Sep 03, 2002 10:23 AM
6169 Views
(Updated Jul 24, 2002 04:14 PM)
More than two years back when I downloaded BeOS 5.0 Personal Edition from the BeOS site, I was probably the first Indian to use this operating system or at least the 5.0 version of it. Today you rarely ever hear about it, at most you would see some software which maybe available for BeOS on some download site. I am writing this review because I feel that people like me who want to explore how the performace capability of their hardware.
BeOS gives you the best performance from the same hardware which would make Windows 2000 run so slow that you feel like sleeping. The site I have mentioned is https://bebits.com because the original Be site https://be.com doesnt really offer any support because Be Inc has now been taken over by Palm Inc and BeOS or its architecture would be used for Palm Inc's range of palmtop computers. Bebits is a site where you can download the OS itself and also a whole range of applications for it. BeOS comes with inbuilt Internet Browser and text editing software. It also has applications for CD Burning, TV viewing if u have a tuner card, Media Control, Sound Recording, Basic Image Viewing, Media Player, Midi Player and so on. One of the best things about BeOS is that you can install it just like any other software or program. It doesnt need a seperate partition on your hard drive.
The whole OS lives inside a 500MB folder and thats all it needs. In case you are using Windows NT or 2000 (NT 5.0), you will need to create a boot floppy for starting BeOS but if you are using Windows 95 or 98 then you can run BeOS just like another software or program. BeOS is great and amazing but dont really expect the world out of it. Although its capable of outperforming Windows but due to lack of users and lack of supporting applications it really cannot. For some specific tasks, BeOS can be very useful. It all depends on your needs and requirements.
Hey shaun this is for you, dude:
BeOS runs on both x86 architecture-based microprocessors like the infamous Intel Pentium range of processors and also PowerPC architecture-based processors. There are as such no specific system requirements that I have come across, it runs very well even on 16 MB RAM. There can be problems with peripherals like internal modems, ethernet cards, webcams etc. There are drivers available on websites like https://bebits.com and other download sites for many popular peripherals and hardware. I myself have a problem with BeOS detecting my ethernet card and my webcam. People with external modems can take a sigh of relief as there is no problem with detecting your external modem.
