BeOS
BeOS R5
DeveloperBe Inc.
Written inC++
Working stateDiscontinued
Source modelProprietary
Initial releaseOctober 3, 1995 (1995-10-03)
Latest releaseR5 / March 28, 2000 (2000-03-28)
Available inEnglish, Japanese
PlatformsIA-32, PowerPC
Kernel typeMonolithic kernel[1]
LicenseProprietary
Official websiteweb.archive.org/web/20110804175137/http://www.beincorporated.com/

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.

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.

Development

BeOS is the product of former Apple Computer's Jean-Louis Gassée, with the underlying philosophy of building a "media OS" capable of up-and-coming digital media[3] and multi-processors. Development began in the early 1990s, initially designed to run on AT&T Hobbit-based hardware before being modified to run on PowerPC-based processors: first Be's own BeBox system, and later Apple Computer's PowerPC Reference Platform and Common Hardware Reference Platform, with the hope that Apple would purchase or license BeOS as a replacement for its aging Mac OS.[4]

The first version of BeOS shipped with the BeBox to a limited number of developers in October 1995. It supports analog and digital audio and MIDI streams, multiple video sources, and 3D computation.[5] Developer Release 6 (DR6) is the first officially available version.

The BeOS Developer Release 7 (DR7) was released in April 1996. This includes full 32-bit color graphics, "workspaces" (virtual desktops), an FTP file server, and a web server.[6]

DR8 was released in September 1996 with a new browser with MPEG and QuickTime video formats. It supports OpenGL, remote access,[7] and Power Macintosh.[8]

In 1996, Apple Computer CEO Gil Amelio started negotiations to buy Be Inc., but stalled when Be CEO Jean-Louis Gassée wanted $300 million[9] and Apple offered $125 million. Apple's board of directors preferred NeXTSTEP and purchased Steve Jobs's NeXT instead.[10]

The final developer's release introduced a 64-bit file system. BeOS Preview Release (PR1), the first for the general public, was released in mid 1997. It supports AppleTalk, PostScript printing, and Unicode.[11] The price for the Full Pack was $49.95. Later that year, Preview Release 2 shipped with support for Macintosh's Hierarchical File System (HFS), support for 512MB RAM, and improvements to the user interface.[12]

Release 3 (R3) shipped in March 1998 (initially $69.95, later $99.95), as the first to be ported to the Intel x86 platform in addition to PowerPC, and the first commercially available version of BeOS.[13] The adoption of x86 was partly due to Apple's moves, with Steve Jobs stopping the Macintosh clone market,[14] and Be's mounting debt.[15]

BeOS Release 4 has a claimed performance improvement of up to 30 percent. Keyboard shortcuts were changed to mimic those of Windows[16] However it still lacks Novell NetWare support.[17] It also brought additional drivers and support for the most common SCSI controllers on the x86 platform - from Adaptec and Symbios Logic. The bootloader switched from LILO to Be's own bootman.

In 2000, BeOS Release 5 (R5) was released. This is split between a Pro Edition, and a free version known as Personal Edition (BeOS PE) which was released for free online and by CD-ROM.[18] BeOS PE can be booted from within Windows or Linux, and was intended as a consumer and developer preview.[19][20] Also with R5, Be open sourced elements of the user interface.[21] Be CEO Gassée said in 2001 that he was open to the idea of releasing the entire operating system's source code,[22] but this never materialized.

Release 5 raised BeOS's popularity[23] but it remained commercially unsuccessful, and BeOS eventually halted following the introduction of a stripped-down version for Internet appliances, BeIA, which became the company's business focus in place of BeOS.[24] R5 is the final official release of BeOS as Be Inc. became defunct in 2001 following its sale to Palm Inc. A BeOS R5.1 "Dano", which was under development before Be's sale to Palm and includes the BeOS Networking Environment (BONE) networking stack,[25] was leaked to the public shortly after the company's close.[26]

Version history table

Release Date Hardware
Developer Release 4 Prototype AT&T Hobbit
Developer Release 5 October 1995 PowerPC
Developer Release 6 January 1996
Developer Release 7 April 1996
Developer Release 8 September 1996
Developer Release 9

