Rethinking the System
As operating system have changed little over the past decade, it may be time to “think different”.
Hear the world “operating system”, and the first thing that pops into mind for most of us is the Windows logo in all its multi-coloured glory. Peer a little harder and you might see a big, shiny, silver Apple and may be catch a glimpse of a penguin. Each have their band of devotees, carrying their respective banners passionately onwards.
The Operating System development space of today though, is arguably getting a little state. Windows 7, Mac OS X Snow Leopard and Ubuntu 9 Jaunty Jackalope the latest incarnations of the Top Three have all seen no huge innovation in the way operating systems are designed and used.
They have been, by and large, maintenance and performance improvement releases; and while it is great to see faster boot times and improved stability, they are far from being the revolution in computing that we have been awaiting.
For many, they story ends at the operating system that comes installed with the computer we buy. Diving into the world of formatting hard drives, BIOS updates and driver incompatibilities in search of “the perfect OS” is certainly not a job for the faint-hearted.
But what about BeOS, or Haiku, or even the many flavours of linux that never get mainstream attention? what if these relatively obscure operating systems are better suited to the evolving trend of computer use in the home - or even the school and office? what have you left when we remove Windows, Mac OS and Ubuntu from the picture? Chaos? Pandemonium? World peace?
