Book
Review of: |
 I
recently reviewed the BeOS,
an operating system oriented toward multimedia.
While Windows dominates the desktop environment, many people are actively searching for viable alternatives. It has little to do with cost or available applications. Reliability and functionality are the driving forces. Stability, or lack thereof, is the primary reason for reliability problems. Who hasn’t had Windows crash and trash their work? While no operating system can be called “stable,” Windows stretches the term tighter than a banjo string. The time expended in trying to maintain Windows seems to overwhelm any benefits of using the operating system. Time is finite, and every hour spent dealing with Windows is one hour of life gone forever. The operating system should be transparent to the user, allowing full attention to the task at hand. Functionality is allowing the maximum possible usage of the chosen application. Aside from the aforementioned Windows problems, the Windows OS is a resource hog. The basic problem, in my opinion, is Windows is based around an eight bit architecture. This was fine when it was originally released, but is as obsolete as a button hook, and about half as useful! The latest versions use patches, fixes, workarounds, and smoke and mirrors just to run. No wonder there are problems. Microsoft is supposed to be working on a 64-bit OS that actually works, but I plan to follow the old adage, “fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me.” I am embarrassed to admit it, but MS has fooled me more than twice. (3.0, 3.1, 3.11, 3.11/workgroups, 95a, 95b, NT 4.0) Linux is also in my test group, and I like what I see so far. My article, in the July 2000 PC Alamode, covers the multimedia aspects of Be. The likely near future of personal PC’s is in what are referred to as Internet Appliances. These are devices that communicate over the net, not necessarily through a desktop computer. You may have seen a commercial about a repairman arriving at a home to repair a refrigerator. The bewildered homeowner did not call for repairs as the fridge appears to be functioning normally. It seems the appliance dialed for preventive maintenance! This is not now in use, but is on the way, and is a type of Internet Appliance. BeIA is the entry from Be in this field, and is supposed to be a platform for appliances that deliver information, entertainment and interactivity over the web. BeOS is the basic building block for this, and I wanted to take a closer look at it. If you read my review, you may recall I had a problem with my video card. Be did not recognize it, and ran in default monochrome mode, giving me access to the OS, but eating up half of the CPU cycles, resulting in a really slow computer. The version of Be, 4.5, is supposed to work with my card, a Number Nine, but did not. Attempts to obtain a driver have so far been unsuccessful. Since I have been wanting to try writing my own video driver, now seemed a good time. Most of the books about computers are difficult to read, wander in a seemingly aimless manner, and tend to be boring. A notable exception, in my experience, is the series of “dummies” books. You know the series, DOS For Dummies, Windows For Dummies, etc., and the easy to understand writing. There is another series that I find as good as those. They are the books published by O’REILLY.
Be - Developers Guide is the official programmer’s reference manual to this operating system. It provides developers with access to the internals of Be. The Guide describes all the foundation kits in the operating system and how to use them. The kits are:
starts you on applications an interface to the file system includes windows, buttons, controls, and everything needed to design a GUI provides access to the lowest programmable level of the BeOS common functionality and definitions. Be - Advanced Topics is the second half of the duo, and covers the less commonly used kits in the operating system. Kits covered here are:
real-time processing of audio and video data; (remember, Be is oriented toward multimedia) MIDI generation and processing, including Headspace General MIDI synthesizer allows your game to take over the machine implements the OpenGL 3D graphics interface an interface for the network and mail, and my target lets you create your own device drivers. Time limitations, as always, prevent me from reading these two books and actually creating the video driver before this review is due. I will get it done and report my results, along with how I did it. I know that the inner workings of applications, let alone operating systems, is not a subject with wide appeal. It does interest enough to make books like these inviting to who does want to dig into these areas, and I really like the way O’REILLY publishes in general. They aim at specialized groups, but the books are easy enough to read that anyone with an interest can make use of them. These books can usually be found in larger bookstores, and can be ordered direct from O’REILLY. Remember to check to see about member discounts. The Developer’s Guide lists for $49.95 and Advanced Topics for $39.95. (Nobody pays list) O’REILLY usually sends catalogs of their books and software to Alamo PC, so check the membership table at the meeting, or go by the Resource Center at Crossroads Mall. You can also request one direct O’REILLY & Associates, Inc. No computers were harmed during this review. Russell Albach |