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| Eddyspeeder |
 Posted: Sun Jan 22, 2006 5:35 pm |
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Poster of the Year (2004)
Joined: 15 May 2004
Posts: 5565
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I never made it a secret I'm NOT using Windows (no, I'm not on a Mac 'cause I can't afford it, and I'm not using Linux either).
One of the best features of this OS is that you can just stick your hard drive into a different PC and it works (without it starting to whine that it found new hardware). It just goes: "oh wait, I see this hardware... umm, then I take this driver for it... done".
My primary computer died. I'm still using two smaller hard drives (just bought a 250 GB one tho). Plugged my stuff into my backup PC... and it works.
I just love my OS. |
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| Jayson |
| Posted: Wed Feb 15, 2006 9:37 am |
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Bicycle
Joined: 26 May 2004
Posts: 682
Location: Kissimmee, FL
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| What OS do you have?? |
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SOLID! |
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| Eddyspeeder |
| Posted: Thu Feb 16, 2006 10:07 am |
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Poster of the Year (2004)
Joined: 15 May 2004
Posts: 5565
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Well... here goes :wink:
Past
It used to be called the BeOS, built since 1990 on both Macintosh and Intel PC, by a company called Be from Menlo Park, CA. Later on, they became Be, Inc. and in 2001 they went bankrupt, sued M$ and settled for US$ 26.6 M (though Microsoft claims to have "done nothing wrong"). The remains of Be, Inc. (rights, sources and cunning developers) were purchased by PalmSource.
Present
A German company, yellowTAB took over and renamed it Zeta. They have the rights and sources, except the right to use the name "BeOS" legally. I use Zeta.
Meanwhile, others try developing an open-source equivalent of the last Be, Inc. version, under the name Haiku.
Try it
The last Be, Inc.version came as "pro" and "personal" edition. The latter is free (download). It must be installed within Win****. A slightly more improved free distribution is called BeOS PE MAX (download).
You can probably plug your harddisk into a different computer and use the bootdisk to boot one of the above Personal Editions. If you're a bit more experimental, I'd try doing this with Haiku.
Special features
Ever since they developed the BeOS, it contains some cool features, that some other OS'es don't (or just got). Here's a few examples (long list still). On the other hand, one thing that Zeta still hasn't got is a multi-user environment (so it isn't all-perfect).
1 - A logging database-structure file system, something Micro**** is currently building into their OS.
2 - Program properties stored in the database called "Attributes". Micro****'s OS will contain that too. The difference is that since my OS had it from day 1, most applications are attribute-oriented.
3 - Symbolic links, not hard links (i.e. Win's .lnk files). Benefit: if it's a folder, you can drag files to it and drop it in the folder through the symbolic link. Downside: if the destination is gone, the link tells you the destination is gone; it won't go out finding if it's moved somewhere else.
4 - Multi-threading. That means the operating system itself decides who uses what CPU time. One application can use multiple threads (i.e. every tab Firefox has opened is 1 thread). Usually it gives every running thread 1/2600th of a millisecond of CPU time. This means that (a) if a program crashes, all other applications work flawlessly, and (b) if a program demands a lot of CPU-time (in Windows for instance Internet Explorer), it won't affect other threads' performances.
5 - Multi-processing. This means that if you have more than 1 processor, it will equally divide the workload, causing VAST improvements in speed. Unlike Win****, that primarily puts CPU 1 to work, unless it can't take more work. That's why Intel has to figure out dual-core CPU's that allow applications to decide how to use CPU power. Applications under BeOS can't do that; BeOS will do that for them.
6. - Prioritize jobs. BeOS can assign more priority to a thread thanks to ProcessController. There's now even one (more limited tho) for Windows (download).
7. - Multiple workspaces. You can have up to 32 workspaces (I effectively use about 6). It's basically that you have several different desktops, which can have their own background and in which you can run your own applications. |
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| Barely Hi-Fi |
| Posted: Thu Feb 16, 2006 5:46 pm |
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Bicycle
Joined: 12 Aug 2004
Posts: 706
Location: Edinburgh, Scotland, UK
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I had a poll on what your OS was at work - the smart money was on freeBSD - No-one got it right  |
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"I'm not a vegetarian because I love animals,
it's because I hate vegetables!"
