Re: XGS/32 v1.4b Released!

[supertimer@aol.com (Supertimer)]

phoenyx <quazar@dcnet2000.com> wrote:

>And there's the beauty in multiple Os's. Each person can
>use the one they like. It's a known fact that no will win
>the OS war. I really don't have anything against Windows.
>In fact I appreciate the fact that MS made the computer
>so popular. Now I can afford to buy the hardware I need
>to fuel my hobby. I will say this though, if you use an OS
>and try to rate it beside Windows, then Windows will
>always win. Primarily, because we know how it works and
>because of this we expect a certain functionality.

Actually, if interface and feel were the criteria, I'd rate
our old friend GS/OS above either Windows 95/98
or MacOS.  I know that once I say this, I'm going to
get flamed by supporters of both saying "that old
thing with no built in multitasking, 200 lines of
resolution" and all that.  But let's examine it another
way.  GS/OS is the most modular OS I've ever used.
More modular than OS/2 or Linux and certainly more
modular than Windows 95/98 or MacOS.  Just look
at the way file systems are handled.  Each FST is
a separate file that you drop in a folder.  Each OS
module is a separate file that confers an element
of functionality that the user drops into place.  This
is the essense of the GUI, in my opinion.  No
registry.  No disappearing files that get thrown to
the four corners of the hard drive.  No patching the
operating system all over the place.

But Windows and Mac supporters are going to
flame me saying "but it is old" and so on.  Yes,
GS/OS is old.  Yes, it runs on hardware that has
be dead-ended by Apple.  Yes, the systems that
MacOS and Windows 95/98 run on are much more
powerful.  And yes, in many respects MacOS and
Windows 95/98 have evolved far beyond GS/OS.
But that's only because the GS has stopped
evolving long ago.

But get down to the root of it, to the basic
character of the OS and what do you get?  GS/OS
is the most beautiful and intuitive OS ever
designed and the GUI that Apple provides with
it is absolutely a gem.

>If those
>biases are removed before a person tried Linux (or any OS)
>and that OS became their choice then it would win the
>contest.

Linux is nice too, but believe it or not, my favorite
OS of all time on the PC is GeoWorks.  That
was such an efficient OS that was so small in
footprint and yet so powerful.  It is too bad the
folks from GeoWorks did not have the marketing
power of Microsoft or even the hacker spirit of
Linux.

>I won't try to defend Linux, it has proved itself. Besides,
>people will b*tch at me for cross posting. ;-)

Actually, I think Apple II users who are used to
hacking around would be quite happy with Linux.