BeOS
BeOS is a discontinued operating system for personal computers that was developed by Be Inc.[2] It was conceived for the company's BeBox personal computer which was released in 1995. BeOS was designed for multitasking, multithreading, and a graphical user interface. The OS was later sold to OEMs, retail, and directly to users; its last version was released as freeware.
Developer
Discontinued
October 3, 1995
R5 / March 28, 2000
English, Japanese
Early BeOS releases are for PowerPC. It was ported to Macintosh and then x86. Be was ultimately unable to achieve a significant market share and ended development with dwindling finances, so Palm acquired the BeOS assets in 2001. Enthusiasts have since created derivate operating systems including Haiku, which retains BeOS 5 compatibility.
Hardware support and licensees[edit]
After the discontinuation of the BeBox in January 1997, Power Computing began bundling BeOS (on a CD-ROM for optional installation) with its line of PowerPC-based Macintosh clones. These systems can dual boot either Mac OS or BeOS, with a start-up screen offering the choice.[26] Motorola also announced in February 1997 that it would bundle BeOS with their Macintosh clones, the Motorola StarMax, along with MacOS.[27] DayStar Digital was another licensee.[28]
BeOS is compatible with many Macintosh models except PowerBook.[29]
With BeOS Release 3 on the x86 platform, the operating system is compatible with most computers that run Windows. Hitachi is the first major x86 OEM to ship BeOS, selling the Hitachi Flora Prius line in Japan, and Fujitsu released the Silverline computers in Germany and the Nordic countries.[30] Be was unable to attract further manufacturers due to their Microsoft contracts. Be closed in 2002, and sued Microsoft, claiming that Hitachi had been dissuaded from selling PCs loaded with BeOS. The case was eventually settled out of court for $23.25 million with no admission of liability on Microsoft's part.[31]
Applications[edit]
BeOS is bundled with a unique web browser named NetPositive,[35] the BeMail email client,[36] and the BePoor web server. Be operated the marketplace site BeDepot for the purchase and downloading of software including third party, and a website named BeWare listing apps for the platform. Some third party BeOS apps include the Gobe Productive office suite,[17] the Mozilla project,[37][38] and multimedia apps like Cinema 4D.[39] Quake and Quake II were officially ported, and SimCity 3000 was in development.[40]
Reception[edit]
Be did not disclose the number of BeOS users, but it was estimated to be running on between 50,000 and 100,000 computers in 1999,[30] and Release 5 reportedly had over one million downloads.[18] For a time it was viewed as a viable competitor to Mac OS and Windows, but its status as the "alternative operating system" was quickly surpassed by Linux by 1998.[41]
Reception of the operating system was largely positive citing its true and "reliable" multitasking and support for multiple processors.[42] Though its market penetration was low, it gained a niche multimedia userbase[30] and acceptance by the audio community. Consequently it was styled as a "media OS"[43] due to its well-regarded ability to handle audio and video.[44] BeOS received significant interest in Japan,[11] and was also appealing to Amiga developers and users, who were looking for a newer platform.[45]
BeOS and its successors have been used in media appliances, such as the Edirol DV-7 video editors from Roland Corporation, which run on a modified BeOS[46] and the Tunetracker Radio Automation software that used to run it on BeOS[47][48][49] and Zeta, and it was also sold as a "Station-in-a-Box" with the Zeta operating system included.[50] In 2015, Tunetracker released a Haiku distribution bundled with its broadcasting software.[51]