BeInc is completely out of business - the liquidation auction was a few months ago. The Be operating system that you downloaded a year ago is actually years old. The BeOS source code is now the property of Palm.
Two things to keep an eye on regarding the future of Be operating system:
First, Yellowtab has a license for distributing Zeta, an updated version of BeOS.
Second, an effort is underway to completely re-create the Be operating system from scratch. It's being called OpenBeOS. Since it's not using any of the original source code, future license problems will be avoided.
There is also OpenBeOS (an open-source recreation of BeOS). BGA bought Palm (or at least the BeOS part of it) just after Palm bought OpenBeOS so BGA now owns both of those and I do not know what he is going to do with them.
Not necessarily. Of all of the alternative operating systems I have used, BeOS is still my favorite. New software and hardware drivers are written all the time. The hardware compatibility list at frizbe.net is kept up to date. And there are relatively active BeOS forums located here and other sites.
And there aren't very many operating systems that are as easy to install as BeOS!
You should browse the available software titles at bebits.com and bezip.de. I'm sure you'll find a few reasons to install BeOS. It still works as well as it did a year ago when you downloaded it...
The latest "official" BeOS release was PE 5.03 and it is available at BeBits or BeZip. There are at least two private distributions based on PE, BeOS Max and Developer Edition. These can be downloaded, but I dan't have the links handy.
OpenBeOS is not available yet.
Zeta is not available yet, and will be a commercial product - Home Edition $40.
No one mentioned one of the best reasons to run the BeOS -stabililty. In my first experience with it, I ran the BeOS for six months straight before an application froze on me. Try that with Windoze. (And it didn't bring down the system.)
I am a new BeOS user. I originally stumbled across Developer Edition 1.1 several months ago and was impressed, but did not consider it a viable option as my primary operating system. A couple days ago, searching for unrelated stuff online, I stumbled across the BeOS demonstration video which sparked my interest again. With more research I found out software and drivers were STILL being developed for BeOS and I installed it again on a secondary computer. I am now running Max Edition 2.1 and I must say I am EXTREMELY PLEASED with BeOS. It never ceases to amaze me, from installation time/boot time to menu/window speed and stability. No other operating system I've used comes close to BeOS's performance and the technology is years old! I am glad this operating system has developed an underground following of people who refuse to let the world's best operating system die. It is really tragic BeOS is no longer commercially supported when it is so clearly superior to Windows in every respect. The only thing keeping my Windows box around is the lack of a Photoshop (or even GIMP) equivalent and a Dreamweaver MX equivalent. Aside from these, BeOS fills all my computing needs AND makes it fun again. I sincerely hope that BeOS is NOT dead for years and years to come.
The information on Computing.Net is the opinions of its users. Such
opinions may not be accurate and they are to be used at your own risk.
Computing.Net cannot verify the validity of the statements made on this site. Computing.Net and Computing.Net, LLC hereby disclaim all responsibility and liability for the content of Computing.Net and its accuracy.
PLEASE READ THE FULL DISCLAIMER AND LEGAL TERMS BY CLICKING HERE