the end user. And even then, until it approaches the level of application support enjoyed by Windows (or even Linux for that matter), it will stilll be irrelavent to anybody but hackers and OS hobbyists, no matter how advanced/superior it is.
A great OS with apps does not a good platform make – that’s kind of like having a cutting-edge game console without any good games.
A great OS without apps does not a good platform make.
(Isn’t it time for an edit button???)
You’ve just used the edit button. 🙂
This article doesn’t seem to be too reliable. First off, they got the x86 thing wrong. R4.5 was to run on x86 systems. Second off, they say that it works with “…any Windows system.” Sure, it does, but it is not Windows! All it does is launch from Windows. However, if they are going to put that in, why don’t they put that it launches from Linux? It all seems to be such a simple-minded view of the operating system, and they neglect to mention the many promising projects to revive BeOS. This guy doesn’t sound like he knows what he’s talking about.
Just like OS/2, Amiga etc. Just because only a tiny group of people find it useful doesn’t mean its worthless. If there is one thing I’ve learned is that to each his own. Regarding the article, well let’s just say calling it thin would be an understatement.
Personally I don’t see these attempts to recreate Beos getting anywhere. One of them might survive and produce a semi-workable OS, but the others will fade away as devs lose interest. It’s just too ambitious a project.
I agree to what Snoopy and Stephen say about the author.
(that the author probably made a mistake or he just doesn’t really know what he’s talking about)
The first BeOS version that is ported onto x86 was R3,
and from R4.5 BeOS on x86 was quite usable.
(even for multi-byte language users.)
He even does not mention about the BeOS clones as the contributor said.
There is no author’s background at the end of the column either, so I am curious about the author’s background on BeOS..
That article was so downbeat it was sad. The author doesn’t have a graps of the BeOS community. Sure things are down but there is life.
In 1997, Be, Inc. ceased manufacturing the Power PCs for which the operating system initially had been created.
They made processors? Interesting.
I like this article, it is the first that doesn’t blame Microsoft solely or partly for Be’s defeat.
In case you guys haven’t noticed, anyone can publish an article on OSOpinion, and it doesn’t need any beef behind it. Lets just say that the website doesn’t deserve a bookmark in your favourity browser.
BeOS Rocks.
I really hope the OpenBeOS project survives.
so true !
I left a nice long series of corrections to this piece of crap article. Are there any editors at OSOpinion? They should have had someone who actually keeps up on the BeOS community write about BeOS, not some misinformed Windoze hack.
Just because there are not a lot of people
using the OS is not relevant in this day and
age.
Software for the Atari Falcon 030 and its
various clones are still under development.
There are also plans for a new hardware platform
based around the Motorola ColdFire embedded processor.
http://acp.atari.org
My point is, so what if it is no longer a ‘commercial’
product. BeOS is alive and kicking. So are the
various flavors of TOS/GEM for the Atari ST line of
computers. I like and enjoy using both.
Sean
Dead.
OSOpinion is simply that, an opinion. Pitty the’re so uninformed.
I’m sorry guys but I must point this out to Adam, for his own good:
One does not make “Acute observations.”
One makes *astute* observations. An astute observation is one that is highly insightful and thought provoking.
We now return you to your regularly scheduled programming.
Geez.. talk about a little uninformed and shallow…
BeOS was on x86 as of R3, when I started using it FULL TIME.
R5 does not work “on” Windows, it can simply be installed from within it, the system is then restarted into BeOS R5 PE.
What does “most BeOS apps were written from scratch” have to do with anything? This usually is a great turn on for developers and developing companies.. means less junky code to go through.. clean.
Like OSNews says, Why no mention of Zeta or the others? Zeta is nearly ready to make a release to the general public!
Late August was the last BeApp made..uhh…I just released four apps since then.. maybe he should look at BeBits.com and not the BeBoxZone heh… oh well..
It is nice to have something written up about BeOS and in the public’s eye, but I’d wish the author would have done more research, or possibly just more carefully chosen his words.
