About this Document
As you know, the first edition of The BeOS Bible was written for
version R4 (in fact, most of it was written on R3, with R4 coverage barely
making it under the print deadline). Needless to say, a great deal has
happened in the BeOS world since that time. R4.5 is out, and offers a ton
of improvements to the operating system. Many of the changes in the
R4-to-R4.5 transition were "under the hood" and don't affect basic usage of
BeOS. This means that The BeOS Bible remains remarkably up-to-date,
and will continue to serve you well if you've just purchased BeOS for the
first time.
If you're looking for a concise summary of changes in R4.5 without usage
instructions, visit Be's What's New in
BeOS page. If you're interested in learning about new software for
BeOS, be sure to read the BeNews
Extra, which includes almost 80 pages of coverage on new BeOS
applications and services. If you'd like to learn more about what
applications are "on the way," take a look at BeOS Central's coverage of 1999's PC Expo.
Finally, you'll find an ever-growing database of tips and tidbits on using
R4.5 at the BeOS Tip Server. Yes, the
Tip Server is also run by the author of The BeOS Bible. The
difference between the Bible and the Tip Server is that the
Bible is far more detailed and complete. The Tip Server is more of a
spontaneous, evolving resource, and much of its content is submitted by
other BeOS users. While I do try to ensure some level of accuracy, I do not
interview Be engineers about the Tip Server content, as I do with content
that appears in The BeOS Bible. The Bible also goes into much
greater detail than the Tip Server, and often offers glimpses into "the
technology behind the technology." The Tip Server is a free-form community
project, and has the advantage of growing daily. This book strives to
represent the final word, and is updated only when the operating system
itself is updated.
In addition to the information in this document, you'll find corrections to
typos and minor errors in the Updates section of www.beosbible.com.
Some portions of this document assume that you have already read The
BeOS Bible.
R4.5 in a Nutshell
So, what does R4.5 get you? In a nutshell, the update includes a massive
revamp
of the Media Kit, a bunch of new media codecs, faster boot times, a lighter
memory/resource footprint, a new print transport layer, a sound recorder,
an integrated media player, built-in video-capture support for some cards,
improvements to the Tracker, PPP autodialing, better tools for developers,
a new Team Monitor, a TV-viewing application, a Web cam utility, support
for digital cameras, a three-dimensional multitrack audio mixer,
preliminary support for Windows networking, a lot of new hardware support,
some accelerated 3D graphics support, some USB support, some PCMCIA
support, and trial versions of many new third-party applications.
BeOS R4.5 is a juicy release, jam-packed with goodies designed to help make
BeOS the operating system of choice for media workstations. It begins to
really make good on the media promise, and leaves users with fewer reasons
than ever to boot into other operating systems to get their work done.
If you're a registered user of BeOS R4 and your current address is on file
with Be, you should have been sent the R4.5 update CD automatically. If you
purchased any previous version of BeOS, you can upgrade to R4.5 for $25.
See BeDepot for details.
-- Scot Hacker, 7/99
Many thanks to Chris Herborth for donating his time as technical editor in the final preparation of
this document, and to all of the Be engineers who provided feedback and examples used herein.
