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BeOS Preview Release Bundled with Leading Macintosh Magazines

RELEASED JULY 16, 1997

For more information contact

In the U.S. and Pacific:
Alex Osadzinski, alex@be.com
+1 (650) 462-4126

In Europe:
Jean Calmon, jcalmon@beeurope.com
(33) 1 49 06 73 75

BeOS PREVIEW RELEASE TO BE BUNDLED
WITH LEADING MACINTOSH MAGAZINES

Company announces distribution agreements in five countries
as part of its initial distribution plan.

MENLO PARK, Calif (July 16, 1997) -- Today, Be, Inc. announced agreements with leading Macintosh and PowerPC magazines in five countries to distribute the BeOS Preview Release in special issues over the next two months. The magazines include MacUser (US), MacPower (Japan), MACUp (Germany), UniversMac (France) and MacUser UK (UK).

The BeOS Preview Release CDs distributed with these magazines will contain a full, unrestricted version of the OS, as well as CodeWarrior Lite for BeOS from Metrowerks. In a separate release today, Be announced the shipment of the BeOS Preview Release, the first public release of the operating system. In addition to the magazine distribution announcements, Be announced that it has opened direct ordering of the BeOS Preview Release via the Be Internet web site (http://www.be.com).

"Our goal in the coming months is to seed the market, giving customers the chance to try the BeOS for the first time.", said Jean-Louis Gassée, president and CEO of Be, Inc. "We are also beginning to build a foundation upon which BeOS developers can build their businesses."

A number of software developers will announce BeOS compatible software at the upcoming MacWorld Exposition, and at the Be Developer Conference immediately preceeding the expo.

"MacUser has been at the forefront of publications covering the ground-breaking work Be Inc. has been doing in next generation operating systems," said Andrew Gore, editor of MacUser. "We've closely tracked the BeOS' progress as its gone from tantalizing concept, to awesome demo and now, finally, to powerful reality. It's only fitting that we work with Be to make sure all Mac users who want to try this revolutionary OS can with a minimum of hassle or expense."

The BeOS Preview Release will be distributed with the following magazines during August and September;

MacUser - United States
MacUser Magazine, the largest 100% paid circulation Macintosh publication, will bundle the BeOS Preview Release with all newsstand issues of the October magazine, on sale around the country during the week of August 25th.

MacPower - Japan
MacPower, the largest Macintosh magazine in Japan, will include the BeOS CD with all issues of the October issue of the magazine, on sale at newsstands during the week of September 18, and delivered to subscribers during that same week. The MacPower BeOS CD will include a Japanese language version of the BeOS User Guide.

MACup - Germany
MACup Magazine will distribute a combination MACup/BeOS CD with the September issue of the magazine, on sale mid-August, and delivered to subscribers at the same time.

UniversMac - France
UniversMac will include the BeOS CD with the September issue of the magazine, on sale at the beginning of September, and delivered to subscribers during that at the same time.

MacUser - United Kingdom
MacUser UK will bundle the BeOS Preview Release with the August issue of the magazine, on sale at the beginning of the month and delivered to subscribers the same week.

The company and the magazines encourage customers who wish to take advantage of the special BeOS Preview Release bundles to do so as soon as the issues go on sale. Depending upon volumes, the companies cannot guarantee that magazine backorders will contain the CD.

Complete details on the new features of the BeOS Preview Release, and a complete list of BeOS capable hardware systems, can be found at http://www.be.com/products/.

About Be
Be, Inc., founded in 1990 by Jean-Louis Gassée, is a software company focusing on building new foundations for the next generation of digital content and media design tools. With a team of industry-leading engineers and business executives in the United States and Europe, the company is dedicated to removing the limitations of existing computer architectures and delivering a new level of price performance. In 1997, Be is publishing the first public releases of the Be Operating System (BeOS ), the core product of this strategy. Additional information on Be and the BeOS is available online at http://www.be.com. Be, Inc. is headquartered in Menlo Park, California.