BeOS 5.0 Personal Edition

[hd581]

Been waiting for someone to say something about this, but I'll start. It's always kinda fun to try a new OS.

Pros:

Whoever said it had good response to user input was right (was it CMonster?).
Surprisingly painless install (I think I've been using Linux too much).
It's not Microsoft!


Cons:

500 MB Partition Limit? That's it?
Uhm...ok it works, now what do I do?
Waaaaaay limited hardware support.
What? I can't move the taskbar?
Last time I needed a boot floppy to regularly load an OS was 1986.


I have more Cons than Pros but that user response thingy is a BIG plus w/ me. I'm tired of my computer thinking it has more important things to attend to than my every mouse click.

Actually a pretty good ploy by Be. It feels more like an unregistered shareware version of something and makes you want to buy the Pro edition.

[CMonster]

You can move the task bar - you just have to grab it in the right spot, but that is version 4.5 - I have yet to see 5.0 . lemme see if I can put my Be desktop in here.... Be back shortly...

..well, I'm back but I couldn't figure out how to do a screen shot just now - maybe I can work on it when the websites is a little less busy.

[This message has been edited by CMonster (edited 03-29-2000).]

[Spartan]

By far the EASIEST OS I've ever installed! Took less than 10 minutes.

However, I can't get sound to work (I have a K7M with onboard sound). I was able to play an audio CD, but that's all.

The UI will take a little gettung used to, but I can overcome that without too much trouble. http://www.sysopt.com/forum/smile.gif

Seems to come with very little printer support. I will need to do some more research in that area. I have an HP 720C.

I like the idea of mounting/unmounting partitions as I please. Very easy to trade files between operating systems.

[CMonster]

Spartan,

First the bad news: you have what is sometimes refered to as a "winprinter" More on "winprinter PPA" (http://www.httptech.com/ppa/index.html) so you will likely find some difficulty printing from alternative OSs - I have the HP812C and have similar problems.

I can offer no help in sound.

As for the UI - the task bar can be moved to look like Windows - in fact, try holding Ctrl/Aly/Shift -Click the "Be" button and choose "Window Decor.." you can make it look like Windows or Mac or even Amiga OS.

[This message has been edited by CMonster (edited 03-29-2000).]

[drizzle]

Well, I've installed it as well. I'm VERY impressed with it. True, the UI is a little different and takes some getting used to, but that's pretty minor. If you've used Windows for any significant amount of time (As I'm sure most of you here have!) it's not that bad. It's a smooth running OS, seems really stable, and boots up FAST! The file system 'sorta' reminds me of UNIX/LINUX and the interface 'sorta' reminds me of a Mac.

If I'm not mistaken this free version is limited to 500 or so megabytes in size. I'm not sure exactly how much of that space the OS resides in but I'm sure there's enough free space left over to install a decent amount of software.

I'm only having problems right now setting up my network adapter (3Com) and my audio. The HCL doesn't show the MX300 as a compatible audio card but it does identify my chipset within BeOS. My network card however is in the HCL but still refuses to work, but hopefully with persistance the problem will be solved.

I sure hope Be keeps up the good work. I'm definitly impressed with this release and I look forward to future development of the OS.

http://www.sysopt.com/forum/smile.gif

[This message has been edited by drizzle (edited 03-29-2000).]

[JeffD78]

What kind of software can you run under BeOS? I.E. Will my games work in it?

[jad1097]

drizzle
What kind of 3com NIC? I have not been able to get mw 3c509b-tpo to work in 4.5.

[drizzle]

I'm pretty sure it's that exact one. I'll check tonight when I get home.

[Spartan]

CMonster == Thanks for the tip. Actually what you say makes alot of sense in that when I would run the printer against my P100 laptop, it would print quite slowly if my CPU was cranking.

I should've already known this but I didn't make the connection.

[Spencer]

I have also installed BeOS 5 Personal Edition. I'm having problems getting the @Home network working(inputed all the correct settings, nothing), no support for geForce cards, and limited printer surport. I love when a new promising OS comes out and I always give it my best effort to get them working before making any judgement, but none seem to work even 90% without alot of research and tinkering (e.g. Linux). I'm back to Windows again.

[drojman]

I installed it yesterday. It hangs when i try to make a boot up floppy. I cannot get quake 2 to run under it.. just brings up the screen and then super super slow motion, like change menus, have to wait 30 or more seconds for it to actually change. Can't get seti to run. Followed the instructions on using the terminal, it will not allow me to browse to any other directory... am quite dissappointed.. http://www.sysopt.com/forum/frown.gif

Anyone know what I am doing wrong?

[stodge]

If anyone is having problems with BeOS, then check out the discussion forums on www.begroovy.com. (http://www.begroovy.com.) I think most of the issues and problems will probably have been discussed there already.

[Unsecured Loner]

Regarding the 500 mb limit, Be apps tend to be much smaller than Windows counterparts. This is due to the efficiency of the Be APIs. Be can also read/write data on any kind of Windows partition, so the 500 meg limit shouldn't be an issue. If it is, the Pro version can use virtually unlimited file sizes in its own excellent file system.

[wyvrn]

Ok I will bite. How much is the pro version? My friend swears by it.

[Unsecured Loner]

It's about $69.95 for the full version, and an upgrade from 4.5 is available for $29.95.
Go here for more info:
http://www.bedepot.com/products/Gobe/BeOS.asp

There's also a bundle deal available for $79.95 that includes the excellent "BeOS Bible" by Scot Hacker. I recommend Scot's books highly for getting the most out of Be.
That deal can be found here:
http://www.bedepot.com/products/gobe/bundles.asp



[This message has been edited by Unsecured Loner (edited 04-13-2000).]

[hd581]

Is there a discount for those of us upgrading to Professional from Personal Edition 5.0? You know, since we already went out of our way and got it...

[hai]

Maybe a colorful OS. But I can get nothing really useful running under it. It doesn't support my video card and winmodem as a plus.

[Unsecured Loner]

There is a fair quantity of freeware and shareware for Be available here:
http://www.be.com/software/beware/

and here:
http://www.bebits.com/

Admittedly, the quality is a bit uneven, but there are apps available for almost all common purposes. I'm waiting for a quality Be newsreader myself. The real strength of Be is working with media. If you do anything with graphics, video, or audio, you owe it to yourself to give it a try. It comes bundled with an excellent mp3 player, great audio editing apps, and good video editing tools. Art Paint is a shareware ($20 U.S) graphics program that I love to use.

Commercial apps can be found here:
http://www.bedepot.com/


[This message has been edited by Unsecured Loner (edited 04-13-2000).]

[This message has been edited by Unsecured Loner (edited 04-13-2000).]