In the new OpenBeOS newsletter you will find an editorial, one article about Designer Power Tools and the CVS Digest (up to June 29th). BeOSJournal recently spoke with ex-Be engineer Jean-Baptiste Quéru, who even years after leaving Be Inc., still watches the BeOS Community with keen interest. There is a new update to BlueEyedOS, with an updated font rendering system and a new screen shot for all to see. Also, Cosmoe 0.7rc12 is now out, and includes SDL as its graphics library.
A Handful of BeOS-related News
About The Author
Eugenia Loli
Ex-programmer, ex-editor in chief at OSNews.com, now a visual artist/filmmaker.
Follow me on Twitter @EugeniaLoli
like the look of BlueEyesOS..
hope noone will ever call their os P.O.S by mistake..
I have said it before and I’ll say it again.
What is the difference between Cosmoe and BlueEyedOS? They seem to be trying to do the same thing.
Cosmoe is no longer only using DirectFB, say you can’t say that is the difference.
Anyway I wish both projects well, they will both benefit greatly from Linux kernel 2.6, I wonder if anyone in either project is testing 2.5.x.
Also the fonts look nice in the BlueEyedOS screenshot, are they using there own library or freetype/Xft?
Is that hair on his shoulder?
Yes…
“What is the difference between Cosmoe and BlueEyedOS? They seem to be trying to do the same thing.”
you know, i was going to say that cosmoe started as an atheos fork, but that must have been a figment of my imagination:
“Cosmoe is a new user interface that runs on top of the Linux operating system (and soon others).”
i guess they’re trying to sell us on an API, rather than an OS proper?
Wow, that BlueEyedOS looks *beautiful*…
Victor.
O.k., sorry about that
Look at that hair and look.. JBQ gives a whole new meaning to NancyBoy.
i’m no ui guy, but i find that screenshot very pleasing.
Is BlueEyedOS and Cosmoe at least cooperating on the API?
B.E.O.S. has the best website, the best logo (Big Brother watching it all, http://www.blueeyedos.com/resources/banners/logo.jpg ) and the worst name. Nice web design. Great watching eye, hehehe brings to mind Allan Parson’s “Eye In The Sky”.
-BlueEyedOS-, sounds bad, acronym legally unviable, and lengthy. How about another blue eyes?, that is -Frank-. Fly me to the OS baby. Same logo, different name: – Seeya-
;D
Font rendering is not bad! ( http://blueos.free.fr/font.png ) but I still don’t like the result of antialiasing small fonts. With the available screen resolutions it is impossible to display antialiased fonts neatly when they are under about 8-10 points. Don’t smooth small fonts (Microsoft Standard Method), no need to, just smooth the big ones.
License comes to mind. Cosmoe is open with GPL/LGPL and BlueEyedOS is closed with an undisclosed license as of yet. Check out the web pages for complete info.
From http://www.blueeyedos.com/project/license.html
” The source code is owned by the BlueEyedOS development team. You are not allowed to reuse or modify it in any way. If you want to improve or modify the source code you must do it as an accepted member of the BlueEyedOS project.”
I personally don’t like this…I’ve already been playing with the code for cosmoe…
Although I like the fonts in B.E.OS, I have to agree with you about the fonts when you say,
Don’t smooth small fonts (Microsoft Standard Method), no need to, just smooth the big ones.
JBQ is one level-headed guy. I especially liked the answers to open source questions.
It booted and ran fine on my system Asus A7N266VM,Athlon XP 2100,
ATI 7500 Radeon. Great job so far.
Sean
I think what B.E.OS is doing with the licence is perfect. Because they are coordinating all efforts on what they envision the OS to become.
After they have a clearly defined base OS, then they can open it up for new ideas.
There project to be completed quicker than the other clones needs to have a well defined plan and to follow that plan, so when you look at it from that perspective it is good. They don’t want the OS to be torn left and right.
If all Be engineers did whatever they wanted to the OS when it was being developed it would have been crap, and would not have the elegance that everyone remembers it to have.
I am biased, because I favour B.E.OS over all other clones, but I also do like what OpenBEOS are trying to create.
Is it just me or does JBQ seem like a bit of a nut? This comment will get deleted by Eugenia, no doubt, even though its a serious question… Oh well, life goes on.
For example, a college student may say to campus support staff, “I need to print out this paper for my Medieval Plumbing class, but every time I print it, it keeps coming out the wrong way, and class starts in 15 minutes!” In my support days when I was also much more cynical and much less patient, my first thought would have been “Man, this guy needs five bucks to *buy* a clue!” followed by quickly showing him how to reorient page layout from Landscape to Portrait and sending him on his merry way. Nowadays, I still do support for my school, but when asked something about why MS Office isn’t doing what it’s supposed to, I remind myself of how much I can’t stand Microsoft and its shoddy software. The student was frustrated because everything he thought he was doing right wasn’t yielding the results he expected, and Microsoft is one place where what you expect and what you get are often two very different things.
