BeOS

Establishment of Be Inc.

Be Inc. was created in 1990 by former Apple CEO Jean-Louis Gassier to create a new generation computer system (note that Gassier followed the path of Apple founder Steve Jobs and his NeXT platform). On the rise of enthusiasm, Gassier and his associates joined together to make an easy-to-use, reliable computer, free from remnants of the past. It was planned to create a computer , the operating system was only a secondary goal. For example, the file system should not contain directories at all, all files were on the disk without distribution to directories, and belonging to a program was determined on the basis of attributes — information about the file not recorded in the file itself ^{[8] [9] [10 ] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19] [20] [21]} .

BeBox

The first versions of BeOS worked only on specially created BeBox computers ^[22] , which were also manufactured by Be Inc. Distinctive features of these computers were multiprocessing (in one version of the computer there were 7 processors , in the other - 2), in the dual-processor version there were indicators of processor utilization on the front panel of the system unit (also known as Blinkenlights), the dark blue color of the system unit and 37 -bit port on the rear panel, known as “GeekPort” ^[23] , with a simple and convenient control for the programmer — to encourage the creation of external devices under BeOS. BeBox was called " Silicon Graphics for the Beggars" because of their power, allowing BeBox to be used as a graphic workstation at a relatively low cost. The first BeBox prototypes were built on AT & T Hobbit processors , Until they were removed from production. Then Be decided to switch to PowerPC processors . From 1995 to 1997 , about two thousand BeBox computers were sold, most of which still work today. One of them can be seen in the computer museum in Boston . January 30, 1997 Be Inc. announced that it is curtailing the production of equipment, and BeBox is no longer produced.

PowerPC

After the BeBox production was curtailed, the BeOS operating system needed a new platform. Since it already worked on PowerPC by that time, Macintosh computers from Apple Computer, Inc. were chosen as a new platform . Porting BeOS to the Macintosh took two days.

By that time, the traditional Macintosh computer operating system ( System or Classic) was hopelessly outdated, and the project to develop a new, modern system ( Copland ) failed, so Apple CEO Gil Amelio began negotiations on the purchase of Be Inc. Negotiations broke down because Jean-Louis Gassier requested $ 200 million, and Apple was ready to spend no more than $ 125. The Apple board of directors decided it was better to choose NeXTSTEP and bought NeXT in 1996 for $ 429 million, returning management to company founder Steve Jobs .

Then Apple stopped sharing with Be Inc. specifications of their new computers, so BeOS runs only on some Power Macintosh (on other models, work is possible only in the emulator). In 1997, Power Computing delivered BeOS along with its Macintosh series of clones that could be loaded on a Mac OS or BeOS.

Intel

After the failure of Apple Be Inc. decided to transfer the system to conventional Intel processors , and, starting with the BeOS 3 edition (editions 4, 4.5 and 5 also came out in about 1997 ), this operating system runs on regular IBM PC- compatible computers. This step was made in order to recruit a group of followers and to find a niche in the OS market. The minimum installation requirements (which have not changed since) are an Intel Pentium processor , 32 megabytes of RAM, 500 megabytes on a hard disk, a keyboard and a mouse: the latter is a system requirement, because without it you cannot work in BeOS - unlike, for example , Microsoft Windows , in which it is difficult to work, but it is possible, without a pointing device.

The BeOS R5 version is the latest BeOS version released by Be Inc. Inc. For the first time, a free version - Personal edition was released for the general public, which anyone could install on their computer. It was widely distributed in the form of CD-applications for magazines (including in Russia) and was posted on the company's website. In addition, an agreement was reached with leading computer manufacturers to preinstall BeOS as a second system, along with Windows.

Unsuccessful management led to the fact that the free version (BeOS 5 Personal Edition) successfully competed with the paid one (BeOS 5 Professional). Attempt to Be Inc. releasing the free version was unsuccessful from a marketing point of view: the composition of the free package was such that it almost completely duplicated the paid one and sales of the latter fell steadily - BeOS 5 Personal Edition was distributed as a Windows program installed in a logical partition on one of the computer’s disks and was intended only for for familiarization purposes, however, included all the tools needed to partition the disk, install the system in a separate section and install the bootloader, which allowed you to choose the Windows or B boot eOS.

Microsoft pressed on computer manufacturers (Hitachi, Compaq), and they refused to pre-install the two systems on the machines they were making. A little-known operating system has not become popular among users. On September 8, 2003, Microsoft paid off Be Inc. $ 23.3 million in a claim for violation of antitrust laws.