(Advanced Access Preview Release)

 May 1997
Preview Release 1 June 1997
Preview Release 2 October 1997
Release 3 March 1998 PowerPC and Intel x86
R3.1 June 1998
R3.2 July 1998
Release 4 November 4, 1998
R4.5 ("Genki") June 1999
Release 5 ("Maui")

Personal Edition/Pro Edition

 March 2000
R5.1 ("Dano") Leaked Intel x86

Hardware support and licensees

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.[27] Motorola also announced in February 1997 that it would bundle BeOS with their Macintosh clones, the Motorola StarMax, along with MacOS.[28] DayStar Digital was another licensee.[29]

BeOS is compatible with many Macintosh models except PowerBook.[30]

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.[31] 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.[32]

Architecture

The BeOS architecture

BeOS was developed as an original product, with a proprietary kernel, symmetric multiprocessing, preemptive multitasking, and pervasive multithreading.[33] It runs in protected memory mode, with a C++ application framework based on shared libraries and modular code.[8] Be initially offered CodeWarrior for application development,[33] and later EGCS.

Its API is object oriented. The user interface was largely multithreaded: each window ran in its own thread, relying heavily on sending messages to communicate between threads; and these concepts are reflected into the API.[34]

BeOS uses modern hardware facilities such as modular I/O bandwidth, a multithreaded graphics engine (with the OpenGL library), and a 64-bit journaling file system named BFS supporting files up to one terabyte each.[17] BeOS has partial POSIX compatibility and a command-line interface through Bash, although internally it is not a Unix-derived operating system. Many Unix applications were ported to the BeOS command-line interface.[35]

BeOS uses Unicode as the default GUI encoding, and support for input methods such as bidirectional text input was never realized.

Applications

BeOS is bundled with a unique web browser named NetPositive,[36] the BeMail email client,[37] 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,[38][39] and multimedia apps like Cinema 4D.[40] Quake and Quake II were officially ported, and SimCity 3000 was in development.[41]

Reception

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,[31] and Release 5 reportedly had over one million downloads.[23] 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.[42]

Reception of the operating system was largely positive citing its true and "reliable" multitasking and support for multiple processors.[43] Though its market penetration was low, it gained a niche multimedia userbase[31] and acceptance by the audio community. Consequently it was styled as a "media OS"[44] due to its well-regarded ability to handle audio and video.[45] BeOS received significant interest in Japan,[11] and was also appealing to Amiga developers and users, who were looking for a newer platform.[46]

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[47] and the Tunetracker Radio Automation software that used to run it on BeOS[48][49][50] and Zeta, and it was also sold as a "Station-in-a-Box" with the Zeta operating system included.[51] In 2015, Tunetracker released a Haiku distribution bundled with its broadcasting software.[52]

Legacy

The Tascam SX-1 digital audio recorder runs a heavily modified version of BeOS that will only launch the recording interface software.[53] The RADAR 24, RADAR V and RADAR 6, hard disk-based, 24-track professional audio recorders from iZ Technology Corporation were based on BeOS 5.[54] Magicbox, a manufacturer of signage and broadcast display machines, uses BeOS to power their Aavelin product line.[55] Final Scratch, a 12-inch vinyl timecode record-driven DJ software and hardware system, was first developed on BeOS. The "ProFS" version was sold to a few dozen DJs prior to the 1.0 release, which ran on a Linux virtual partition.[56]

Successors

Family tree of BeOS and related operating systems

After BeOS came to an end, Palm created PalmSource which used parts of BeOS's multimedia framework for its failed Palm OS Cobalt product[57] (with the takeover of PalmSource, the BeOS rights were assigned to Access Co.[58]). However, Palm refused the request of BeOS users to license the operating system.[59] As a result, a few projects formed to recreate BeOS or its key elements with the eventual goal of then continuing where Be Inc. quit.

