Am using win98 at the moment, I tried linux, it wasn't anything to write home about, i was dissapointed. Is BeOS any good? is it worht my trouble having a look at?

Check if your hardware fit the compatibility list at Be web site, and if enough is supported, get it a try, it install by 15 minutes, it's free, you only need 500 Mb free on a windows partition (or a linux partition).

But, remember: there's today still not enough generic applications & drivers to cover each user's needs. But take a look at www.bebits.com for softwares, and at www.betips.net for, well, tips!

Also i'm guessing BeOS is going to not like my modem if linux didn't, or are linux and BeOS compltely unrelated?

Are you the same Rob that hates Linux ? If so, you might like BeOS, because I and a lot of other Linux lovers don't care much for BeOS, which is a lot like MacOS. So you might actually enjoy BeOS, but remember: BeOS is not open-source, and all you can get for free is a demo version which limits you to 512 MB of space, and you may have to boot from a floppy. The OS itself is decent, but when I tried it I came away as disappointed as you were with Linux.

But it's better than Windows 98, by FAR. Check out this site if you can read Swedish:
http://lothar.hem.netlink.se/ (if you can't, this person is a professional BeOS expert).

> all you can get for free is a demo
> version which limits you to 512 MB
> of space, and you may have to boot
> from a floppy.

It's not a demo, it's a fully functionnal OS, free to download and, yes, closed-source.
Include with Free BeOS is DriveSetup, a tool enabling you to create any larger BFS partition you like (and can), and the Installer tool, also include, let you install BeOS from any partition (your 512 Mb limited one, by example) to any partition you like. And, better, running under BFS partition, BeOS run even faster!
Give a look at www.betips.net for hint details.

like he says, be if free and near full
just run install or drive setup to install
it on any drive, any size, full verson.
it installs in no time, easy to use, runs great, kicks but, life is good again,
ill never go back to windows

BeOS is a wonderful operating system. It is very very stable, easy to use, and fast. Like Philippe said check to make sure your hardware is supported. If it is go for it. There are more apps being ported to BeOS all the time so that is getting better too.

I have used all kinds of operating systems, including OS/2, Linux, Winblows98, 95, NT, and 2000, and I can say that I now use only BeOS and Linux. Linux is used for everyday things and games, but for multimedia and just playing, Be is where it is at. Windows can not even come close to it, and Linux is good, but not that good. It does suck that there are not many drivers for it, but I think many programmers are working to fix that. Give it some time. It will catch. And to Calispell, just because something is not open-source does not mean it is bad. It only is when they charge some unholy amount of money for a system that cannot run what others can:)

Can you run Windows98se and BeOs at the same time,on an older system(100mhz Pentium?).