Amazon.com Review: Neal Stephenson, in In the Beginning... Was the Command Line, describes the Be operating system as "an extremely well-thought-out GUI built on a technological framework that is solid." He's not the only fan. A speedy, stable system for power-users and hardware tinkerers, Be may yet give Linux a run for its open-source money.
Be delivers on its promise of providing high-end or dedicated multimedia hardware for audio or video editing at a consumer-level price. Another considerable plus: Be actually installs in the time the manufacturer says it will (15 minutes). A system that can coexist with Linux, Mac, and Windows, it can also be your primary system if you want to create a dedicated "BeBox."
Be can run QuickTime and MPEGs, has accessible Mediaplayer and Webcam applications, and contains its own Web browser, NetPositive. The OS supports Universal Serial Bus (USB) and Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) encryption. As with other alternative operating systems, new free and shareware applications are constantly in development. An excellent realization of key operating system ideals--reliability, speed, and functionality--Be is worth the attention of any power users who haven't yet discovered it. --Jennifer Buckendorff
Amazon.com Product Description: Meet the soaring demand for dynamic digital media and applications head-on, without taxing your budget, your timetable, or your patience. BeOS is the first and only operating system to deliver the speed, processing power, and stability of a high-end multimedia workstation on ordinary, low-cost desktop PCs. Work with audio, video, image, and Internet-based applications, and edit files, millions of gigabytes in size, simultaneously, in real-time. This package includes BeOS Release 4.5.2; the BeOS Bible, which features all the tips and tricks of BeOS; and Gobe Productive 1.1.1.
Best OS I've ever used... I've used various Windows OS for the past 10 years, various Linux for the past 2, and played around with Mac some. BeOS is not just different, but clearly superior in many ways. Part of the reason why is that BeOS doesn't run on top of DOS, as Windows did until recent years, and it doesn't run on top of Unix, like Linux and Mac OS X. BeOS instead started with a clean paper and wrote code to do the various jobs required of a modern OS in the most efficient way possible. Additionally, BeOS uses 'pervasive multithreading' allowing commands to execute much more rapidly. The combined result is that the system is much less bloated, and truly is faster than anything I've ever seen. BeOS running on a Celeron 900 Mhz machine is MUCH faster than Win XP or Mac OS X on a 2 gigahertz machine, simply because the code is written so much more cleanly. I had difficulty believing it myself, until I installed BeOS on my own 900 Mhz machine. The performance difference between BeOS and Windows is truly like night and day. Quite a bit comes with the OS itself. There are browsers (their own, NetPositive, plus Mozilla), CD burners and players, utilities, and applications. Gobe Productive is a software suite written for BeOS which is comparable to Microsoft Office, with a word processor, spreadsheet, presentation program etc. The BeOS Bible is over 900 pages of hints, documentation, and instructions on how to set up the OS and use it.If there is a downside, it is that (1) BeOS doesn't have drivers for every piece of hardware in existence, although it natively supports a pretty wide range. Check the Hardware Matrix at [frizbe website] to see if your hardware has been tested yet. (2) There isn't a lot of software available at the moment in stores. However, there is an active BeOS user community with quite a lot of software, drivers, and assistance online. Try [begroovy, or bebits websites] to see what is available, and links to other BeOS related sites. Just think, an entire OS, PLUS an office suite PLUS the most comprehensive manual you are likely to ever see, all for the price of a game. Ron
The Best of the Bests... One year ago I try for first time the BeOS 4.0 and in that moment I knew that this it is the operating system for PCs of the future, it is stable and faster that other popular OS ;-), in that moment the BeOS had the inconvenience that it didn't have a wide variety of drivers for the different peripherals of the computer. At this time I installed the new version 4.5 and I find that it is spectacular, it possess more drivers support and it continues being stable and faster...
FAST, ROCK SOLID, FUN This Bundle is well worth the money. The BeOS Bible is a great referance for the OS. The Gobe Productive Office suite is also a must have. The BeOS is a very fast and reliable OS. It has a stylish and easy to use interface simmilar to MacOS. Your computer will run Multimedia applications faster than you thought possible. The BeOS is still responsive to your every command even while the PC is working on the most complex tasks. ADDED BONUS The BeOS comes with the software to duel boot windows and BeOS.
A great alt. OS, if not the best This is an excellent operating system, offering stability, performance, and ease of use. Bundled with the BeOS Bible and Gobe Productive, you can't go wrong. You may also wish to visit the Hardware Compatibility List if you have a non-standard configuration. This is the innovation that Microsoft is stifling - put it on your computer and experience where you REALLY want to go tomorrow
This is how operating systems should be It's blazingly fast and responsive, but moreimportant than that is that Everything Just Works. You get to spend your time productively, rather than scratching your head wondering why your computer has crashed again. The downside is that only fairly modern hardware is supported, and you can't go to Frye's and find lots of Be apps on the shelf (yet), but if you bought your system in the last year or two I heartily recommend Be.
Anything Goes Trivia
Trevor
Megaton Man