BeUnited, a BeOS oriented community, converted itself into a nonprofit organization in August 2001[60] to "define and promote open specifications for the delivery of the Open Standards BeOS-compatible Operating System (OSBOS) platform".[61]

ZETA

Immediately after Palm's purchase of Be, a German company named yellowTAB started developing Zeta based on the BeOS R5.1 codebase and released it commercially. It was later distributed by magnussoft.[62] During development by yellowTAB, the company received criticism from the BeOS community for refusing to discuss its legal position with regard to the BeOS codebase. Access Co. (which bought PalmSource, until then the holder of the intellectual property associated with BeOS) declared that yellowTAB had no right to distribute a modified version of BeOS, and magnussoft was forced to cease distribution of the operating system in 2007.[63]

Haiku (OpenBeOS)

Haiku is a complete open source reimplementation of BeOS. It was originally named OpenBeOS and its first release in 2002 was a community update.[62] Unlike Cosmoe and BlueEyedOS, it is directly compatible with BeOS applications. It is open source software. As of 2022, it was the only BeOS clone still under development, with the fourth beta in December 2022 still keeping BeOS 5 compatibility in its x86 32-bit images, with an increased number of ported modern drivers and GTK apps.[64]

Others

Screenshot of an early version of Cosmoe

BlueEyedOS tried to create a system under LGPL based on the Linux kernel and an X server that is compatible with BeOS. Work began under the name BlueOS in 2001 and a demo CD was released in 2003.[65] The project was discontinued in February 2005.

Cosmoe, with an interface like BeOS, was designed by Bill Hayden as an open source operating system based on the source code of AtheOS, but using the Linux kernel.[66][67][68] ZevenOS was designed to continue where Cosmoe left off.[69]