How does one person not knowing how to change from potrait to landscape layout make the entire software shoddy? The last I checked, changing it on BeOS with GobeProductive takes more steps, and on Windows takes equal amount of steps. Yeah, if the UI is so shoddy, what did he suggest to change? Nothing! Yeah, that’s right, absolutely nothing.
Then he goes into an example in the plane crash. Again, did he suggest anything new? Nope. Does he even know how the system work, in the very basics? If he does, he certainly doesn’t show it. It shows human error. Why? The pilots shouldn’t be depending on a computer interface to guide them through. They should be always vigilant, as they was before automated flights were invented.
Power tools used in building houses are carefully designed for safety, reliability, cost, marketability, and ease-of-use.
Inexperience people get hurt but those power tools. Those power tools are for people who know what they are doing and aren’t careless. Why should it be different for software. Why must airplanes be so easy to fly than a 5 year old can do it? Why must changing the page layout be so easy a illiterate Indian from Kashmir can do it?
And besides stating a fact, he suggests absolutely nothing, I repeat, absolutely 100% nothing to solve this “problem”. A stupid article indeed. I wonder if it just to bash Microsoft and whoever who made that American Airlines airplane (Airbus?).
and your a “fresh nut”, you didn’t even give a reason to your comment.
The one question I hope people stop asking JBQ is about the clones. The interviewer must not have read other JBQ interviews to know that he can’t answer the questions about Be Clones the way they expect him to.
“Why must changing the page layout be so easy a illiterate Indian from Kashmir can do it?”
Kashmis belongs to PAKISTAN !!! ;-)))
Those fonts and widgets look great, but the window decor is far to colourful for my tastes. Even Aqua isn’t that bright — of course, I’m assuming that they’re not actually using that decor if they’re recreating the BeOS UI… I would guess they’ll use a more Gonx-ish one designed by Cotito.
WEeeEEeeeeee … OBOS is coming along nicely =). Who cares about B.E OS and the old traditional boring Linux kernel in bottom….
OBOS is what it’s all about, something that is designed in this decade with innovative ideas… Weeeee
w00t w00t Ingo/Axel/Wilder/Dawaulder and others =)))
off topic, but i hope that the next-gen BeOS clones/compatible systems will not follow in the arrogance of linux.
I’m a power user with just enough basic computing knowlege to like how everything “just works” in the new winXP (say what you want but they got something right this time around), just enough patience to appreciate linux for what it could do if “mere mortals” could use it, and just enough sensibility to see that BeOS got it right the first time.
The OSS model will pay dividends, i think, and if next gen BeOS OSs target the forthcomming “Home Media Network” market (which i think is way more real than the IA market), and focuses on getting usability for the “Home Theater PC” market good things will happen.
IMHO, i would love to see opengl and java, but that is not what BeOS-alikes can do right here and now. Windows will have more 3D games for the forseeable future, and if people will reboot to use games they may as well reboot to view there favorite java-enabled web page for the next few months.
But, if you tell people they can integrate their PC with there home theater, do everything they do in windows with their BeOS machine, and it wont even seem like they are using a computer, well, i think my fellow mortals will like that. 99.9% of us cant use linux, and i think all u techies have lost touch with what the rest of the world wants. They want not to know they are using a computer, that contraption that they dont understand, and wants everything to just work, as it does in windows (when it works). BeOS has a head start cuz it boots in 10 seconds, like Joe’s TiVO, and does everything quickly and simply, like Joe’s other standalones, but with more capabilities.
I think if EVERY beos-compatible system works out of the box to hit that media niche market it will do wonders for the community. Package it with a small tutorial, and set it up FOR THEM. Have the workspaces app open on boot by default, put different wallpapers on four desktops so they dont have to discover on their own that BeOS-alikes have that capability, basically, dont try to do what windows does, but exploit the differences.
BeOS works so intuitively that it almost doesnt seem like a computer. TV out, HDTV in, etc., those are the essential features for the media OS. Bring back the “geek port” make it the “mere-mortal port” and do something exciting. 3D can wait, windows will never boot in 10 seconds (my cell phone takes longer than BeOS to boot). The tools are there to revolutionize how people use thier computer, you just gotta hold people’s hand, thats what windows does.
Because I have grown used to accessing data on my system via Windows Explorer, I find BeOS difficult to use, although I could use it, the interface had different behaviour to what I was used to.
I didn’t like the way you did down to subfolders (the opening new window method). I am not talking about where you right click and dig through the list like menu structure.
Anyway I have only ever used the free PE version, so I do not know if there were any enhancements to browsing the HDD.
Also I am not an experienced BeOS user, so please forgive me for anything you may find incorrect in my comments above, due to my ignorance of the OS.
