What we have here is a (hopefully) detailed review of the BeOS R4 installation on Intel-based machines.  While you'll certainly get a good look at this new OS, we're not going to talk about the applications that come bundled with BeOS R4, and we'll save the yummy core technology write-ups for later. I'm starting with a review of the install process because I think it's a great indicator of what BeOS is and can be, and I wanted to let everyone know just what's at stake if you're interested in giving it a spin.

First Things First
The first thing I did, of course, was to check Be's Intel Hardware Compatibility Information (you can check PPC Hardware Compatibility here). For your edification though, lemme just say that we've got the following support awaiting our (ab)use:

• AMD K-6 and K6-2
• Cyrix 686MX, GXm (not M1)
• Intel Pentium family(classico, MMX, Pro, II)
• IDT WinChip C6

• Matrox cards out the wazoo. Every card that I know of (as of 12/98) is supported.
• Riva 128 and TNT based cards (the TNT driver is still being optimized, however).
• ATI cards are ready to roll: 3D Rage (II, Pro, Pro Turbo, LT Pro) based cards are set.
• And then some Virge, S3, Cirrus cards, etc.
• Support is in the works for Number 9 128 and 3D cards.

I’ve installed R4 on 4 machines so far, and all four have worked quite well. My two Matrox cards (a Millennium II and a Mystique 220) shined in 2D, and my Riva 128 (STB) was almost as smooth.  I ran into some video related problems on my home machine, but that’s because I was using the experimental TNT drivers. More on that later.

Let's get on with this adventure...