BeFree started in 2003, initially developed under FreeBSD[70] and later Linux.[71][72]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "BeOS". Retrieved January 13, 2016.
  2. ↑ Finley, Klint (May 29, 2015). "This OS Almost Made Apple an Entirely Different Company". Wired. ISSN 1059-1028. Retrieved July 1, 2020.
  3. ↑ "Technical White Paper: The Media OS". web.archive.org. May 25, 1997. Retrieved November 24, 2023.
  4. ↑ Tom (November 24, 2004). "BeOS @ MaCreate". Archived from the original on March 24, 2005. Retrieved November 16, 2006.
  5. ↑ "Be Completes $14 million Financing". web.archive.org. May 25, 1997. Retrieved November 24, 2023.
  6. ↑ "Be Releases BeOS Version DR7". web.archive.org. February 18, 1997. Retrieved November 24, 2023.
  7. ↑ "Be Announces BeOS Version DR8". web.archive.org. May 25, 1997. Retrieved November 24, 2023.
  8. 1 2 "Be Demonstrates BeOS for PowerMac". web.archive.org. October 21, 1996. Retrieved November 24, 2023.
  9. ↑ Tom, Hormby (August 10, 2013). "The Rise and Fall of Apple's Gil Amelio". Low End Mac. Cobweb Publishing, Inc. Retrieved March 28, 2015.
  10. ↑ Owen W. Linzmayer (1999). "Apple Confidential: The Day They Almost Decided To Put Windows NT On The Mac Instead Of OS X!". Mac Speed Zone. Archived from the original on June 24, 2013. Retrieved January 18, 2014.
  11. 1 2 "Be Releases BeOS Preview Release To Developers". web.archive.org. May 25, 1997. Retrieved November 24, 2023.
  12. ↑ "Be Ships BeOS Preview Release 2". web.archive.org. October 22, 1997. Retrieved November 24, 2023.
  13. ↑ "ATPM 4.09 - Review: BeOS Release 3". www.atpm.com. Retrieved November 24, 2023.
  14. ↑ "Be boss offers OS to OEMs for free". web.archive.org. The Register. February 26, 1998. Retrieved November 24, 2023.
  15. ↑ "Be Newsletters, Volume 3: 1998". Haiku. Be Inc. 1998. Archived from the original on July 22, 2013. Retrieved January 18, 2014.
  16. ↑ "Be, Inc. Unveils BeOS Release 4 at COMDEX Fall 98". web.archive.org. April 27, 1999. Retrieved November 24, 2023.
  17. 1 2 3 "A desktop alternative". Forbes. January 25, 1999. Retrieved November 24, 2023.
  18. ↑ "Be Goes Platinum with BeOS 5". web.archive.org. August 15, 2000. Retrieved November 24, 2023.
  19. ↑ "Be Newsletters, Volume 5: 2000". Haiku. Be Inc. 2000. Archived from the original on December 17, 2010. Retrieved January 18, 2014.
  20. ↑ "BeOS/Zeta". YellowBites. Archived from the original on November 27, 2013. Retrieved January 18, 2014.
  21. ↑ "Be Opens Source Code to Desktop Interface of BeOS 5". web.archive.org. April 12, 2001. Retrieved November 24, 2023.
  22. ↑ "Be getting ready to open source BeOS?". web.archive.org. The Register. February 3, 2001. Retrieved November 24, 2023.
  23. 1 2 "Be Goes Platinum with BeOS 5". web.archive.org. August 15, 2000. Retrieved November 24, 2023.
  24. ↑ "Be Newsletters, Volume 5: 2000". Haiku. Be Inc. 2000. Archived from the original on July 22, 2013. Retrieved January 18, 2014.
  25. ↑ "Be Newsletters, Volume 5 : 2000". Haiku. Be Inc. 2000. Archived from the original on July 22, 2013. Retrieved January 18, 2014.
  26. ↑ Jake Daniels (January 23, 2002). "More Information on the BeOS Dano Version". OSNews. Archived from the original on March 14, 2014. Retrieved January 18, 2014.
  27. ↑ "Be Newsletters, Volume 1: 1995-1996". Haiku. Be Inc. 1996. Archived from the original on December 17, 2010. Retrieved January 18, 2014.
  28. ↑ Picarille, Lisa (February 24, 1997). "Motorola snubs NT, picks BeOS for its Mac clones". Computerworld. Vol. 31, no. 8. p. 12.
  29. ↑ "Be Announces BeOS Support for New Multiprocessor Systems". web.archive.org. February 18, 1997. Retrieved November 24, 2023.
  30. ↑ "BeOS Ready Systems -- PowerPC". web.archive.org. January 27, 1999. Retrieved November 24, 2023.
  31. 1 2 3 Lea, Graham (July 8, 1999). "Success expected for Be IPO". www.theregister.com. Retrieved November 24, 2023.
  32. ↑ Mark Berniker (September 8, 2003). "Microsoft Settles Anti-Trust Charges with Be". Archived from the original on November 9, 2013. Retrieved April 24, 2008.
  33. 1 2 https://www.gbnet.net/public/be/acrobat/AboutBe.pdf
  34. ↑ Potrebic, Peter; Horowitz, Steve (January 1996). "Opening the BeBox". MacTech. Vol. 12, no. 1. p. 25-45.
  35. ↑ Brown (1998)
  36. ↑ "Ars Technica: Browsin' on BeOS - Page 1 - (9/99)". archive.arstechnica.com. Retrieved November 24, 2023.
  37. ↑ "Ars Technica: E-Mail on the BeOS - Page 1 - (8/99)". archive.arstechnica.com. Retrieved November 24, 2023.
