Zeta Os 1.0

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purrkur
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Zeta Os 1.0

Post by purrkur »

A ten page review of Zeta OS 1.0 at Ars Technica.
2x533MHz@544MHz, 2.0V
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Debian Linux stable with 2.4.8 kernel
purrkur
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Post by purrkur »

From the conclusion:
The heavily multithreaded nature of the GUI creates a very responsive, very "snappy" sensation, as long as everything works as expected
Hmmm. Should fit BP6 just fine then....
2x533MHz@544MHz, 2.0V
640MB PC100 memory
Realtek RTL-8139 NIC
Maxtor 6Y080L0 80GB hdd
Debian Linux stable with 2.4.8 kernel
InactiveX
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Post by InactiveX »

A good review overall, but with a few errors.
yellowTAB, Inc. has done an admirable job of resurrecting this operating system, updating the kernel, and integrating parts of the OS (such as BONE and OpenGL) that never made it to a commercial release of BeOS.
OpenGL has been part of BeOS for some years now. On the contrary, hardware OpenGL has not been available in any BeOS release.
One thing I think yellowTAB would be wise to consider is releasing a distribution of ZETA that comes on a "Live CD," similar to Linux distributions like Knoppix, that the average user could boot from directly and use without having to wipe out their existing copy of Windows or repartition their hard drives and add a boot manager.
There is a Live CD! It's here.

I think I'm going to buy a copy of Zeta. I really miss the responsiveness of BeOS, and the quality of some apps such as SoundPlay is second to none, on any platform.
purrkur wrote:From the conclusion:
The heavily multithreaded nature of the GUI creates a very responsive, very "snappy" sensation, as long as everything works as expected
Hmmm. Should fit BP6 just fine then....
I'm guessing it would be the ideal combination. Watching a load of separate media apps playing, with the task-monitor showing dual-CPU usage, and BeOS not missing a beat, has to be seen to be believed.

Thanks for the link purrkur! :)
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24seven
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Post by 24seven »

How much is it, and where would you get it from in the UK?
I might be intrested in it as well.
InactiveX
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Post by InactiveX »

Zeta is distributed in Europe in partnership with Mensys:

http://www.yellowtab.biz/cgi-bin/db2www ... tname=Zeta

I bought my copy of BeOS R5 from them, shipping to the UK was very quick. Recommended.
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purrkur
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Post by purrkur »

InactiveX wrote: Thanks for the link purrkur! :)
You're welcome!
2x533MHz@544MHz, 2.0V
640MB PC100 memory
Realtek RTL-8139 NIC
Maxtor 6Y080L0 80GB hdd
Debian Linux stable with 2.4.8 kernel
InactiveX
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Post by InactiveX »

For anyone planning on running Zeta in an SMP configuration, BP6 or otherwise, I would hold off with purchasing the OS.

It seems they are having trouble getting the kernel to run in SMP. See this forum thread.

I hope they can get a reliable SMP kernel out very soon. It's a serious shortcoming, as one thing BeOS was well-known for was it's silky-smooth SMP performance.

I'll keep an eye on this one.
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InactiveX
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Post by InactiveX »

Another, shortish, review of Zeta here.

It doesn't mention the SMP problems, and there's still no fix from yT. :cry:
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purrkur
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Post by purrkur »

They have somewhat fixed the SMP stuff....
2x533MHz@544MHz, 2.0V
640MB PC100 memory
Realtek RTL-8139 NIC
Maxtor 6Y080L0 80GB hdd
Debian Linux stable with 2.4.8 kernel
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