If you could create a new OS...

[ejb190]

I was reading some stuff about Windows Vista this morning when I got to thinking about something.

If you could create a new OS from scratch and not have to worry about compatibility or legacy, what would you do? What would be important to you? Are the current OS's even close to the mark?

 

[Leareth]

Mac Os X comes pretty close to my ideal OS
maybe if it were smaller in size and did not included all those useless drivers...
I want stability, security and customability in my OS's

 

[yg17]

Where's Democrat622

 

[jefhatfield]

Mac Os X comes pretty close to my ideal OS
maybe if it were smaller in size and did not included all those useless drivers...
I want stability, security and customability in my OS's

that's exactly my wish list from apple

instead of getting more efficient, os x is taking the path of windows and slowly getting more bloated and hogging more ram

os x is pretty as is windows xp, but prettiness is not high on my list...apple should shave down os x with ridding some of its drivers, as mentioned above, and simplifying the eye candy some

overall though, os x is much better than windows xp and the closest thing to perfect for me...for others, os x may not even get close to filling their needs so to each his own

 

[yg17]

Yeah, the printer drivers tick me off. When I reinstalled OSX, I was able to only install the Canon printer drivers, but that still installs a ton of drivers I don't need. I wish you could just select which specific printer model you need.

I suppose OSX could always take a Windows route and not install any drivers, and you have to insert the OS CD each time you connect something for it to install the required driver, but then you'd lose plug-n-play.

 

[mkrishnan]

Where's Democrat622

For the record, I didn't say it.

I did quote it.



I think the major thing I would change now would be to reinvent the filesystem so that it was designed from the ground up for search / metadata and for virtual organization of files according to projects and other kinds of relationships between files.

Other major thing that OS X lacks is a system by which users can easily transport their "home drive" and get the same user experience on any computer running the OS by carrying something like a flash drive....

 

[jimN]

For the record, I didn't say it.

I did quote it.

And you were definitely thinking it!

 

[yg17]

Other major thing that OS X lacks is a system by which users can easily transport their "home drive" and get the same user experience on any computer running the OS by carrying something like a flash drive....

That would be awesome, and certainly a first (I don't think Linux has it). But you know Microsoft would copy it

 

[gekko513]

I think the drivers are one of the best things about Mac OS X. It's great to be able to plug into almost any printer on the go and just print without the hassle of searching for and installing drivers.

Other major thing that OS X lacks is a system by which users can easily transport their "home drive" and get the same user experience on any computer running the OS by carrying something like a flash drive....

That would be awesome, and certainly a first (I don't think Linux has it). But you know Microsoft would copy it

That's very complicated to do in a reliable fashion. If it was easy, it would've been done already.

We're heading in that direction with web-based desktop environments and all that, but it will be a while before the technology is mature.

 

[iAlan]

I would create a system that could read my mind and just do what I want it to do.

Me thinks: Computer, open MacRumors
Computer: [Screen shows 'MacBooks Next Tuesday' Thread]
Me: Oh no. not again
Computer: [Screen shows 'MacBooks Next Tuesday Update 73 - TS now claims delay due to the weather']
10 minutes later
Me thinks: Computer, refresh MacRumors
Computer: [Screen shows 'MacBooks not next Tuesday but soon' - Steve Jobs has dentist appointment next Tuesday so launch pushed back in favour of a root canal...]
Me thinks: Computer, shutdown...

 

[mkrishnan]

That would be awesome, and certainly a first (I don't think Linux has it). But you know Microsoft would copy it

Well, but the point of this thread is "from the ground up." If you did that, I think it would be relatively easy. Actually, IBM is developing it pretty aggressively, and they've shown some neat video demonstrations. Theirs even basically lets you unplug the home drive and plug it in somewhere else and have your session pop back up with open documents and so on.

But just home on a device other than the computer's hard disk is very doable. The University of Michigan used Andrew File System to provide network home drives for users in Unix more than 10-15 years ago. And the result was that your environment would be the same wherever you logged in. That was a network drive and not a flash drive, but I think the principle is not that different....

 

[sunfast]

I'd want it Legacy free I think. In fact, I'd use windows of an example of what not to do.

 

[slooksterPSV]

I was reading some stuff about Windows Vista this morning when I got to thinking about something.

If you could create a new OS from scratch and not have to worry about compatibility or legacy, what would you do? What would be important to you? Are the current OS's even close to the mark?

I'd make an OS that loaded quickly, and did loading in the background to speed up what you want to do, versus what has to be done, immediate components first, then user components, then the rest. For example:
OS X loads the GUI components and Login Components, and while I'm typing in my password or whatever, its loading other data w/out killing the CPU.
I'd do what OS X did and put in TRUE multitasking, not windows xp not so close multitasking. I'd make it graphically beautiful, just gorgeous. Transparent Windows, Expose (exactly how they have it), alt tab where you can view the application window (like in SLED 10 or SLES 10 (Novell SuSE Linux Desktop 10 and SuSE Linux Enterprise Server 10, I went to brainshare)). Awesome graphics effects like the CUBE rotation. Better Integration with the graphics card (e.g. CoreImage), but make a CoreVideo type thing. Embed standard system interfaces such as MP3, MOV, MPG, etc. Scalable-Raster Graphics Enabler, to help clear the image (on movies or that) so they look better. Oh my gosh, so many things. Have a widget type thing so that you can have mini apps. Make the applications scriptable to add new menu items to execute commands, kind of like Photoshop's Action creation thing, but it embeds into the program. Windows 98 Register umm.. hell no, no registry, use XML files where data cannot be changed to harm the OS. Multiple user accounts, split processing to enable multiple users to use just one box at the same time. Logical resource allocation, locate resources to apps that demand it, but only on need basis, not on want, e.g. a program takes 8MB of RAM, but only uses 4MB of RAM actual, reduce it to use only 4MB of RAM. Wow, I want so much. There's more but I'll stop.

 

[janey]

...compatibility or legacy...

to be honest, that was actually the first thing I had in mind when I read the title.

 

[ejb190]

I guess what I was wondering was if we could start all over and use what we know now.

Could we build an OS around a touch screen (or anything else) instead of a mouse? Could we throw out the current concept of the GUI and develop something mind-blowingly simple? What could we do to keep the system requirements under check and avoid the "bloated OS" syndrome?

I deal with a few people who do not like computers. Are the current OS's becoming easier to use or are they maintaining the same level of complexity and forcing new users to adapt to the madness? Can we make things simpler and more intuitive?