On Tue, 4 Feb 2003 14:03:06 -0600, Kyle Smeby <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> Actually the file system in OS X is where Apple has taken a lot > of flak for not more closely emulating Be OS. I never used Be, > but I heard it had a very robust file system where each file > could hold a very customizable amount of metadata. This was one of the absolute most fabulous features of BeOS. The file system was nothing less than a fully fledged database. You could sort your jpgs by 'mood' or whatever categories you chose to impart to your files. Makes the MacOS 'labels' feature look primitive. (Not to mention file/creator). Another really fab feature was ALWAYS letting user input take priority, so your click of the 'cancel' button - when you realised the frontmost process was going to hog the CPU - was always obeyed immediately. For this reason BeOS always felt more responsive and, well just faster than any other OS installed on the exact same hardware. Actually, it wasn't faster at all, but because they always let the user's actions have priority, it felt like it was screaming along. On MacOS X and Windows, if you're inside a single process which is hogging the CPU, you just have to wait. Sure you can switch to another process, but the option of interrupting the process from the INSIDE (as opposed to just killing it from the outside) is simply not available. This is bad design that we all tolerate because most of us haven't seen anything better. Interestingly Microsoft is apparently scrambling to include a database in the forthcoming 'Longhorn' OS, which clearly amuses the folks at the Register, and the ex-Be Engineers who 'slice and dice' Microsoft's gambit at this URL <http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/archive/24648.html> Of course, the fact that these engineers are now hired by *Apple* suggests that Microsoft is not the only company with this plan. Those people bemoaning the lack of 'labels' in OSX might find some comfort in the idea that instead of implementing labels, maybe, just maybe, Apple is taking the extra time it needs to switch to a proper database-file system which will make labels more than obsolete. (Why else would they not have implemented labels already?) Anyway, do skim the article. While it may be a year old, it's very interesting. > It's funny how often I hear of Be as the greatest OS of all > time. It's too bad I never had a chance to use it myself. Truly, especially when you consider that there's not an OS in existence today that is anywhere near capable of emulating it either. I await Palm's next OS offering with bated breath... Brennan [To remove yourself from this list, or to change to digest mode, go to http://www.penworks.com/lingo-l.cgi To post messages to the list, email [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Problems, email [EMAIL PROTECTED]). Lingo-L is for learning and helping with programming Lingo. Thanks!]
