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November 26, 1996
Apple Is Beaten to a Deal for Use of Be Inc Software
By LAWRENCE M. FISHER
ower Computing Corp., the largest maker of Macintosh clones, has agreed to license a new computer operating system produced by Be Inc., jumping ahead of Apple Computer Inc., which has been seeking an alliance with Be.
Be, which is led by Jean-Louis Gassee, a former Apple executive, is a small private company that is trying to create an extremely fast, simple system that controls the look and feel of a computer, stepping ahead of both the Apple and Microsoft systems that are in use in almost every personal computer sold.
The agreement announced by Be executives makes Power Computing the first company to license the Be operating system. Executives said it would be the only licensee for a few months.
Apple, which is seeking a way to get the development of its own operating system moving again, has been discussing allying with Be or acquiring it. Power Computing and Be officials said their agreement would not affect any negotiations under way between Apple and Be.
Since Apple's own next-generation operating system, code-named Copland, is now well behind schedule and at least partly scuttled, it might look to Be to provide key technology components rather than an entire operating system, some analysts say.
Apple spokesmen declined to comment on the agreement.
Power Computing, which has grown rapidly by offering equal or higher performance than Apple at lower prices, said that beginning in the first quarter next year, all its computers would be shipped with the Be operating system, known as BeOS, in addition to the Macintosh operating system.
The Be system would be included on a CD-ROM, while the Macintosh system would be preloaded on the hard disk, but the machines could run either or both operating systems.
"We have talked to many customers and developers and they have shown tremendous enthusiasm for this kind of product," Steven Kahng, Power Computing's chairman and chief executive, said in a telephone interview. "We are offering the Macintosh community the opportunity to take advantage of all the features of a modern operating system," he said.
Terms of the deal between Be and Power Computing, both of which are privately held, were not disclosed. Next year, customers will be able to buy the operating system from Be's Internet site, the company said. Be and Power Computing said they would announce more details, including available applications and developer kits, at an Apple computer exposition in San Francisco in January.
Be, based in Menlo Park, Calif., was founded by Gassee in 1990 to create a new computer and operating system. To date, the company has sold about 1,500 of its new systems, exclusively to software developers.
The system uses two PowerPC microprocessors similar to those used singly in the Macintosh, and was first demonstrated publicly on a Power Computing system at an Apple exposition in Boston in August.
"This deal lets Power Computing leverage the Be operating system, but it has almost no viability in the context of being a Macintosh clone," said Tim Bajarin, an analyst with Creative Strategies in San Jose, Calif.
Other Places of Interest on the WebApple Be, Inc. Power Computing Corporation
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