Haiku beta 4: BeOS rebuild / almost ready for release. / A thing of beautyHaiku beta 4: BeOS rebuild / almost ready for release. / A thing of beauty
Haiku is an open source OS with a few differences. The big one is that it's not a Unix. The next is that it's pretty close to being a realistic, usable alternative OS for ordinary, everyday use.
The Haiku Project has released a new beta version of its unique desktop OS. After the project was founded in 2001, it took 17 years to get to Beta 1 in September 2018. Writing a whole new OS is a big project. Since then, though, progress seems to have sped up, and Beta 4, out a few weeks ago, is shaping up well. The new version supports HiDPI displays, image thumbnails in the file manager, and has significantly improved Wi-Fi support, including via some USB Wi-Fi adapters, and support for the 802.11n and 802.11ac standards – which puts it ahead of even FreeBSD.