Rating: 
Summary: there's a reason it's only $6
Review: In short, the book is Mr. Stephenson's opinions of operating sytems and the companies/organisms that create and sell them. This seems based on his private experience - very narrow & anecdotal. His treatment of BeOs is so thin I don't really know any more about it than when I started (it's the Batmobile? what does THAT mean?) He lauds the emergence of Linux and asserts that operating systems are "born to be free" as is Linux. That same idea could be applied to books, but I still had to pay $6 to find out what he had to say. Oh, and by the way, I just paid $400.00 to have a qualified Linux jock install Linux as my dsl gateway. I love it...but it's NOT free. He IS right that NT server is overpriced and could be tons more reliable. I think Mr. Stephenson wanted to get a few things off his chest, and he should have done it with a nice essay in Wired. I don't think he should have put it out as a book.Just for the record, I've read Snowcrash and loved it, Diamond Age and thought that was pretty good but flawed.
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Summary: Finally, something in this area not geared towards morons.
Review: I picked up the book at breakfast Saturday morning and didn't put it down until lunch (when I'd finished it). It was a pretty interesting/humorous/insightful/thought-provoking look at the social/business forces at work in their evolution past and future. The author calls it an essay, and it really is at only 140 medium-small pages. But I really appreciated the fact that he managed to articulate a good deal of what I've grown to think of the whole unix/dos/mac/windows/linux/beos soap opera. He steps beyond the usual 'first there was mac, then there was windows' accounting of the situation. As someone who has computer books coming out of his ears and ultimately ends up tossing most of them after a year or two, I'm going to have to make a permanent place for this one on my shelf.
Rating: 
Summary: A few good ideas
Review: I expected a lot when I sat down to read this book, and I was disappointed. However, it has virtues that make it worth reading. First, it is very short and easy to read. Second, it is relatively entertaining. Third, it gives a thoughtful and seldom voiced perspective on the future of Microsoft and the dominance of their OS. Its shortcomings are that it rambles, goes off on irrelevant tangents, has some very weak and poorly supported arguments, and assumes total technological illiteracy of the reader.
Rating:
Summary: Outstanding metaphor for our current paradigm
Review: This essay posits one of the best metaphors for our society today. The use of GUI in place of the command line on our computers perfectly sums up what is wrong with us today: we want everything explained to us in simple, attractive, neat little packaged terms. And we'll PAY for it! After all, only someone who wants a pretty format would buy this book instead of getting it from Neal's own web site (where it is FREE! ). - This review refers to the online version of the text.
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Summary: The Metaphor King
Review: I bought this book because I have read everything that Neal has written and I am always entertained by his knowledge, his sense of humor and his use of simile and metaphor . Of course I knew that this book would be different since it was described as an "essay" and not a novel. I really liked the honest, open, converstional tone of the book and felt like I was in his living room enjoying the evening, laughing at the jokes and getting a kick out of the Time Machine and Disney World metaphors. I just sat back in my easy chair and enjoyed myself. The last chapter, another metaphor, ends the book on the perfect philosophical note. I come away confident that freedom, independence, innovation, and making and being responsible for our own decisions and choices are clearly necessary for our salvation as an evolving species and our future on a "wired" planet.
Rating: 
Summary: A good, short discourse on Operating Systems
Review: Neal Stephenson has given us a primer on Operating Systems for the real world user. In 151 pages he takes us where OSs have been and where we are now going (very relevant with the DOJ-MS trial). Using metaphor as his paradigm (he is a visionary writer after all), he argues that the OS of the future will be free (like Linux) because that is how the market will restructure. He examines the failure of the MacOS to liberate the masses (Stephenson admits he was a Mac user/hacker until 1995), the victory of Microsoft (and then how they will destroy their own OS empire), the rise of Linux as the people's weapon (an M1 tank on the desk for free), and the stealth role of the BeOS (ever changing, it is a strange attractor in the field). In the history of computers, this work may not show up on many radars, but it is worth the time to read, to think about its implications, and then to watch what happens.
