For RAM and hard disk capacities I went with 768 MB and 2 GB respectively.
Both only support up to 16-bit colour.Ĭreating a new virtual machine in VirtualBox there’s no BeOS option to select from, so I went with the Other/Unknown option when selecting the operating system in the wizard. On the other hand, VirtualBox just needed some extra time for loading on startup and would work up to 1,280 x 1,024 resolution. Between the two, VMware Workstation was the clear winner for speed of installation, responsiveness, and once configured could comfortably run at 1,600 x 1,200 display resolution. It had been a very long time since I touched BeOS so wasn’t sure how well it would run under a virtual machine (VM) or the ideal settings.
Worth checking out if you like to explore niche operating systems.įor this guide I’m running Oracle VirtualBox 6.0.14 with an ISO image file of BeOS R5.1d “Dano” sourced online.įirstly out of interest, I had done a comparative test between VirtualBox and VMware Workstation 15 Pro. The legacy of BeOS continues in the open source form of Haiku.
It would seem Palm had no care factor that it was leaked, more interested in bringing over additional engineers to their payroll. It wasn’t enough and the final version, R5.1d, was leaked online upon its demise just as Palm Inc. With Be in a bind to stay afloat, by early 1998 BeOS was ported across to x86 hardware to increase exposure and spark further interest. I sense however deep down Apple paid the higher price to win back Steve Jobs. Ultimately Apple paid more acquiring NeXT instead. Apple consequently considered Be, though the offer provided was no where close to the asking price in excess of $300 million US. Apple in the mid 1990s was after all seeking a new generation operating system, and its Copland project turned out to be a mess. Financially going in the red, Be’s move to open up support on PowerPC hardware such as the Power Macintosh was in the hope for Apple to come along with a fat cheque.
Sales of BeBox were abysmal, with only around 1,800 units sold worldwide.
The BeBox was rather unique for its time with the number of I/O ports on the back, suggesting its use was targeting professional audio and video production. Not before long BeOS was moved across to support PowerPC hardware and with this came BeBox, dual PowerPC 603 machines running at either 66 or 133 MHz. At first it was to run on Hobbit based hardware, RISC-like processors developed by AT&T that never made commercial success. in 1991 that also developed both proprietary hardware and its own operating system, BeOS. Just as Steve Jobs left Apple undeterred leading him to found NeXT Inc., Jean-Louis followed a similar path and founded Be Inc. By the end of the decade, corporate politics and disagreements with the then CEO John Sculley led to Jean-Louis’ exit in 1990.
That was fine to a point, though with more affordable IBM PC clones and Windows 3.0 approaching, this was increasingly becoming unsustainable. He was a staunch supporter of Apple, who believed the company should continue its focus at the premium end of the personal computer market, and that people were prepared to pay up for the Macintosh experience. A Frenchman named Jean-Louis Gassée had for most of the 1980s held senior positions with Apple, where at one point had become head of product development for the Macintosh once Steve Jobs left. BeOS despite generally long forgotten (if you were aware of it in the first place) had an interesting past.