OSUser: BeOS Journal #9 - Anticipation: Looking Toward DR9

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BeOS Journal #9: Anticipation: Looking Toward DR9 Scot Hacker, ZDNet 06/15/97 With the upcoming Developer Release 9 (DR9), the BeOS is about to take a critical step. It's going to go from being an operating system that's often described as "unfit for human consumption" owing to its unfinished nature, to a high-performance street rod that's nearly ready to take on the neighborhood. We're talking racing for pink slips here. Make no mistake -- the BeOS will still be a specialized system aimed primarily at multimedia professionals and die-hard propeller heads. But it's also about to gain a lot more end users, as copies of the OS come bundled with Mac clones from Power Computing, Motorola, and others. DR8 has a lot of rough spots. The kind of rough spots that developers don't mind, because they know that what's under the hood makes the inconveniences of using beta software all worthwhile. Developers know what it means when an app freezes and a debug window pops up with no explanation of what it is or how to close it. But end users have different expectations. End users don't want to experiment with a state-of-the-art operating system that crashes more than their Mac or Windows OS. It's hard to explain to end users why they have to jump through hoops to get support for their favorite internal modem. Although it's essential to get developers excited, developers exist to make applications for end users. And with the imminent release of DR9, Be is one step closer to supporting Joe Desktop with an OS that's far more potent and robust than the Mac OS or Windows. DR9, due to be released in a few weeks, is the final release prior to the commercial version 1.0 and will include a bunch of significant changes. Several months ago, Be announced that binaries written for DR8 wouldn't be compatible with DR9 and that developers would have to modify their applications to make them work under the new system. This kind of thing isn't unusual in the prerelease world, and few people in the Be community were miffed. But it also meant that the amount of new software showing up on ftp.be.com began to slow down. This was around the same time that some of the major software vendors began to announce that they were developing productivity apps for the BeOS and waiting for DR9 before they unveiled the results. In other words, the past couple of months have marked a time of high anticipation in the Be world. Be plans to have a million copies of the BeOS installed on computers around the world by the end of 1997, a goal it'll achieve by giving the OS away for free for a while. That means a lot of end users and, thus, a lot of self-appointed critics. That puts significant pressure on Be and its developers to get things right. For starters, Be needs to make its OS a valid and enticing alternative to the Mac OS in the narrow window between now and the release of Rhapsody. It's time to put all those PowerPC CPU clock cycles to good use. I haven't gotten my hands on DR9 yet -- it's still locked behind closed doors. But I have been collecting information on what DR9's features will be. Word on the street is that DR9 will boot in about four seconds (that's measured from when the ROM logo disappears, so it'll probably be about ten seconds from initial power-on). That in itself is a pretty significant achievement. Although it may seem like a major technical feat but a minor convenience, keep in mind that computing's increasing ubiquity in our lives means we must have instant access to our hard disks and networks. Keep in mind also that Microsoft's InstantOn spec is designed to do the same thing and for the same reason. The difference is that Microsoft will do it with an add-on hack, but Be will do it the right way -- by building the functionality into the system from the ground up. The BeOS file system is being entirely rewritten, as are major aspects of the database at the root of the OS. The file-system rewrite means not only greater stability and faster boots but also support for the file systems of just about all other major platforms: DOS, HFS, NFS, and ISO9660. The BeOS will be able to read disks and network drives on just about any computer in the world. What's more, the nature of the new file system is open and extensible, so supporting other systems won't be any more difficult than writing a device driver is. And, of course, the new file system will be a true multitasker: Writing one file while deleting another should pose no problems, for instance. That's all part of being a great multimedia system capable of overwhelming feats of input/output performance on the drag strip. The file manager will undergo a name change as well, from the Browser to the Tracker (to avoid confusion with Web browsers, no doubt). I haven't heard concrete news on this yet, but it's a safe bet there will be a hierarchical file view added to the current folder view. We already know you'll be able to store files on the desktop. My personal wish: a discrete command-line window built into all Tracker windows so that users can execute batch operations and sorts of all kinds without dropping into the Terminal and then back. For the foreseeable future, the BeOS will continue to appeal primarily to owners of PowerPC Macs, both from Apple and its licensees. But since Mac support came after BeBox support, DR8.2 on the Mac has been missing some critical services, such as support for serial ports, floppy drives, and other basic necessities. To cover these needs, there's already an upgrade for Mac owners, available as DR8.3. And, of course, the level of Mac hardware support will continue with increased vigor into DR9. One of the biggest enhancements to the BeOS look and feel will be anti-aliased font handling. Be now has a relationship with BitStream, so we can say good-bye to ugly fonts. That should make Web browsing a whole lot more pleasant as well. Speaking of the Internet, you've probably heard by now the news of Be's recent conversations with Netscape. Not many details have been released yet, but apparently Netscape is interested in creating a user-friendly system that can really compete with Windows NT and that is ostensibly focused on Web serving. If any company can help pull this off, it's Be. But we'll reserve our excitement until more details emerge. There's a hidden directory in DR8 called /dev, where device information is stored. For instance, there are entries in /dev for your modem, floppy-disk-drive, and serial ports. In DR9, that directory will be accessible from the Terminal, which means you'll be able to pull off all kinds of cool tricks, such as testing modem I/O or sending printer output to floppy, with simple commands. Oh, and two more keywords to think about: Java and OpenGL. Java support has been much discussed, but we don't have details. OpenGL is a more concrete prospect with big ramifications for the CAD industry. This list just scratches the surface of what we're about to see, and there's almost certainly a lot more going on behind the scenes than the tidbits that dribble out to us piecemeal over the mailing lists. Add to these enhancements the release of more than a dozen commercial productivity applications, and a picture begins to emerge of an OS that will demand to be taken seriously. That doesn't mean it's going to stop Microsoft in its tracks -- no one is fooling themselves about that. But it's going to be extremely good at what it does: serving the high-power needs of power users, multimedia experts, special-effects wizards, Web gods, and programmers on the lunatic fringe. And if the GUI is smooth enough to impress die-hard Mac users, then that's just more gravy for Be. With any luck, I'll be writing the next installment of this column from whatever word processor is built into DR9. Stay tuned. Many thanks to Jon Ragnarsson for his summary of DR9 features culled from the BeDevTalk mailing list. |
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