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First Look at YellowTAB's Zeta

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the i'm-not-quite-dead-yet dept.

Gentu writes "Great news for the BeOS fans. After Be sold its IP to Palm, many said that the BeOS was no more, but a new startup company from Germany, YellowTAB, was able to get hold of Be's source code and form the future of the never-released BeOS 6 ('Dano'), under the name 'Zeta'. YellowTAB added a lot of new goodies to the OS and brought it up to speed. OSNews features the first ever preview of Zeta with a lot of good information, along with some screenshots."

9 of 356 comments (clear)

  1. My 1-item wishlist by aridhol · · Score: 4, Interesting
    When updating from 7.2 to 8.0, I had the fun of not having enough disk space. So I went through the package list, and tried to remove some stuff. However, it could not be removed because it was already installed. What I'd like to see is the ability for the installer to remove already-installed packages. Instead, I had to boot into the old system, remove packages, and re-install the update.

    I sent this request to the Mandrake developers at 8.0. As of 9.0, this feature was still not available. Probably won't be there for 9.1, but I can hope.

    --
    I can't say that I don't give a fuck. I've just run out of fuck to give.
  2. KDE and GNOME "Galaxy" theme by tyrann98 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I'm glad that a common theme between KDE and GNOME was also implemented by Mandrake. Competing and incompatible desktops is going to really hurt Linux for a while, especially if a user cannot switch between computers and get work done easily. Things such as the Start Menu, Control Panel, background, screensaver, and System Properties have been somewhat standardized in the Windows world. Even newbie users can get these things done on a Windows 95/98/ME/2000 and even XP desktop easily. They are different by close enough to make it a smooth transition. Linux is still not there with competing Bluecurve/Galaxy + KDE/GNOME camps. While the core should still be as configurable like the hacker wants, work should be done to have a standard interface (which can be changed) and standard "desktop configuration" utilities across the major distributions/desktop environments. We have the GNOME control panel, KDE control panel, Red Hat utilites, Mandrake utilities, etc... (include almost every major distribution out there) for everything! Everything is different and everything has a slightly different interface for the same tasks. I even get annoyed sometimes when it takes me a couple extra tens of seconds to find an app due to different menu layouts. And I know lots of other users that really get messed up even with simple things like changing the background or GDM/KDE icons on Linux.

  3. OpenBeos by hutman · · Score: 5, Interesting

    What does this mean for open beos people?? I would hope the YellowTAB people could keep their source somewhat in the open ala OSX at least.

  4. Re:OSNews...OSSpews by smittyoneeach · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Because, if you read the article, it was actually a detailed review by someone who is familiar enough with the subject to peer into the nooks 'n' crannies, yet critical enough not to tout it.
    In a day when 4 out of 5 dentists surveyed said reviews are merely ads in disguise, this is a breath of fresh air.
    Still trying to figure out why you'd use BeOS. Is there any security value in running, say, a web server, on a niche OS, so that the would-be cracker makes an ignorant blunder and exposes himself?

    --
    Get thee glass eyes, and, like a scurvy politician, seem to see things thou dost not.--King Lear
  5. Re:Looks interesting... by UnknownSoldier · · Score: 5, Interesting

    > Who still cares about BeOS?

    I for one, since I was lucky enough to have it run on a couple of computers.

    The problem with Linux and *BSD is that I just don't the time to config them. (Allthough it's cool that the Linux router "just works" -- has been for years.) Win2K is "OK" (would be good if it wasn't for the dam memory leaks), and I *hate* the Mac. GUI (pre OSX). BeOS is "sexy", blazingly fast, VERY well designed, and I really liked that it felt like a great blend of the Win32 and Mac. GUI, but designed by a person with REAL concern for users -- newbies and power uers alike. The only problem is that BeOS never gained "critical mass" like Linux. KDE 3 looks REAL sweet, but I have a dual 550 box just for Be. :)

  6. Y Tu Gentu? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Interesting

    It's amazing how every single story about something on OSNews is submitted by Gentu.

    I have no idea how Eugenia got a free pass with the /. people, but I am pretty sure it isn't the quality of her writing, or her tolerance for dissenting views.

    Seriously.. this is ridiculous. Save for one story submitted by "Worried" on April 19th, I had to scroll back to March 28th to find one not by "Gentu." And even back that far, the Gentu thing is still the name on almost all of the stories. Its just stupid. Anonymity in story submission only works if you don't choose the same handle each time, sweetie.

  7. What about the PPC version? by kommakazi · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I looked all over their site and cannot find anything about a PPC version, this is rather disappointing. Anyone know if they plan on continuing it as well?

  8. It might be the greatest desktop OS ever... by skryche · · Score: 3, Interesting
    ...but nobody's going to use it when there are alternatives that are cheaper, more free, with more apps, and are better supported.

    Without the GPL or, say, a Win32 emulation thingy, it doesn't seem viable.

  9. Re:Looks interesting... by axxackall · · Score: 3, Interesting
    Nice clean interface

    What *specifically* makes it more cleaner than Gnome or KDE?

    in fact, it has the only Drag'nDrop GUI I've ever seen that I would be willing to call uncluttere

    What *specifically* makes DnD in GNOME/KDE cluttered?

    --

    Less is more !