What’y’all think? Should I write a massive article describing why BeOS is *NOT* dead and will *NOT* die? And should I then state out the reasons why BeOS’s babies will become a MAJOR thorn in the side of Microsoft and other OS companies?
Of course, I am privy to knowledge that the VAST majority of people in the BeOS community do not know. I know things that not even many of the other yellowTAB members know.
As a business owner, I would not waste my time learning on something that would not down the road be helpful to my pocket book. Patience is all that is needed, we are nearly there.. two more steps!!
First… Zeta!
Then… you’ll see… 😉
–The loon
I’m still upset about getting rid of my Falcon. After I “renovate” one of my ST’s, I’m going to get a Falcon again!
Just yesterday I was out celebrating yule with my pagan and witch friends and got to talking with a few about computers. They were talking about how their computers were sooo slow and they couldn’t understand how these brand new systems could be slower than the older ones they used…
In the course of the conversation they had made some intriguing comments about the look. One said “Oh.. and I can’t STAND that stupid X to close the window.. how ugly…” The other added, “Yeah, and why does the title go all the way across the top? How am I suppose to move it?”
That got me to thinking… so I had to ask.. “hmm.. What were you using before?” Neither knew the name, just that it was a blue tower with lights on the front that went up when they were doing something and down when they weren’t… WHOA!! a BeBox!
I asked if BeOS rang a bell.. tada.. hit them like a cannon blast!
So, to cut a long story short, they are very interested in trying out Zeta (I simply explained it as BeOS version 6 by another company under another name).
Small world? Nah… I know 10+ people locally that use BeOS either occassionally or full-time. Those using occassionally wish they could use it full time, but the only thing they miss: games. Why does BeOS lack so many games and have nearly everything else in some form? Hardware OGL. What does Zeta bring?? You guessed it!
–The loon
you say that you will not use an alternative until it surpasses the OS hobbiest level, well, umm…..what was the origional (no offence to those who used it for work)
One does not make “Acute observations.”
Ahem….
—————————————
http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=Acute
2. Having nice discernment; perceiving or using minute distinctions; penetrating; clever; shrewd; — opposed to dull or stupid; as, an acute observer; acute remarks, or reasoning.
Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
—————————————
I noticed this article Friday and my face got red with madness the further I read.<p> First, this article is full of wrong info, which misleads any uninformed person who happens upon it. Second, his opinions of the crossroads of where BeOS can go from here are stupidly obvious. <p> Such a poor, unresearched, half-a__ed attemp to get published at a site. I question if this guy even has ever used BeOS outside of the little demo version (BeOS-PE) that he obviously used judging by his remarks. <p> I wrote a flame-comment over there but it has yet to appear as they prescreen them anyway.
Sorry about the messy comment guys. Didn’t see that tag weren’t allowed. And no preview. Just a habit
Indeed it was. In actual fact, BeOS was running on Intel as early as R3.
PR1 – PPC Only
PR2 – PPC Only (Shipped in the back of The BeBook)
R3 – Intel and PPC
R4 – Intel and PPC
R4.5 – Intel and PPC (Be also mailed out R4.5 free to R4 users!)
R5 Pro – Intel and PPC (IIRC the PPC version came a little later than the Intel version)
R5 PE – Intel Only
There were also a load of Developer releases with the DR prefix before PR1, and a load of point releases for all versions listed above.
Sigh….. I remember getting The BeBook and The BeBook : Advanced Topics for chistmas around 1996 (or 1997)… I had just recieved R3 in the post a few days earlier, and as far as I know was one of the first people in the UK to have it!
This was all before Eugiena had even met JBQ, let alone left OSNews.com to think about kids
Andrew McCall
Linux User (but always a Be fanatic deep down…)
Hey loon, you could cut your posts in half by getting rid of all the Zeta marketing speak, and adding something list this at the end of your post :
—
Get Zeta today! http://www.yellowtab.com/
—
This way we won’t get tired of the “why Zeta is great” stories….