Woody Allen |
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| Eddyspeeder |
| Posted: Fri Feb 17, 2006 9:26 am |
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Poster of the Year (2004)
Joined: 15 May 2004
Posts: 5565
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Umm, you're kidding, right?
What do people at your work know about me!?  |
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| Eddyspeeder |
| Posted: Fri Feb 17, 2006 9:28 am |
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Poster of the Year (2004)
Joined: 15 May 2004
Posts: 5565
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Besides, the point was "Try doing that with your OS!
The grand pro is that you can actually notice the P-II is SIGNIFICANTLY slower than the P-III. Interestingly enough, being on the P-II, it's also the biggest con. |
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| Insomnia Radio |
| Posted: Fri Feb 17, 2006 2:40 pm |
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leggos
Joined: 08 Dec 2004
Posts: 83
Location: Arroyo Grande, CA
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How interesting...I always thought the only options out there were Mac, Linux of all flavors, and Windows...
The question is, how much can I do with BeOS that I do now with Windows?
I'm curious to try this out... |
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Host/Producer/Music Junkie
Insomnia Radio
http://insomniaradio.net |
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| Barely Hi-Fi |
| Posted: Fri Feb 17, 2006 7:50 pm |
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Bicycle
Joined: 12 Aug 2004
Posts: 706
Location: Edinburgh, Scotland, UK
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Eddyspeeder wrote: Umm, you're kidding, right?
What do people at your work know about me!?
Sorry, didn't mean to offend you  And I'll call off the special agents currently hanging around outside your house - the pizza delivery guys who have been "delivering" for the last 12 days |
_________________
"I'm not a vegetarian because I love animals,
it's because I hate vegetables!"
Woody Allen |
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| Eddyspeeder |
| Posted: Sat Feb 18, 2006 11:27 am |
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Poster of the Year (2004)
Joined: 15 May 2004
Posts: 5565
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Barely Hi-Fi wrote: Eddyspeeder wrote: Umm, you're kidding, right?
What do people at your work know about me!?
Sorry, didn't mean to offend you And I'll call off the special agents currently hanging around outside your house - the pizza delivery guys who have been "delivering" for the last 12 days
Man, was that your call?  I can't believe it!
By the way, you know the black van across the road that you didn't call off?
Well, suffice tosay it had better be gone by tomorrow morning, or... 
P.s.: you didn't offend me... sorry if I gave you that impression. |
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| Barely Hi-Fi |
| Posted: Mon Feb 20, 2006 12:53 pm |
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Bicycle
Joined: 12 Aug 2004
Posts: 706
Location: Edinburgh, Scotland, UK
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_________________
"I'm not a vegetarian because I love animals,
it's because I hate vegetables!"
Woody Allen |
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| Cognizance |
| Posted: Tue Mar 14, 2006 4:52 pm |
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Bicycle
Joined: 03 Feb 2006
Posts: 503
Location: Los Angeles, CA
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impressive!  |
_________________
these are my recently played tracks:
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When I grow up I want to be my Dad. |
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| Eddyspeeder |
| Posted: Tue Mar 14, 2006 4:55 pm |
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Poster of the Year (2004)
Joined: 15 May 2004
Posts: 5565
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Cognizance wrote: impressive!  |
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| Barely Hi-Fi |
| Posted: Tue Mar 14, 2006 6:04 pm |
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Bicycle
Joined: 12 Aug 2004
Posts: 706
Location: Edinburgh, Scotland, UK
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I've just loaded UBUNTU on to an old laptop and, finally, all is well.
Do I score brownie points or what? |
_________________
"I'm not a vegetarian because I love animals,
it's because I hate vegetables!"
Woody Allen |
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| Eddyspeeder |
| Posted: Wed Mar 15, 2006 11:35 am |
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Poster of the Year (2004)
Joined: 15 May 2004
Posts: 5565
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Barely Hi-Fi wrote: I've just loaded UBUNTU on to an old laptop and, finally, all is well.
Do I score brownie points or what?
Yea, Linux is beyond my current skills.  |
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