  38. ↑ Writer, CBR Staff (July 16, 1998). "BEZILLA FREE BROWSER FOR BEOS ON TRACK". Tech Monitor. Retrieved November 24, 2023.
  39. ↑ "Bezilla: Mozilla for BeOS". www-archive.mozilla.org. Retrieved November 24, 2023.
  40. ↑ "CINEMA 4D goes BeOS". testou.free.fr. Retrieved November 24, 2023.
  41. ↑ "To Be Or Not To Be". Eurogamer.net. January 10, 2000. Retrieved November 24, 2023.
  42. ↑ "Should you be in on Be Inc.'s IPO?". CNET. Retrieved November 24, 2023.
  43. ↑ "CNN - Meet the challengers to Windows' throne - June 12, 1998". edition.cnn.com. Retrieved November 24, 2023.
  44. ↑ Orlowski, Andrew. "A Silicon Valley funeral for Be Inc". www.theregister.com. Retrieved November 24, 2023.
  45. ↑ Writer, Henry Norr, Chronicle Staff (March 28, 2000). "Be Inc. Tries `Open Source' System Version". CT Insider. Retrieved November 24, 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  46. ↑ CU Amiga. July 1998.
  47. ↑ "EDIROL by Roland DV-7DL Series Digital Video Workstations". Archived from the original on November 10, 2006. Retrieved November 16, 2006.
  48. ↑ Hacker, Scott (May 21, 2001). "BeOS And Radio Automation". Byte.com. Archived from the original on November 22, 2001. Retrieved February 14, 2019.
  49. ↑ Vernon, Tom (June 4, 2002). "TuneTracker 2 Brings Automation to All". Radio World. Retrieved February 14, 2019.
  50. ↑ "Station to station". Computer Music. No. 82. Future plc. January 2005. pp. 68–73. ISSN 1463-6875.
  51. ↑ "TuneTracker Radio Automation Software". Archived from the original on November 14, 2006. Retrieved December 9, 2006.
  52. ↑ Förster, Moritz (March 17, 2015). "Alternative Betriebssysteme: Haiku als USB-Distribution" (in German). iX Magazin. Retrieved February 14, 2019.
  53. ↑ "Professional Audio Coming to Haiku?". Haikuware. September 6, 2011. Archived from the original on October 1, 2011. Retrieved January 18, 2014.
  54. ↑ "iZ RADAR 24". Archived from the original on December 27, 2006. Retrieved December 27, 2006.
  55. ↑ Jay Ankeney (May 1, 2006). "Technology Showcase: Digital Signage Hardware". Digital Content Producer. Archived from the original on February 4, 2012. Retrieved December 9, 2006.
  56. ↑ Peter Kirn (April 28, 2008). "Ni Ends Legal Dispute Over Traktor Scratch; Digital Vinyl's Twisty, Turny History". Create Digital Music. Archived from the original on March 14, 2014. Retrieved January 18, 2014.
  57. ↑ PalmSource Introduces Palm OS Cobalt, PalmSource press release, February 10, 2004. Archived July 21, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
  58. ↑ ACCESS Completes Acquisition of PalmSource, ACCESS press release, November 14, 2005. Archived January 5, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
  59. ↑ Orlowski, Andrew. "Palm scuppers BeOS co-op hopes". www.theregister.com. Retrieved November 24, 2023.
  60. ↑ "BeUnited - A global initiative aimed at professionally developing and marketing the BeOS". web.archive.org. February 6, 2002. Retrieved November 24, 2023.
  61. ↑ "beunited.org - Open Standards BeOS-compatible Operating Systems". web.archive.org. April 8, 2005. Retrieved November 24, 2023.
  62. 1 2 White, Bradford Morgan. "'Be' is nice. End of story". www.abortretry.fail. Retrieved November 24, 2023.
  63. ↑ "Zeta Operating System". Operating System.org. October 14, 2013. Archived from the original on March 14, 2014. Retrieved January 18, 2014.
  64. ↑ "R1/beta4 – Release Notes". Haiku Project. Retrieved December 24, 2022.
  65. ↑ "BlueEyedOS Demo/Test CD Now Available – OSnews". www.osnews.com. Retrieved November 24, 2023.
  66. ↑ "Interview with Cosmoe's Bill Hayden – OSnews". www.osnews.com. Retrieved November 24, 2023.
  67. ↑ "IsComputerOn - Contact with Bill. (updated)". web.archive.org. February 2, 2009. Retrieved November 24, 2023.
  68. ↑ "Cosmoe Developer Seeks Successor – OSnews". www.osnews.com. Retrieved November 24, 2023.
  69. ↑ "ZevenOS - Does it recapture the flavor of BeOS? | Linux Journal". www.linuxjournal.com. Retrieved November 24, 2023.
  70. ↑ "BeFree 0.1.0 Released – OSnews". www.osnews.com. Retrieved November 26, 2023.
  71. ↑ "About BeFree". web.archive.org. December 3, 2003. Retrieved November 26, 2023.
  72. ↑ "BeFree". web.archive.org. August 13, 2004. Retrieved November 26, 2023.

Further reading

  • Brown, Martin C. (1998). BeOS: Porting UNIX Applications. Morgan Kaufmann. ISBN 978-1558605329.
  • Bortman, Henry; Pittelkau, Jeff (January 1997). "Plan Be". MacUser. Vol. 13, no. 1. p. 64-72.
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