Andrew McCall
Sorry for going off topic but it is BeOS we are talking about. How come the release of Zeta beta 4 wasn’t mentioned on OSNews? I just found out about Zeta beta releases 1, 2 and 3 from beunited.org.
>> How come the release of Zeta beta 4
Sorry, that was suppose to be beta 3, not beta 4, beta 4 will be released soon according to beunited.org
Zoon,
Go for it, post away on OS Opinion and let this bumb know where life is at with regards to BeOS and where it is heading. I know for one that although I am not actively using BeOS I have in the past and when a version comes out supporting my hardware I’ll jump back onto it in a second. I miss the interface, the responsiveness et all of BeOS and if it supported my current system with hardware acceleration
Dual AMD MP 2000
G4 Ti4400
Hoontech DSP24 C-Port
512Mb Ram
it would rock. Then it would be a matter of getting developers back on track like Steinberg with Nuendo and Cubase SX which would rock on BeOS and I would be in nirvana.
I have waited a third of my lifetime for a decent OS and BeOS was sooo close. Neither Microsoft or Apple will ever be able to replicate the ease of use and capability of BeOS.
Piers.
“Handles Video as a pro” this must be a joke, right?
I tried all the video applications that comes with BeOS and even Windows95 (OSR2) handles Video better, smother, and keeps the SYNC…
BeOS cant keep the SYNC 100% yet, I dont care if the amount data in a file can be 18 000 Gb, I want it to SYNC =) (audio and video)
Well over all he is right, we need more developers, and more money, GAMES, commercial software to keep our head above the surface.
Well the sync problem is probably solved in ZETA, or in the latest VLC release ( yet in CVS ).
If I were a person that wanted to change something, than BeOS is the right OS for you, its easy to use, its easy to develop in (API).
As you hear me speaking, alot of things can be done better, so turn my bad comment about the SYNC problem, and the software comment as a challenge, download it today, buy ZETA tomorow, and create the apps of the future!
Viva le revolution´
/Konrad
Have you bugged Oliver about the DSP24 driver? I haven’t been able to get in contact with him for a while, perhaps you’ve had more luck?
This article looks like it was written on a parallel universe… where BeOS development has stopped!!! I think Micros*ft is paying for this article. The author is way off… he has clearly done no research at all… and all he knows is how to correctly spell BeOS and Palm.
If he is bored, he should get another job.
nobody is going to take my R5 pro cd away from me… BeOS will be used
Alex, OS News did cover Zeta Beta 3 – just last week!
This article is pathetic.
Acute is accurate as it is used in this article, however, astute may have been the better choice of words.
In the vernacular of our day, acute tends to mean sharp. It is also used frequently in the medical field to describe a condition or disease which has a rapid onset and is short lived but severe.
So, the use of acute is accurate here, but may cause confusion amongst the OSNews readership.
loon, (howdy!) , since you’re so mad about it, why dont YOU write a major article with all the right info
and talk about all OSBOS projects, bu, and a _little about Zeta:) , and publish it.
(not on beosjournal.. but attempt to get somewhere a bit more wide
, (i loooove TBJ though. dont get me wrong.)
Alex, OS News did cover Zeta Beta 3 – just last week!
Aha! I must have missed it then. Thanks Jay for letting me know.
Robert Renling just recently publish a very good article using all the categories you mentioned a month or two, maybe three, ago. Frankly, I don’t think things have change all that remarkably to require a new article informing on new hopes for Be OS users.
But really, this article is pathetic.
Yesterday I install BEOS V5 PE Max Edition in my computer:)
I’m very happy with it!
It is very easy to install and to use!
BEOS isn’t dead:
Zeta, OpenBeOS, or BlueEyedOS and of course BEOS:)
Go to:
http://www.bebits.com
and download your BEOS V5 PE Max Edition.