BeOS

BeOS was a PC operating system developed by Be Incorporated in 1990, primarily aimed at providing high-performance multimedia applications. Despite the common belief fostered by the inclusion of the Bash command interface in the operating system, the design of BeOS was not based on UNIX.

Features

BeOS has its own modular microkernel, which has been highly optimized for working with audio, video and graphics, and animations in three dimensions. Unlike UNIX, BeOS is a single-user operating system. Its advanced core architecture offers multi-processor capability, high performance, modular input/output bandwidth, pervasive multithreading, preemptive multitasking, graphical flexibility, and real-time responsiveness. It has a 64-bit optimized journaling and index file system called BFS, but instead of using a database, BeOS relies on its low latency to record and retrieve file attributes in less time. A new multithreaded graphical user interface was developed under the principles of clarity and a simple and uncluttered design. The API interface was written in C++ for programming simplicity. It has POSIX compatibility and a Bash-based command line interface.

History

Originally (1995-1996) the operating system ran on its own hardware, known as the BeBox. Later (1997) it was extended to the PowerPC platform and finally (1998) compatibility with x86 processors was added. Be's original intention was to sell the operating system to Apple to replace Mac OS, but the sales plans fell through and the system never caught on in the marketplace. In 2001, the intellectual property of Be was sold to the Palm company, which passed it on to palmSource and is now owned by Access Co. The last release of the system was its version 5 in the year 2000, although a new version and enhanced before bankruptcy.

In February 2001, Be Incorporated took criminal action against Microsoft for its anti-competitive practices. For years Microsoft used closed license agreements with hardware manufacturers, which prevented the manufacture of computers with more than one pre-installed operating system, that is, with anything that was not Windows. This tactic ultimately put Be out of the market. In a desperate move, Be's CEO (Jean-Louis Gassée) offered to distribute BeOS for free to any hardware manufacturer that would agree to install BeOS alongside Windows, but none did. On September 5, 2003, the trial was closed with the payment of $23.2 million to Be, after which Microsoft was no longer accused of improper practices.

Future

Family tree of BeOS and related operating systems.

Despite its low popularity, BeOS has a loyal community of users and fans who were understandably disappointed by Be's commercial failure. Around 2002, some free software projects were formed to recreate BeOS 5 and extend its capabilities from there (without the inclusion of closed proprietary code). The microkernel nature of BeOS makes it possible to rebuild it in parts, allowing each module to be tested with the already existing kernel of the official BeOS system. The BeOS graphical interface (OpenTracker/OpenDeskbar) has been fully recreated under the MIT license.

The file system, BeFS (64-bit, Journaled, database-oriented) has inspired:

• Apple - Spotlight-
• Microsoft - WinFS-
• AtheOS/Syllable - AtheFS-
• GNU/Linux - Ext3-

The open source replica of the BeFS is available on Sourceforge.net, and for the better, its author, Domenic Giampaolo, has released the book "Practical filesystem design".

BeOS recreation projects

• Haiku, formerly OpenBeOS, based on the core of NewOS.
• BeOS Max [1], based on the latest commercial version of BeOS (R5 Personal Edition) to which new features have been incorporated.
• BlueEyedOS[2], based on the Linux kernel. The latest update of this SO and its website is June 2003.
• Cosmoe, based on the Linux kernel and part of AtheOS. The latest update of this SO and its website is December 2004.
• Macpup, Based on the Linux kernel, with a vector interface based on Opentracker and CairoGraphics.
• Sequel, based on a micronucleus with BSD license
• ZetaOS, based on BeOS 5 code (BeOS is currently owned by Access Co.), was abandoned in 2007
• E/OS, based on Utah Univ.'s OSKIT
• ZevenOS, based on Ubuntu using Xfce and aggregates, tries to recreate BeOS's desktop both in appearance and in selection of software with the same functionality as that of BeOS.

Projects to continue BeOS

Rumor has it that the defunct YellowTAB owned the rights to use the unfinished BeOS R6 codebase, codenamed "Dano", which they are supposed to have used for their Zeta product. But Access Co. Ltd. denied that yellowTab or Magnussoft owned any such rights.