But it was just the same sort of OS as the mainstream, without all the legacy baggage -- much of which, sadly, the Haiku folks are putting back in.
The world we wanted? I don't know about that.
I played with a Remarkable slate thing a couple of years ago and it nearly made me weep. It is so much less than the Apple Newton was 30 years earlier.
I want the original planned Newton in the Remarkable form factor. I want a thin, light, pocket Dylan workstation that runs for a week on a charge and can wirelessly connect to anything.
I don't just want a BeBox. I wanted that in 1999, sure, but a quarter century later, I want something MUCH more ambitious than that.
The Internet killed the OS, unfortunately. Before the widespread Internet (which really didn't "take" until after 2000 IMO) your OS and computer had to be "self contained" - now it's a glorified translation layer between the browser and the hardware.
I've poked around a little at Haiku wondering if it's truly the spiritual successor to BeOS. I don't know, because I only ever saw Be at a friends house running on a PowerMac.
I like the idea that there's still room for more OS', and that there might be reason for them.
Action Retro (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GW2V034859k) suggests that Haiku can be a daily driver, & does pretty well. Considering giving it a flight on my occasionally-used lappie.
Windows is inarguably getting worse. OSX treads water out of managerial apathy. Linux treads water by rebuilding things that don't need rebuilding.
BeOS was the world we wanted.