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Be Inc. really walked into this one. Talk about an opportunity: Be, the developer of
the BeOS many Mac users thought might be the next
Mac OS, now has an even stronger point from which to launch: It's
OK to think different, but to be different opens new doors.
This isn't a rivalry developing here. Be is kindly not persuing the golden
apple placed before it by the "Think Different" ad campaign -- but Be users sure are. With an Intel version of the BeOS in the wings, Be has the potential to be the very definition of different. I doubt Be was too disappointed about being bypassed in favor of Next as the future Mac OS; its world is about to crack wide open. Luckily, the
different-thinking Mac users who have been using the BeOS for the past year side-by-side with the Mac OS already have taken hold of the opportunity to be different.
If the
momentum of Be shifts toward Intel, it will be the Mac community that suffers.
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It's exciting to have two of the greatest operating systems of all time
running on the same hard drive. On one partition is the
Mac OS, still unmatched in ease of use and overall power in its more than 13 years. On the other partition (unless you own a BeBox) is the BeOS, an innovative OS
wisely built on Mac hardware, with roots in Unix and a flair for artistic
flavor that challenges the Mac itself. I can't see why every Mac user with
a qualifying machine isn't running the two together. There is great
joy in running an incredibly stable and powerful beta version of an OS
right on your PowerMac.
What's troubling is that it may soon be gone.
Rhapsody is certainly on its way. The recent developer's release is
promising, and the potential power it holds is widely known. Rhapsody will
run on Intel and Mac hardware, as will the BeOS, but Mac users don't have to worry about losing Rhapsody. It is Apple's OS and will not readily
leave the Mac behind. In contrast, Be must go where the "seats" are. Although
I may be imagining more than what's out there, I see a large audience of
Windows users who would love to escape Microsoft's overwhelming
umbrella and head into a fresh, new rainstorm.
As a Mac user, a fresh start is a great thing, and I'm not the least bit
weary of my current Mac OS. But what happens when the Intel crowd gets a
taste of this yellow-tabbed, Mach-kerneled, multithreaded, Unix-based OS?
They could very likely sweep the thing right out from under all the smug,
Rhapsody-hungry Mac users.
Although Be says porting a program from the PowerPC side of Be to the
Intel side will likely be a simple task, there's a good chance it just
won't be done. Ports in the other direction are just as easy, too. But simplicity
is not the deciding factor and won't help the Mac platform in the future. There are many programs PC users enjoy that the
Mac community could greatly benefit from. Porting an application to the Mac OS often
pays off quickly and is not incredibly time-consuming -- but it still isn't done.
A sour-faced Mac user could easily call it politics, while a disinterested
corporation could claim economics. It really doesn't matter. If the
momentum of Be shifts toward Intel, it will be the Mac community that suffers. Sure, we'll eventually have Rhapsody, but despite its power, it
still carries with it a heavy load and, likewise, will never have the appeal
of the BeOS.
In a computing world moving closer and closer to fewer options,
it's great to exercise the power of choice.
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Duality is not a bad thing. After all, the inital goal of Rhapsody itself
is cross-platform development with Mac OS compatability. Many online users
have both Internet Explorer and Netscape Navigator on their drives. To me,
duality is the epitome of all that isn't Microsoft. Likewise, what could be
better than two great OSes on one great piece of hardware, neither of which
has a single code of Microsoft software within or touches a piece of
Intel hardware?
A new, equally interesting development is in the works that affects the
Mac and the BeOS: Opera Software is out to sell an alternative Web
browser. Win 95 and NT users are playing with the beta right now, and Opera
is testing the waters for interest in other versions. I was shocked and
ashamed to see that more OS/2 users had requested a native copy for their
platform than Mac users. Requests for a BeOS version are even lower,
trailing Linux/X11. Understandably, Mac users are busy waging their own war
for recognition, and they may have run out of steam to stand up for the BeOS.
You can bet, however, that when the Intel betas of Be are released, it
will get much more attention.
The Mac OS lets you think different, but the BeOS lets you be
different. In a computing world moving closer and closer to fewer options,
it's great to exercise the power of choice. Browse with an obscure
browser, use an aging word processor, play a really old game, or give Gopher
another try. We're rapidly moving in a frightening direction, and a little
perspective never hurts.
As Mark Twain said: "If you
find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to reform."
Randy Whitted is a Web producer at EDTN.
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