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Hear the word “operating system,” and the first thing that pops into mind for most of us is the Windows logo in all its multi-colored glory; peer a little harder and you might see a big shiny Apple and maybe catch a glimpse of the Linux Penguin hovering around the corner, each with their band of devotees carrying their respective banners passionately onwards.

The operating system (OS) development space of today though, is arguably getting a little stale. Windows 7, OS X Snow Leopard and Ubuntu 9 – the latest incarnations of the Top Three – have all seen no huge innovation in the way OS are designed and used. They’ve been by and large maintenance and performance improvement releases; and while it’s great to see faster boot times and improved stability, they are far from being the revolution in computing we’ve been waiting for.

For many, the story ends at the operating system that comes installed with the computer we buy and “dual boot” is another name given to more than one shoe. Diving into the world of formatted hard drives, BIOS updates and driver incompatibilities in search of “the perfect OS” is certainly not a job for the faint-hearted.

But what about BeOS, or Haiku – or even the many flavors of Linux that never get the attention of the mainstream? What if these relatively obscure operating systems are better suited to the evolving trend of computer use in the home – or even the school and office? What have you left when we take out Windows, Mac OS and Ubuntu from the picture? Chaos? Pandemonium? World peace?

At the year’s end, the interwebs are full of all and sundry trying to predict what the next year will bring. So I joined the bandwagon and gazed into my own little crystal ball to see what the entire hubbub will be about. This is of course concerned with the tech world (with focus on [....] Read the rest →