November 10th, 2000 – The Mac Observer

There are lots of great articles, and some really bad ones, on the Internet. Though we link to all of them at MacOS News Around The Web, some of them deserve special mention here. Most of what we will mention within these pages will be among the best, but on occasion we will talk about articles that are so bad or so wrong we just have to say something. Consider them mini-editorials on our part about things we think you might also be interested in.

Best [3:00 PM] Arizona Central: Mac Reality Check - A World Withought Apple Computer
Times, they are a changini. Apple is building their latest and greatest OS on top of technology that is decades old (Unix), the latest version of Windows actually has to EMULATE DOS (Me), but we are still using the mouse (or trackball) to interact with our computers. Remember who initially introduced the mouse to the world? Yes, of course, Xerox, but who REALLY introduced the mouse? Right, Apple. What if Apple never was. Hmmm... Our favorite quote from this piece:

Would you be working on a computer with a graphical user interface today, or would you be stuck in the command line? Would tens and tens of millions own such devices? Would your kids be using them for homework, playing games and exploring the vast amounts of information available on the World Wide Web?

Even Linux users want a GUI. Speaking of which, have you seen Nautilus from Eazel? I digress (sorry Tim). Reviewer - Kyle DiAddario

Best [1:00 PM] Byte.com - A BeOS View Of Appleis New OS X
Ever wondered what happened to the BeOS? Remember, this is the operating system that Apple almost bought, wanted to buy, before Be CEO Jean-Louis Gassee priced the company out of contention? The OS is alive and kicking, barely, and people are starting to realize that it sports many of the features Apple is offering in the upcoming OS X. The BeOS has been passed by Linux as "the other OS" and now it seems as if Be headed the way of Amiga. This set of articles talks about the BeOS, and how it relates to Mac OS X. Our favorite quote from the article:

I now realize that this is not quite a fair assessment of the situation. One could just as easily complain that a new Maserati is based on century-old Ford technology, because both use internal-combustion engines. The fact is that OS X is a new OS that just so happens to incorporate foundational principles of some older OSes. The same could be said of BeOS.

We still have friends that swear by the BeOS. Reviewer - Kyle DiAddario

You can find these links, and lots of other links for Mac and Tech Industry stories, at MacOS News Around The Web.