I am curios as to what other people's opinions are on BeOS. People who have used it, that is...I'm under the impression that not many have used BeOS, which I feel is a bit of a shame..it seems to be a really nice, fast OS, not to mention lightweight on drive space. I find it does tend to be a little similar to using a macintosh in a few ways, but not as much as I've been told before. Also, has anyone here tried BeOS Max Edition or Haiku? I'm curious on what those are like...

Hm.. why using BeOS when we already have windows? I think windows has the advantage simply because there's sooo many copies out there and sooo many people using it..that naturally, theres gonna be way more software for it..however, there's still quite a bit of BeOS software (especially for intel) and keep in mind that theres really not that many different kinds of apps anyways, so where you might find a hundred different media players for BeOS,for instance, theres tens of thousands for windows..but remember, more quantity doesn't imply better quality, just more programmers
The original intent at Be wasn't to try and replace windows, but to co-exist comfortably alongside it, so it keeps your windows partition safe during install, and allows you to boot between them after...
It's worth noting that it wan't discontinued because of any issues with the OS, but due to severe financial difficulties within Be, inc...

Windows is just a coffin that needs nailed shut..

Also, I'm running Slack 10.1 and AROS (Amiga Research Operating System) along with BeOS. It still boggles my mind though, how the OS with the worst track record is the most popular one...I prefer my software with at least a little bit of quality...

I love BeOS even though I don't have room to keep it installed. It reminds me a lot of the old Amiga OS, especially with the Translators system. I'm shocked that it failed so badly, but I guess there was only room in the PC world for 2 OSes (Windoze and Linux)

I'm waiting for Haiku (the Open-source version of BeOS) to mature, though. Maybe then, some of the people who are trending towards Linux, because of their microsoft hatred, but scared of Linux because of it's (undeserved) user-unfriendly reputation will pick it up.

Eh, there's more than two OS'es,,

BeOS doesn't remind me much at all of Amiga workbench...AROS does an excellent job with it...(except i prefer the look of 1.3 to the 3.0 look AROS has).

Speaking of the good old Amiga, rrgh...how did the IBM-PC kill it? The amiga was far superior...Even the Atari ST was, as much as I despise the things..Those four main computer back in the day....Why do the best two just basically disintegrate, and the WORST one wins out in the end...

Someday, these IBM-PCs will finally be killed off by a better computer, and I want to be the one to build that computer...ugh..and the OS for it too...If I had a big load of money, I'd be out putting it all together right now..I've got all the planning and stuff done, but it takes money to do the rest, and a lot of it...

Oh yes, anyone here had any experiences with Plan 9?

I've heard good things about BeOS but never tried it. I've wanted to but never got the time this semester. Maybe now that it's summer I'll get a chance to mess around with it. I remember hearing that BeOS's filesystem was basically a database where every directory and file was just an entry in this database. I heard that this was really fast but I'm not sure if I remember correctly.

BeOS takes very little time in many ways. It's fast, a small download, and is really quick to get a handle on. Very nice OS, but with an unfortunate end (although Haiku is going to remedy that), and I like it, but it's just not for me. I'll be taking the plunge and buying a PPC motherboard and either MorphOS or AmigaOS. Probably MorphOS, because it resembles the old AmigaOS much better than the new one.

How the heck did I miss this topic... Anyway, BeOS is great with nice UI and great features. It really deserved to do better than it did, but it came around at just the wrong time, A little earlier and it probably would have done better, but sadly it didn't come out until after the alternative community had already latched onto Linux.

Heh, >looks up at where I said BeOS just isn't for me<

Always before, I had used BeOS 5 PE...Well, that was made a while ago, and while it does boot and run on my Pentium-IV, often I would get kernel panics. Well recently, after I decided to use my computer as a tool to make my hiphop beats, I knew that OpenBSD just wouldn't cut it, and I have two iMac DV's, but no keyboards or OS X to throw on them..or even OS 9. So, it looked like I was going to have to mess with my main computer,, my dearly beloved OpenBSD box..but there is no way I'm leaving OpenBSD, so finally, I thought "Well, typically Macs are better for working with multimedia, there is no way in hell I''m going back to Windows....oh yes....the Media OS....BeOS.. but, I wanted something a little more full-featured, and something that won't give me a kernel panic...noticing that VIMBA (BeOS Developer Edition) had a Pentium-IV optimised kernel, I decided to give that a shot. Haven't had a panic yet, and all the audio tools I need are here in the palm of my hand...except for one. I need something similar to the old Voyetra "MIDI Orchestrator Plus". And ugh...I wish Pentium-IV computers had ISA slots...I just can't trust any soundcard as much as I can my trusty old AWE32...I Still keep the thing around in hopes I come across a computer I can throw it in. The EMU8000 is a chip I just can't live without.

Other than missing being able to use my old hardware in my new(er) computer, BeOS is doing absolutely great..I thought it was good before, but compared to then, VIMBA absolutely screams on here...

If anyone is interested in trying BeOS, I wouldn't even bother with the 5 PE. Go straight for VIMBA..guaranteed to satisfy... a little warning though, I did get a little uncomfortable seeing the menu across the top resembling the windows explorer...but luckily, it moves to the corner, where it should be.

And, anyone have recommendations of what MIDI orchestration programs to use on BeOS?

I haven't heard anything form BeOS in years... I thought they had got bought out by somebody.