I am fed up with searching for an "alternative" OS that would stick around long enough to challenge Windows.

"Cool," I said to myself as I was reading the RtP announcement earlier this week, "we got a new toy to play with." On second thought, as far as computer toys go, for once I might actually take a different path. For roughly the same amount of money I could just order not one, but two versions of the Star Wars Racer game, so that I would be able to play it on both my Mac and my PC, and maybe even compete against myself over the network.

This might sound like heresy to you, but please allow me to explain. I am fed up with searching for an "alternative" operating system that would actually stick around long enough to even start challenging Windows on the x86 platform. I used to run IBM's OS/2 as my primary platform, but it is now as dead as dead can be. This is too bad indeed since Warp 4 was actually getting dangerously close to what I would call a good solid 1.0 release.

Then, for a number of reasons, I thought that BeOS had a real chance to make it big. In hindsight, I could not have been more wrong. It might as well still be the most buzzword-compliant operating system on the market, but just like I was telling you in my last article, there are simply too many obstacles that it might never be able to overcome.

Of course, there is always Linux to fall back on. Yet, every time I boot into it, I have to remind myself that universal "drag-and-drop" is still only a dream in the Penguinista Land. And, no matter how hard I try, I just cannot get over that nagging feeling that it still behaves like beta software, never mind that I did pay the same $29.95 for my nice shrink-wrapped copy of Linux-Mandrake. (You see, I actually like the idea of having access to printed documentation and support, but that is a whole different story…)

Anyway, the point I am trying to make here is that even people like me, who are willing to spend years searching for the Holy Grail of Windows-free computing, are having a hard time keeping the faith. Should I now switch to reading QNXStart, rather than BeNews? Wouldn't that be just like abandoning 32bitsOnline which, once upon a time, was an OS/2-centric site.

In a sense, I feel like I'm stuck watching the remakes of the same old drama. Again and again I keep hoping for a happy ending, but always end up seeing my beloved character die, no matter who directs the play. Perhaps, it's time to learn the lesson and move on. Still, I might or might not give QNX a try. Knowing myself all too well, I must say that chances are that I will install it anyway… And, I will probably do it today!

Regardless of anything else, the other big news this week was that the U.S. Supreme Court will not hear the antitrust case at this time. What this means is that the breakup, if any, will not occur for many years to come. This will most likely give Microsoft plenty of time to obliterate all their current competitors, just like they have been doing it for the last 20 years.

On the positive side, the Mac is still a very real answer for those seeking refuge from the Microsoft-centric way of live. And, man, do I wish that I could justify getting the truly remarkable Power Mac G4 Cube with the awe-inspiring Apple Cinema Display!

I guess there are still some good things left for those who can appreciate the true beauty of technology...

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