Little-known OSes (OSi?) ;)

[Billy Tanksley]

> From:	Webmaster@slater.ch [SMTP:webmaster@slater.ch]
> Subject:	Little-known OSes (OSi?) ;)
> 
> Hello!
> Got this address from the OSopinion.com article. I was
> wondering if there are any "little-known" OSes that try
> to advance the "look-and-feel" of the GUI?
> 
	Not really.  BeOS changes some things, but it's a little chaotic.
Jeff Raskin (one of the original designers of the Mac) tried to challenge
the windows-icon-mouse interface with a computer called the Canon Cat (a
long time ago), but politics at Canon killed it.

	Linux has plugin window managers; every single one of them tries to
be nicer than the others (of course), and most of them succeed.

> I'm thinking
> of an OS that would emphasize the look of the desktop
> (as it would invariably be "windows-like")
> 
	I don't understand.  "Emphasise the look of the desktop?"
"Invariably windows-like?"

> I looked for any mention of GUIs on your page but couldn't find any.
> 
	We're not at any good point for that yet.  Berlin is working on
something which might be appropriate (but I don't know their address).

	The problem is that a GUI is not part of an OS; it's something which
sits on top of an OS.  We're designing an OS, so we'll design a GUI to sit
on top of its as well; we don't want to jump ahead and design a GUI which
might limit the OS (although we WILL be planning for the GUI, as well as for
the CLI).

	Ah, I remember another project; LUIGUI just started recently, but it
looks VERY promising.  It's a project to improve Linux's human interface,
and at the same time advance the state of HCI.

> webmaster@slater.ch
> 
	-Billy