In 2002, Be Inc. declared itself bankrupt and sold all of its intellectual property to Palm for $ 11 million, where the majority of former Be Inc. employees also went.

Cobalt

In Palm, the former BeOS developers worked on the sixth version of the PalmOS operating system for handhelds , relying on the developments of the BeIA (BeOS for Internet Appliances) operating system for mobile devices made as part of BeOS .

The sixth version of Palm OS, called PalmOS Cobalt, was released in 2004 , but did not go to serial devices and worked only on prototypes. After the division of the company Palm on PalmOne and PalmSource , with the subsequent acquisition of the last company ACCESS Co., Ltd. , the work on Cobalt was discontinued, and the development of a new OS for Palm devices based on Linux began . All rights to the system are now owned by ACCESS Co., Ltd.

Most likely, some BeOS developers took part in the creation of Palm webOS , since the new OS, based on the Linux kernel and released in 2009 , uses the same concept of an API interface for Web applications that first appeared in BeIA back in 2000 .

Despite the use of advanced during the existence of Be Inc. technology, BeOS was unable to gain enough users and applications to continue to exist. Currently, among several projects to revive BeOS, the Haiku team has the greatest chance of success. A group of enthusiasts, including several former Be Inc. engineers. writes a binary and BeOS-compatible open source operating system (the beta version of Haiku R1 / Beta1 (2018) is currently available).

Just before the absorption of Be Inc. Palm, the German company , on its own statement, acquired from Be Inc. BeOS source codes, but the official copyright holder, the Japanese company ACCESS , denied this information. The story still remains dark. It is only known that yellowTab had a license from Be Inc. for resale and modification of BeOS. The Zeta operating system created by yellowTab ^[24] soon appeared, being a modified version of BeOS 5.1 or an operating system created on the basis of data received from Be. source codes for new-generation BeOS (the latter, however, is unlikely). In early 2005, the first version of Zeta was shown at Hannover at CeBIT . Zeta successfully sold; in the middle of 2005, more than 80 thousand copies were sold - this is more than BeOS copies were sold for all the years of Be Inc.'s existence.

In 2006, yellowTAB went bankrupt, and Zeta distribution rights were transferred to the German company magnussoft , Which in 2007 refused to further distribute and support Zeta due to insufficient sales and possible problems with the rights to the source code and distribution of this OS.

Cosmoe is an interface for Linux that can run BeOS applications. Cosmoe was open source . Cosmoe’s latest release was in 2004. ^[25]

There is also the BlueEyedOS operating system, which contains a modified version of the Linux kernel that could run BeOS applications ^[26] . BlueEyedOS releases have not been released since 2003 .

BeOS R5.1d0 or Dano / EXP (also known as EXP , Dano , EXP / Dan0 or Dan0 , “Present” in the Russian BeOS community) is the codename for the build of the unfinished release of R5.1, leaked from Be Inc. The build date is the last closing day, November 15, 2001 . Dano features OpenGL, a new network stack (BONE), window decorations, an XML kit, a new USB stack, support for prompts, new printers, new fonts, updated Media kit, Interface Kit and app_server, new drivers (for example, Adaptec U160 SCSI support controllers and improved support for SB128), etc.

There is an opinion that Be Inc. it moved towards the opening of BeOS, in favor of which is the replacement of some proprietary components with open analogues (replacing your own MP3 encoder with Lame, RSA Encryption Engine in NetPositive with OpenSSL).

• BeOS (and Zeta) are still used in the video editors of Roland Corporation Edirol DV-7 ^{[27] [28]} .
• Tascam SX-1 digital recorder works on a heavily modified version of BeOS ^[29] .
• iZ Technology sells 24-channel professional digital audio recorders RADAR 24 and RADAR V on BeOS 5 ^[30] .
• Magicbox, a manufacturer of outdoor signage, uses BeOS in the Aavelin line ^[31] .
• Final Scratch , A system for DJs playing 12 ″ vinyl, initially worked on BeOS ^[32] .
• TuneTracker , a system for automating broadcast radio stations, used BeOS, and currently uses Haiku.

• Cosmoe
• Haiku
• Zeta

• Haiku and BeOS User Community (rus.)
• BeOS News (eng.)
• HanaSoft (Rus.)
• yellowTAB (eng.)
• IsComputerOn (English)
• Another archive of software and drivers (eng.)
• Bebox zone - BeOS Museum (eng.)
• magnussoft (eng.)
• Download Haiku OS Link
• Software for Haiku-compatible operating systems
• BeOS R5.1d0 version information