Kashmir, actually, belongs to India. The Shah of Kashmir gave it to India to become a state. Unless there is some referendum (which so far there is none), Kashmir should legally be under India. Most Kashmiris however prefer independence from both India and Pakistan instead, but heh, like that’s gonna happen anytime soon. Besides, I use the Kashmiri example because Kashmiris are the most illiterate Indians/Pakistanis in whole of, well, the sub continent (if you don’t count Bhutan and Sri Lanka of course :-).
Why do you think JBQ is a nut? The interview was really good. He was very honest and straight forward about OSS and commercial software, which was refreshing to see, and although skeptical of Be Clone projects, is rooting for them. As a matter of fact, that’s how I feel, so I’m a nut too 🙂
Because I have grown used to accessing data on my system via Windows Explorer, I find BeOS difficult to use, although I could use it, the interface had different behaviour to what I was used to.
It’s an acquired taste. After using BeOS for three years, I now use the multi-window approach for file management in windows, rarely using the 2-pane explorer anymore. Although, I really never liked explorer anyway – stubbornly kept using winfile.exe as long as possible.
I didn’t like the way you did down to subfolders (the opening new window method). I am not talking about where you right click and dig through the list like menu structure.
There’s two alternatives:
1) Seeker, http://www.bebits.com/app/3158
2) DogWhistle, http://www.bebits.com/app/733
OS-News sure pack some fashion-minded people these days…
Who cares about B.E OS and the old traditional boring Linux kernel in bottom….
OBOS is what it’s all about, something that is designed in this decade with innovative ideas… Weeeee
“Ok, lets copy this old OS” – how innovative…
Thanks for the links -=StephenB=-
Linux is one of the newest kernels around. Its only about 12 years old at this point. That’s only a couple of years younger than Linux! Sure, the architecture is 30 years old, but who cares? Its not an architecture that makes an OS kernel good, its the algorithms it uses. The BeOS architecture was nothing special. It was a small modular kernel, wheras Linux is a slightly larger modular kernel. The main thing thats different between BeOS (with BONE) and Linux is that BeOS runs input drivers in userspace, while Linux has input drivers in kernel space and userspace. In other respects, BeOS’s architecture was notably worse than other OSs. It wasn’t very orthogonal, with semaphores, shared memory areas, files, and sockets all being different things. In Linux, those are all files, and in the Windows kernel (which has some very elegant ideas in it) everything is a typed object. What made BeOS special was the algorithms. The awesome scheduler that kept the system responsive under heavy loads. The heavy use of threads (which is a userspace, not a kernel space issue!) that contributed to the same. The algorithms in Linux, today, are mostly as good or better than the ones that were in BeOS. The I/O and VM algorithms (which are brand new for 2.6, btw) are much better, while the scheduling algorithm (which is also brand new) is much better for server loads, but not quite as good as BeOS’s for desktop loads.
Your comments make me wonder if OpenBeos will be any good.
I am talking about their kernel, how many years will it take for them to get up to linux 2.6 level of performance.
But anyway can’t they see how certain things are done in the Linux kernel, and see if they could adapt them for their own purposes.
Also how is the OpenBeOS team going to recreate the BeOS kernel? How do they know what is in it? This is the most confusing part for me about their project.
I think it will be awhile before, if ever, until OBEOS will match Linux in performance. Often, Linux achieves its performance at the cost of complexity. That is partly because it needs to perform well on a very wide range of machines. OBEOS can take the much easier path that Be did — to make an OS thats fast enough for a desktop machine. They can also use tricks and algorithms that make a desktop OS very responsive, but aren’t tenable for a more multi-purpose OS.
make me nervous.
http://www.bedoper.com
OBOS will suffer from the same problem as the original BeOS: The lack of drivers. BlueEyedOS will be the only post-BeOS system that will not only boot on an Apple G5 but also support hardware accelerated OpenGL.
I wonder if it just to bash Microsoft and whoever who made that American Airlines airplane (Airbus?)
Not more so than that comment was a naive attempt to bash non-US-made goods. It only takes Google 0.22 seconds to find out that the plane was Boeing 757-223 and its computer was made by Honeywell.
And a pre order at a European reseller.
Anyone know anything about it? Its in marryland now i know but i don’t know another thing. Go Be!!!!! What about yellowtab? release? when? I wish my best to all these efforts to keep be alive. There really was something about that OS (a personality of sorts) that should be kept alive and moving forward.
If Linux performance is so great then and the kernel is so brilliant… why is it that I can watch some movies and play some games on a lowend PC using BeOS and I can’t do pretty much anything with Linux???
We are usually talking about the new scheduler that will be in the kernel version 2.6
But I know what your saying I was able to run 4 Divx files on my AMD k6-2 450Mhz, but Linux chokes with current kernel versions.
If you like the Gui from B.E.O.S you can download an
msstyle for windows with the same design.
http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/1630669
have phun
vscope