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Computer viking posted:Both BeOS and QNX Photon have some of that feeling, yeah. I fully get how the classic Mac users must have felt about their snappy, pretty desktops back when windows 3 was the new hotness, or how the Sgi people felt in a world of CDE and terminals. A friend of mine around the early 2000s was big into BeOS and he'd be all smug at LAN parties about how many videos and MP3s his PC could play simultaneously. The UI was very snappy indeed and looked quite good amongst the sea of Win98/2000/XP with various garish color schemes. I've been playing around with older Mac OS versions (System 6/7/8, Mac OS 8/9) in emulators. For the older versions, they were at the forefront of desktop UI, especially when you compare to the contemporary Windows versions. Win3.x was good and I liked it back then, but it was also significantly more primitive. Then around Win95 and especially Win98, it really seems like Apple were running out of steam software-wise. OS X was a major shot in the arm, and I think they could have won a lot more market share, if it had come out just a year or two earlier.
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Apr 27, 2021 13:29
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Jim Silly-Balls posted:It’s disappointing that both OS X and Windows 10 have likely settled on their respective ideal OS UI and there isn’t anything new coming down the pike. Don’t get me wrong, not are great in their current iterations, but they’ll likely not change appreciably. There really doesn't need to be though. Computers are becoming a thing people use for work, and cell phones have come to fill the niche most computers were filling 10 years ago
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Apr 27, 2021 13:37
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KozmoNaut posted:A friend of mine around the early 2000s was big into BeOS and he'd be all smug at LAN parties about how many videos and MP3s his PC could play simultaneously. The UI was very snappy indeed and looked quite good amongst the sea of Win98/2000/XP with various garish color schemes. I ran BeOS as my main os for like a year in college. I got fed up with Windows 2000 era BS and switched for a while. It had a really good online App Store that was frequently updated and had most of the stuff you’d want to turn it into your daily driver OS Between the NetPositive browser to surf the web and access Blackboard, whatever Office clone they had, and MP3 player and the built in movie playing capabilities I was pretty set as far as college coursework was concerned. I really only booted into windows for games. It was glorious
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Apr 27, 2021 13:38
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Iron Crowned posted:There really doesn't need to be though. Computers are becoming a thing people use for work, and cell phones have come to fill the niche most computers were filling 10 years ago I know but I want there to be
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Apr 27, 2021 13:39
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They tried making Windows into a tile-based Windows Phone-like UI, in Win8 but immediately walked it back and pretended it didn't happen
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Apr 27, 2021 13:44
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I used Windows Phone for a few years in 2012-2015 or something. The OS itself was extremely solid UI-wise and miles ahead contemporary Android, the tile-based system was easy to take in at a glance and everything you wanted to do was never more than a few taps away. It felt like it was everything Apple claims their products were at that point, easy and quick and well-designed. The problem was that the Nokia hardware it ran on was mostly crap in all but the highest price points. It remains a huge 'what could have been' if it could've clawed some market share from Android and iOS, I personally loved it.
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Apr 27, 2021 14:40
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Data Graham posted:They tried making Windows into a tile-based Windows Phone-like UI, in Win8 E. lmao I just remembered this thing, and how people on Digg absolutely lost their minds at how it was totally gonna be the future of desktop interfaces: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M0ODskdEPnQ Pretty good has a new favorite as of 15:08 on Apr 27, 2021 |
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Apr 27, 2021 15:05
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Flash Gordon Ramsay posted:I’m trying to find the motivation to set this up. Maybe use it to play CDs. It’s been in the box in my garage for almost 20 years now. Worlds bulkiest digital photo frame?
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Apr 27, 2021 15:10
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Take the stand off and mount it next to your front door like an intercom
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Apr 27, 2021 15:27
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the last time i saw a TAM for sale locally the guy wanted a zillion dollars for it how much for yours
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Apr 27, 2021 15:36
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Qwijib0 posted:Worlds bulkiest digital photo frame? It’s an active matrix screen but was still super lovely and small by today’s standards. The sound is the best thing it has going for it. Though lots of the CD drives had problems because I dont think the mechanism was designed to be used vertically. And the speaker grilles were notorious for getting runs in them, though mine were pristine when I packed it up. Who knows what they look like now though. The best thing I can say about the system is it has the best startup sound of any Mac. I doubt I’d sell it because someone would either be overpaying, or I wouldn’t get enough to not feel bad about not having this (semi)collectible computer anymore.
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Apr 27, 2021 16:46
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Jim Silly-Balls posted:It’s disappointing that both OS X and Windows 10 have likely settled on their respective ideal OS UI and there isn’t anything new coming down the pike. Don’t get me wrong, both are great in their current iterations, but they’ll likely not change appreciably. The Linux world is still experimenting with UI, at least a little. See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desktop_environment Granted, I don't think any of those experiments have actually improved things much beyond the basic notions that crystallized with Win95. The Unity desktop and especially GNOME 3 are just annoying to use, in my opinion. Give me a nice simple interface like Cinnamon or MATE or Xfce, and I'll be happy.
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Apr 27, 2021 17:02
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Wasn’t there a BeOS that had an interface like an actual office with file cabinets and whatnot? I remember installing something like that on a Mac around the time that BeOS was making noise, but I don’t recall if that was it. Either way, it was a pain in the rear end and not nearly as useful as the idea seemed to me.
