Rating: 
Summary: 200 pages dedicated to advertising
Review: After a long wait and repeated delays from the publisher, I was very excited to finally receive my copy of the BeOS Bible. It is a pretty good read and the only real guide to BeOS for users rather than developers. The author does a fine job of covering all the basics while adding some nice details here and there. It's well-written and easy to understand.However, I felt I had to submit some complaints since most other readers just gave the book 5 stars without any meaningful comments. I seriously question the choice of content. Chapters 10-15 are essentially reviews and tips of third party Be software. We can all look up info on-line... why dedicate 200 pages (5 whole chapters!) to advertising? It took me awhile to settle my anger at paying for a book on Be and getting a book closely tied to a marketing compaign. Perhaps I should have known better from chapters with names like "Media Applications" and "Graphics Applications." I just figured these chapters dealt with general media issues within Be when I first read the table of contents on-line. Also, I thought that Mac & Windows bashing wasn't necessary. You won't find such comments on every page, but I just didn't see the need to include these comments at all. For example, when writing of the capability to change the Be interface to resemble Win95, the author describes the change as horrifying. Perhaps most readers don't mind the jabs, but I just felt it wasn't very professional. I'd try to find it at the library, if you can, before buying it.
Rating: 
Summary: A magic balance between readability and depth
Review: Coming from a Windows (95/98/NT), Macintosh and Linux background, I found BeOS extremely refreshing - a truly modern OS with best-of-breed technology. This book is rightfully called the Bible. It deals very well with the all aspects of BeOS - technical as well as social. Starting from a history of the company and the operating system, it contains interviews with key people on the team. Technically, I just couldn't find fault with it anywhere. Excellent peice on installation and configuration... In depth look at built-in as well as third-party applications... An overview of the BASH command shell and simple commands... what more could I want? I just hope that the book is updated at the same pace that the OS is evolving. It would be a shame if it doean't keep up.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent book for people coming to BeOS at all levels
Review: Coming from a Windows (95/98/NT), Macintosh and Linux background, I found BeOS extremely refreshing - a truly modern OS with best-of-breed technology. This book is rightfully called the Bible. It deals very well with the all aspects of BeOS - technical as well as social. Starting from a history of the company and the operating system, it contains interviews with key people on the team. Technically, I just couldn't find fault with it anywhere. Excellent peice on installation and configuration... In depth look at built-in as well as third-party applications... An overview of the BASH command shell and simple commands... what more could I want? I just hope that the book is updated at the same pace that the OS is evolving. It would be a shame if it doean't keep up.
Rating:
Summary: The Best idea
Review: Ever sence BeOS came out for free I have fond this book veryuseful. It not only lists software made by Frist and second partysoftware but it also lists thrid praty software that is VERY! VERY! Useful.
Rating: 
Summary: Lite history lesson on Be + Advertisements
Review: I agree with another comment posted about this book that it has entirely too many chapters dedicated to advertisements. Publishers are looking for a certain thickness when a book is published. Especially when IDG books publishes this thick "Bible" series and this book is not even published by IDG. Also don't be mislead into buying this book as the OS Media + Book bundle. This is just a book and not something I would recommend you even look at if you have the OS Media. If you are literate, capable of reading instructions, and are have the abilitiy to place the CD in your CDROM drive then you probably don't need this book. The Be Operating system is fantastic and this book sings its praises but I think the authors show what technoweenies they are when they put down other operating systems. Insulting other software products does not make anyone elses product look better and is really a waste of time to the reader. I think as far as the content is concerned I could not recommend this on any technical level. It is up to you to decide if the content is fluff or not. If you are a developer please look at the books by the Be Development team and www.slashdot.org has some content geared towards the BeOS.
Rating:
Summary: 900 Awesome Pages
Review: I am a software developer who is new to the BeOS and have found The BeOS Bible to be one of the best OS books I have ever seen. I found the BeOS specific pages to be well-written and rich with meaningful content. I found the jabs at other operating systems to be in good taste and valid. I found the chapters on BeOS applications to be incredibly useful and in-line with the Be's position of strongly supporting application development on their platform. I highly recommend this book to all users of the BeOS.
Rating:
Summary: BeOS Bible an absolute must have for Be Users
Review: I have been following the BeOS since the early days (thanks to an interview with their CEO in the premiere issue of Boot magazine, now Maximum PC), and have hoped for the OSes success. Now, Scott Hacker has created a tome worthy of this great operating system. It is a well written computer book (which is rare for a computer book on any topic) that lets any level reader comprehend and appreciate the massive about of technology behind BeOS. It covers every aspect of the system while providing very useful tips and showing a sense of humor. The interviews with employees of Be, Inc. are a worthwhile bonus as they round out the story of Be, Inc. The website which serves as a companion to the book ensures that it will never go out date. An absolute must have.
Rating:
Summary: Very good
Review: I have read this book and it's very good. I started using BeOS for few months ago and if I had not baugt this book I would not been able to use BeOS as well as I do now. :) I give it 5 stars because if you start reading it you can't stop reading it, and it is very educational.
Rating:
Summary: Very good
Review: I have read this book and it's very good. I started using BeOS for few months ago and if I had not baugt this book I would not been able to use BeOS as well as I do now. :) I give it 5 stars because if you start reading it you can't stop reading it, and it is very educational.
Rating:
Summary: Better than the real Bible
Review: I love this book! I ordered it a few days after it was released, and now I am destined to read it cover-to-cover! It contains more information about Be and its employees than you can shake a stick at. The authors really know their stuff (as if you needed to read their book to know that :-Z). I especially love the Be employee interviews. Makes for great reading :)I *definitely* recommend that anybody serious (and even people who *aren't* serious) about the BeOS get this book NOW.-Brian
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