So - BeOS was very usable on Intel. It had a lot more support. It also had more modern browsers. I ran it as a main OS well in to the 2000's. On PowerPC is was

So - BeOS was very usable on Intel. It had a lot more support. It also had more modern browsers. I ran it as a main OS well in to the 2000's. On PowerPC is was a lot more hobbled. You sound like you were on PowerPC unfortunately. 4.5 and 5.0 were so similar that it really isn't worth talking about the differences - a few minor API differences. The main thing with 5.0 was that Tracker was opened, so they moved the About box in to the Kernel to prevent people using a fake one and preserve their copyright notices etc.. The API was really similar and mostly anything that compiles under R4.5 will run under R5. They also added in a bunch of 3rd party codec and changed some of the icons. In fact, Stinger (BeIA) was based on the 4.5 codebase, not the R5 codebase. This is apparent when you try to use the API and notice anything newer than 4.5 is not present.