Win2K, Linux, BeOS OT

[Sean Costello]

tomg wrote:
> 
> I saw the first ad for Windows 2000 today it's worse
> than I thought. It's NT WS 4 + SP 4. They say service
> pack 4 is well tested. We shall see. Suggested hardware
> 300mhz/64meg.

Pretty sneaky, huh?  NT is losing out to Linux, so Microsoft combats it
by making NT the default Windows operating system.  Ergo, NT is
installed in every new computer that buys into the whole MS thing.

> On the brighter side. Linux 2.2 is ready. Tons of
> enhancements. Faster and Intel is making Linux boxes.
> Netscape, Oracle, Intel, IBM and Compaq are working
> to get Linux into enterprises.

Linux runs audio applications several times faster than Windows 98.  I
run Csound on a Pentium II 300 MHz box, which dual-boots into Win 98 and
Linux.  When compiling an orchestra and score, Linux is about 3-4 times
faster.  I don't know how well Csound performs in real time in Linux,
though, especially with the drivers I have.  DirectSound 2.11 performs
OK on my device (a real-time Csound that uses Direct X drivers).

I'm sure all the Linux folks out there know this, but check out
http://sound.lovebead.com.  David Phillips has gathered together a truly
impressive collection of Linux sound and music apps.  The free stuff
available for Linux blows away the vast majority of commercial apps for
Windows.  And cooler programs are in the works - I read about something
called KDEbase or the like, a Cubase-workalike that runs in the KDE
environment (a beautiful desktop environment, that).

Like Hugo and C. List, I am looking into the BeOS.  I know that Csound
is being ported over to it; I might also be able to try out my newly
acquired C programming skills for some audio apps!  Of course, right now
I can't program much, but after this class is over I should be able to
tackle "Real-Time DSP Programming in C" by Paul Embree (a really nifty
book I found).  A stand-alone effects processor for the BeOS would be
nice...

Sean Costello