Advertise with InfoWorld

Posted at 5:07 PM PT, Feb 11, 1998
SAN FRANCISCO -- Be Inc., probably best known as the company that was almost acquired by Apple Computer a year ago, previewed at Software Development '98 here Wednesday a version of its BeOS operating system for Intel processors that is due to ship in March.

Available for about a year now for the PowerPC architecture, BeOS is an object-oriented, multithreaded, multitasking, memory-protected, 64-bit file systems-based operating system. It is positioned not to replace existing PC operating systems but rather to work in conjunction with them, company officials said.

With a special focus on simplicity, stability, and symmetric multiprocessing, BeOS strives to become a systems and development platform for audio and video multimedia applications, said Jean-Louis Gassee, chairman and CEO of Be who used to be president of Apple's product division.

Having just raised another $22 million in capital from unnamed corporations and venture capital firms, the port to Intel's Pentium architecture has recently opened many doors for Be, according to Gassee.

"I am very happy with the reception by Intel," Gassee said, adding that in hindsight he is glad Apple opted to acquire Next instead of Be.

Stressing that he can't speak for Intel, Gassee said it is obvious why Intel has been very receptive to BeOS.

With "$2,500 PCs, there is a good combination of volume and margins for Intel," Gassee said.

In other words, the type of applications that will run on BeOS -- including audio and video editing software, high-end graphics packages, and multimedia games -- require Intel's high-end, expensive Pentium II processors, which bring higher margins to Intel than the low-end Pentiums now used in the PC market.

"There are no margins [for Intel] in an $800 PC," Gassee said.

BeOS is targeted mainly at what Be calls digital designers -- people that do not consume, but rather create CD-ROMS, digital video disc titles, Web sites, print advertisements, and 2-D and 3-D graphics. That crowd now relies on high-end PCs stuffed full of expensive add-on cards for video and graphics accelerations or communications and high-speed I/O devices.

On the Intel platform, however, BeOS works with low-end, inexpensive PC add-on cards available in retail stores, said Alex Ozadzinski, Be's vice president of sales and marketing.

Be is in discussions with several large PC makers and established brand-name application developers that plan to bundle BeOS with their PCs and develop applications for the operating system. Officials declined to name any of the companies to which Be is talking.

Be is currently working with about 5,000 developers worldwide ranging from students to established brand-name software companies. Reception to BeOS has been especially good in Gassee's native France, as well as in Japan, Germany, and the United Kingdom, Gassee said.

Gassee attributes the strong support in the United Kingdom and Germany in part to a still-vibrant Amiga community, which had been stranded since Amiga owners Commodore International and then-Escom both went bankrupt.

For Japanese developers, BeOS offers a chance to export their applications, because it is an easy task to change menu and user interface items for video editing software, for example.

"But if you make a Japanese word processor in Kanji, that's it. You can't sell it outside of Japan," Gassee said.

Outside of the PC market, BeOS will also eventually find its way into other electronic equipment such as the emerging television set-top boxes, Gassee said.

"Yes, there are opportunities for us, but I am not sure yet which of the software suppliers will make money on them," Gassee said.

Aside from bundling agreements with PC manufacturers, Be will distribute its free BeOS via the Internet as well as through retail outlets, Ozadzinski said.

Be will make the final version of BeOS for Intel available during its developers conference scheduled for March 19 and 20 in Santa Clara, Calif.

More information on BeOS and the hardware supported by the operating system is available on the company's Web site.

Be Inc., in Menlo Park, Calif., can be reached at (650) 462-4100 or http://www.be.com/.

Torsten Busse is a San Francisco correspondent for the IDG News Service, an InfoWorld affiliate.