An overly enthusiastic look towards BeOS 5
When some news is good news
While reading HugiNews 27 today I noticed that the PAiN 0200 diskmag had been released and, after a few minor problems trying to download it, my bloodshot eyes began to scan its pixels.....
P-O-W !! Sizzle... My enthusiasm lightning conductor had just been struck by lightning. The reason? Well it was a certain eight letter combination: "F-R-E-E" and "B-E-O-S". Could this be true? Was my goldfish-like brain still captive in its hibernating slumber? Was this some kinda practical joke by PAiN? Was the world of PC OS programming about to get 10000% more interesting? Will this stoopid author ever stop using question marks???
I've mentioned the 'Be' word some time ago and another certain OS called... (author pauses to take a deep breath and check his body armour..) Linux. I will immediately move past the Penguin jokes, partly because I'm still trying to get the blood stains out of my bed from the dead horse's head after my previous anti-Linux article (heheh), and partly coz I wanna talk about the great news concerning BeOS.
Some BeOS propraganda
Here's why I'm so excited by the article entitled "Ultimative for Demos" by E.Loli in PAiN 0200.
1) BeOS only takes around 12 - 14 seconds to boot!!
2) It's a fairly new, designed & built from scratch OS
3) It comes with a development kit
4) It's very stable with an excellent file system
5) Has an easy to use API
6) It is FAST, especially for multi-media stuff
7) You do NOT need to mess with your hard-drive (i.e. no formatting!!)
8) Easy to install & to remove
9) You will be able to download BeOS v5 for free (non commerical use)
Oh, just check out the official BeOS info for yourself.
Yeah, so what?
From a personal point of view, this has really got my enthusiasm going for coding some major stuff on the PC again, probably some utilities and then some intros/demos.
BE afraid, BE very afraid!
The only downside is the lack of the 'a' word (asm). There hasn't been any mention of an assembler or the 80x86 asm language itself, just C++. This probably means 4kb and size-coding/optimized stuff won't appear on the BeOS for quite some time (unless the C++ compiler comes with an assembler built-in AND the executable file format is nice and compact).
Closing words
I hope more people take a look at BeOS and consider it a suitable platform for some new productions, Be they musical or Be they graphical. Linux already has enough of a head start, let's see what a new OS can really do to close the gap. The future of free OS'es for the PC looks better than ever (especially after a certain 'Be' release a certain 'OS' sometime in March 2000).
So grab your Bill Gates voodoo doll in one hand, your fluffy penguin in the other and prepare to get stung by the killer Be (os). Could this be the start of the end for M1cro$oft? Or will they finally produce a stable OS with its Windoze 2000? Remember M$ still have a MASSIVE share of the PC market so most newbies/users will head for Windoze first. If BeOS hopes to eat away at evil Bill's turf it MUST have some killer apps, some amazing new demos, some incredible games and far, far more support from both companies and individuals.
So come on all you bored ("the scene is dying") demosceners, instead of sitting for 24/7 on a IRC channel, why not take up the challenge of a new OS like BeOS and produce some new, pioneering productions. Think of it this way, there's probably only a handful of teams working with this new OS in the realms of demos and intros so the only real competition you have is yourself. So why not consider it as an unconquered mountain, there for the taking...
Now, who wants to place their creative flag there first?
Thanks to Eugiena Loli & PAiN for this great (free) news.