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Apr 27, 2021 17:17
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Packard-Bell had a thing like that. Everybody had that “Software ... that looks like ... THINGS  ” brainwave in the 90s at some point
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Apr 27, 2021 17:46
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Flash Gordon Ramsay posted:Wasn’t there a BeOS that had an interface like an actual office with file cabinets and whatnot? I remember installing something like that on a Mac around the time that BeOS was making noise, but I don’t recall if that was it. Either way, it was a pain in the rear end and not nearly as useful as the idea seemed to me. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skeuomorph
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Apr 27, 2021 17:50
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Wasn't there some crazy guy who was trying to make the ultimate skeuomorphic interface or something? It was some weird word like that.
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Apr 27, 2021 17:53
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I know what it's called (didnt use the term because I couldn't remember how to spell it) but I'm trying to recall what OS had that interface.
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Apr 27, 2021 17:54
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Flash Gordon Ramsay posted:I know what it's called (didnt use the term because I couldn't remember how to spell it) but I'm trying to recall what OS had that interface. early versions of iOS, i think?
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Apr 27, 2021 17:54
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boar guy posted:early versions of iOS, i think? This was probably 97 or so, so it would have been a super early iOS.
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Apr 27, 2021 17:55
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EL BROMANCE posted:The thing you hate on your laptop can now be the thing you hate on your desktop! Progress! Hate? I love this mother loving thing. I have massive fingers and trying to do fancy gesture on the track pad being an impossibility plus not hitting the track pad while typing is great!
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Apr 27, 2021 18:01
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Flash Gordon Ramsay posted:This was probably 97 or so, so it would have been a super early iOS. i think they were still trying to make it work until like iOS7 but im not a mac guy so im not the most reliable resource
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Apr 27, 2021 18:12
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Data Graham posted:They tried making Windows into a tile-based Windows Phone-like UI, in Win8 best of all they tried making their server OS like that too! good lord I hated Server 2012, that full screen start menu
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Apr 27, 2021 18:16
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Flash Gordon Ramsay posted:Wasn’t there a BeOS that had an interface like an actual office with file cabinets and whatnot? I remember installing something like that on a Mac around the time that BeOS was making noise, but I don’t recall if that was it. Either way, it was a pain in the rear end and not nearly as useful as the idea seemed to me. Maybe you're thinking of General Magic? https://www.microsoft.com/buxtoncollection/detail.aspx?id=37  They were associated with Apple iirc (either started from or funded by), so maybe you might've made the connection that way.
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Apr 27, 2021 18:17
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There was also Microsoft Bob: http://toastytech.com/guis/bob.html
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Apr 27, 2021 18:20
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Pham Nuwen posted:There was also Microsoft Bob: *runs the "mysterious technological-looking box with a screen and keyboard" program*
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Apr 27, 2021 18:23
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Data Graham posted:*runs the "mysterious technological-looking box with a screen and keyboard" program* It's a GeoSafari...
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Apr 27, 2021 18:26
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Data Graham posted:*runs the "mysterious technological-looking box with a screen and keyboard" program* Unfortunately for you it's GeoSafari, a geography learning game:  It's based on these things that I remember from elementary school in the 90s: 
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Apr 27, 2021 18:26
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I hadn't thought about those things in easily 25 years before Technology Connections did a vid on them https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7SZHA3qTc6c My kindergarten got a couple and there were so many physical fights over them during free time that they ended up getting like ten more, which was definitely a good and healthy lesson.
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Apr 28, 2021 02:21
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Also our mid-to-late 90s family computer never had microsoft bob, but it did boot into Packard Bell Navigator by default!   
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Apr 28, 2021 02:28
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We had a Mac with eWorld. Then my Dad realized that eWorld was not a local phone number. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N9HhsKhG4hk
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Apr 28, 2021 02:55
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Pretty good posted:Also our mid-to-late 90s family computer never had microsoft bob, but it did boot into Packard Bell Navigator by default! I want a globe that says INTERNET on it.
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Apr 28, 2021 03:03
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Pretty good posted:My kindergarten got a couple and there were so many physical fights over them during free time that they ended up getting like ten more, which was definitely a good and healthy lesson. In first grade we had four of them but no way of powering them because our teacher couldn't convince the school to buy batteries. After seeing that video, I feel like I missed out. Pointless geography memorization sucks but it looks like that thing was really versatile and I bet my teacher could have done some cool things with it.
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Apr 28, 2021 03:10
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Pretty good posted:Also our mid-to-late 90s family computer never had microsoft bob, but it did boot into Packard Bell Navigator by default! those hella remind me of the house at the start of heavy rain... or maybe i just dont know that many rich peoples houses, dunno
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Apr 28, 2021 04:40
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LifeSunDeath posted:I want a globe that says INTERNET on it. That'd make a great router.
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Apr 28, 2021 10:34
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Pretty good posted:Also our mid-to-late 90s family computer never had microsoft bob, but it did boot into Packard Bell Navigator by default! What if we took Myst, and replaced explorer.exe with it?
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Apr 28, 2021 13:51
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https://twitter.com/cyndemoya/status/1387268764165500936?s=21
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Apr 28, 2021 14:41
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Man, no comparison to a stack of encyclopedia pages?
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Apr 28, 2021 14:42
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Jim Silly-Balls posted:What if we took Myst, and replaced explorer.exe with it? Go farther.  process management via doom. psDoom EVIL Gibson has a new favorite as of 15:35 on Apr 28, 2021 |
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Apr 28, 2021 15:08
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This is a Unix system, I know this
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Apr 28, 2021 15:50
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EVIL Gibson posted:Go farther. My favorite thing about this is that monsters will fight each other in doom--so you'll get random processes just being killed off while you're trying to compute. E: also I feel like I haven't seen a Pinky from the side before and I don't like it
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Apr 28, 2021 17:47
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