Yes, I think this would be wonderful and I am a Mac (OS) evangelist, but
you did not mention that this new OS will most likely NOT be backwards
compatible - i.e., it will require completely new code from all programers.
 The same is true for the Win95/Win NT hybrid that
Bill-I-am-master-of-the-universe will soon bring down from Mount Washington
on stone tablets.  And, what is worse, Microsoft's lock on the OS market
will increase (read "worsen") because all MS applications will be written
in the new code coincident with the OS's release.  Who cares if Photoshop
is ready for the new Mac OS if that's the only program that runs on it?
And don't think Adobe won't be developing for the Win OS at least as
rapidly as they are developing for Mac.  Now all MS needs to do is get into
the imaging software game and they can have the last bit of the science
market that they don't completely control.  I think the only solution is a
Win system for certain applications and a Mac for anything you can get to
run on it.  Is this the fabled CHRP?
Rob Palmer
CEB/UT
 
> Another combatant in the OS wars has been Macintosh (still a major player
>in the digital/graphics realm), with OS-8 (Copland)  being pursued in
>gradual steps, but still a long way off.  However, according to MacWeek
>11.04.96, Apple is currently negociating with Be Inc. to buy BeOS, an
>elegant, advanced, modern OS that already has preemptive multitasking,
>symmetrical multiprocessing, multithreading, protected memory, and great
>stability.  BeOS is currently PowerPC native, and the plan would be to use
>BeOS as the Macintosh operating system, with the OS-8 microkernel
>(essentially ready) underneath it. Apple would continue to support OS-7.5
>for the time being, and would plan to have the BeOS-OS8 hybrid out by next
>summer.  Although there would be a lot of problems to work out, it could
>be quite an exciting system with impressive specifications.  Many of the
>major digital/graphics developers still have considerable Apple loyalty.
>Apparently, Adobe is already working on a BeOS version of Photoshop.
>
>A. Kent Christensen
>University of Michigan
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