Rating:
Summary: Quick and Fun
Review: "In the Beginning... was the Command Line" is that rarest of specimens: a short book written by Neal Stephenson. In truth, "Command Line" isn't really a book. It began its life as an online post, and was only published after the fact. In it, Stephenson sketches out a brief outline of the development of computers - especially personal computers and their operating systems - during the 1980s and '90s. It is a quick and fun read, filled with Stephensonian humor and creative metaphors that both entertain and enlighten. In the course of "Command Line," Stephenson briefly touches on the basics of programming before moving on to discuss the history of operating systems over the last twenty years. He looks at the main operating systems out there (specifically Mac, Windows, Linux, BeOS), how they evolved, and their attractions and advantages. His main points are that "it is the fate of operating systems to become free" and that Microsoft's commitment to maintaining its own closed operating system will cripple its broader software development activities, much in the way Apple was hurt by its insistence on producing its own hardware. Though not much is developed, there is a lot of interesting food for thought in these few pages. Stephen works largely through metaphors, and "Command Line" is written for the layperson. Few people should have any difficulty getting through the book, even without computer experience. Amazon's insistence that the book was written "for an audience of coders and hackers" strikes me as bizarre. There is almost nothing technical in "Command Line," and what is technical (a brief discussion of the Linux file tree is the only topic that comes to mind) is not critical to understanding any of his points and arguments. In addition to summarizing the history of operating systems, Stephenson also considers some related cultural topics, such as the significance of the graphical user interface as opposed to the command line. Although some of this was interesting, there were a few digressions I thought didn't work particularly well, and which I would have expected to be edited out (or at least significantly revised) before publishing. Although "Command Line" was written five years ago (a long time in the computer world), its age does not damage it much (especially in the historical sections). If you're interested in the history of personal computing over the last twenty years, "In the Beginning... was the Command Line" is a quick read that can serve as an entertaining introduction. Although it doesn't have much substance, it still manages to make many interesting points. Unless you are a hard-core Stephenson fanatic, "Command Line" is probably not worth purchasing. Since it was originally nothing more than a post on the Internet, it can still easily be found online.
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Summary: To GUI or Not To GUI
Review: Absolutely brilliant book. "In the Beginning..." cleverly disguises itself as a historical account of the nature of the various software platforms. The real meat is the discussion of GUIs (Graphical User Interfaces), the upsides, the downsides and the tension between GUIs and the lack of GUIs. One cannot have this type of discussion without touching on the true nature of mankind. And that is exactly what Mr. Stephenson does. If you prefer organic, seemingly "unstructured" access, go with the command prompt. If you prefer popular & "easy" access with all of its shortcomings, hail the GUI. But be careful, as the folks designing the GUIs are in the business of building filters and facades. If, however, you choose no Graphical User Interface whatsoever, you have sworn yourself to great responsibility and to the integrity of the code! I was mesmerized from the start & totally blown away & surprised by the last 10 pages. I had no idea when I picked it up that this short essay carried such enduring weight. I recommend it to all humans who thirst for knowledge of the Root. ps. don't mess with the kernel, it is a good way to crash your system!
Rating:
Summary: Informative and funny
Review: I am a 21 year old art student who has recently started using linux.
I read this book and found that it was pretty good for what it was, a not-too-in-depth look at operating systems -who makes them, what accounts for the technical and mostly non-technical differences that they have, and what kind of users each one has.
I gave it four stars because reading it was quick and enjoyable, but I would warn potential readers that it is not very deep at all. It is mostly a well ordered set of opinions. Don't expect to learn much about the history of Unix or Linux, or any of the people that are associated with either of them. (There is some brief information, but not much.)
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Summary: Neal the "Hole Hog" of American writing
Review: Wherein, Neal writes a very entertaining and very general essay on then-current developments in computing. Not an exhaustive or complete history by any means, but makes it up by being much more entertaining, and being an essay that a non-techie can come away with feeling being better informed in a general sense.
Neal's bold style of writing is to the point and seldom fails to find the comic side of things, a virtue I admire highly in a writer or a person in general.
Informative, yes, but this is really more aimed at a layman's perspective, offering a way for regular people to look into computing and see what is so darn fascinating to some folks. To do this, he takes the popular "Home Improvement" approach to make his analogy:
He brings up construction site stories from his days of yore, telling of a legendary Milwaukee Tools monster drill, the "Hole Hog." Not too fast, not too versatile, but it sure could make a big____ hole in just about anything. To Neal, this is the fascination of a Unix/Linux programmer for his command line programs; akin to any carpenter, engineer, or construction person who knows a powerful tool when he sees it.
And I liken Neal himself to the legendary "Hole Hog." Crude, but very effective. Neal's writing style, whether in science fiction, this one essay, or his latest voluminous works in historical fiction, is consistent and entertaining. Humorous, apolitical, always full of Neal's own prejudices and worldviews; Neal can pack more fresh perspecives or new ideas into a novel than nearly any writer I can think of. A very modern, I sometimes fancy post-literary style, -- and I like to fancy, a very American style -- I have always felt refreshed from reading anything of his.
Incidentally, there is a focus briefly on that amusing sidetrack in computing history, the story of the BeOS operating system. The then-unfinished story of a gang of "rogue" Apple programmers defecting and starting their own company would perhaps be a good book in itself at this point. Neal captures a little of the excitement of that time and place. For any BeOS enthusiast, I recommend this book also.
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