it has less code, for the whole system, than there is in the Linux kernel!

That's not surprising at all. Most of the code in the Linux kernel is for drivers and those drivers will only be loaded on demand anyway so such a comparison is fairly meaningless.

Wonderfully cohesive desktop experience. Just a shame it's so ugly.

That had always been my thought too, but evidently, it's how BeOS used to look, & the weird menu system, but I've started to get used to it, having been trying this O/S off & on over the years.

Another thing that I've read about Haiku, is that it has less code, for the whole system, than there is in the Linux kernel!

It certainly boots up faster!

...and still can't get sound to work.

...but my wireless connection worked great!

I've never use haiku or BeOS, but I've heard so much about them. I should really allow myself some free time to try out some of the non-linux/windows operating systems. Haiku, OpenIndiana, ArcaOS, Icaros, ReactOS, and more.  On another note, didn't someone fork TempleOS recently?  Oh how I wish I had more time to just mess with the stuff.

Hey JWM-Kit! Long time no see! Happy New Year! Yes, the TempleOS fork is called ZealOS - there's a github page for it. They've added networking and are improving the graphics. I tried TempleOS a couple years ago, I should do a run through with ZealOS sometime this year.

I spent part of my evening playing with Haiku in a vm - very very interesting OS. I think it occupies a place kind of like some of the Puppy Linux's. Lots of typical Linux software that seems to install and run quite well. I'll bet you would find a lot to appreciate about Haiku.

Your new sig https://classwar.uk/ piqued my interest. Was surprised to get this . . .

Libreoffice is on there, a bunch of web browsers and other standard linux software titles. I wonder if these actually work well and if Haiku could be made into a productive little small office computer?

I see they claim to have the latest Falkon browser working, which would be a big step forward for them in terms of modern web-capable browsers.

Edit: Wow, they have vlc, mpv, youtube-dl, yt-dlp. This could be a cool minimal media player project for one of my old laptops.

https://www.haiku-os.org/

Runs 'live' if you want, just copy to a pendrive, else install to bare metal.