OSUser: BeOS Journal #16 - Bracing for Culture Clash (pt. 2)

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BeOS Journal #16: Bracing for Culture Clash (pt. 2) Scot Hacker, ZDNet 12/18/97 While many Mac users appreciate MacOS because of its elegance (they tend to appreciate finer aesthetic points of their systems), gracefulness is not even a part of many Windows users' vocabularies. Windows users like to get their work done -- fast. Windows users will be intolerant of things like missing task-switching hotkeys, while Mac users haven't been trained to expect them. Windows users won't tolerate mouse-dependence. Windows users will expect hundreds of thousands of applications to choose from, and first access to breaking technologies. Many Windows users experiencing BeOS for the first time will be like American tourists in Paris, obnoxiously demanding their favorite cable channel. It's going to be messy. The mess may be unavoidable, but it's ultimately ironic, considering that BeOS should really be considered neutral territory. All these users coming from different continents to be pioneers in the New World should be able to pool their resources and help each other out. And while it may get ugly at times, it's important to remember that we're here together, hacking out a path through somewhat uncharted territory. Users on both sides of the fence are becoming increasingly itchy. Just as our computing needs are becoming more sophisticated than ever before, our trusted operating systems are leaving too much to be desired. BeOS just happens to have come along at a point in history when the ranks of the dissatisfied are beginning to grow. The tide of the disappointed and disenfranchised is proportionally small, but it's growing perceptibly, and Be is perfectly poised to catch that wave with a nicely timed Intel release. Be has never claimed that they plan to compete against Microsoft, but if they can skim off a few handfuls of Microsoft exiles, that will be enough to carry them into a financially comfortable corner of the market. If you happen to belong to the strain of Mac users that criticizes Windows, x86 hardware, and Wintel users as second-rate computing citizens unable to distinguish crap from quality, remember that any x86 user considering a move to BeOS has already implicitly acknowledged their dissatisfaction with Windows. They may feel differently about MacOS than you do, but they're on your side. Check out Be's recently updated BeOS for Intel FAQ. Feeling disenfranchised yet? Ready to jump ship? Think I'm wrong? Take it to BeBuzz. |
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