Registered: Feb 2001
Location: Greenville, SC
Posts: 172

Rumour: Palm to buy Be Inc?

Be Inc., makers of my beloved BeOS, is for sale. There are rumors floating around that Palm Inc. may be a buyer as they are interested in Be's BeIA, an OS for internet appliances. I believe that BeIA might be able to run on ARM processors. The most likely buyer, however is Sony, as they have chosen BeIA to run on their eVilla net appliances.
Read the story
Whomever does end up with Be Inc. will be getting some tremendous technology at a steal. ($30 million, possibly) With a large marketing budget and just a few tweaks to the OS and more drivers, BeOS is the only OS I can see that could ever replace Windows.

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"Life is what you experience between racing games"
Galley

Registered: Jan 2000
Location: Twin Cities, MN
Posts: 1683

quote:

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BeOS is the only OS I can see that could ever replace Windows.

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We're all naked if you turn us inside out.
-David Byrne

Registered: Mar 2000
Location: McLean, VA USA
Posts: 216

I'll have to agree with Homer. Be dropped development of the OS so that they could concentrate on BeIA. I've played around with BeOS a bit and it is pretty cool, but I too was under the impression that it was optimized for multimedia work. Kind of a software version of the Amiga.

I could see Palm or Sony either one using the BeOS to drive a tablet style HPC. I don't see it being an alternative to either the Palm OS or PocketPC OS. However, I could see it being used to develop some type of small, portable video player. Kinda like an MP3 player except it would do the video as well.

I guess we'll just have to wait to see how this shakes out.

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What the Heck! It's what I want!

Registered: Feb 2001
Location: Greenville, SC
Posts: 172

What I meant was that BeOS is the only OS that I could see becoming the dominant OS if Microsoft was severely punished and we suddenly able to buy a PC with any OS of our choice. (If we lived in a perfect world, of course) Mac OS X, may be alright, but it doesn't run on PC hardware, and Linux isn't "ready for prime-time". The average person doesn't care about the OS, they just want a computer that is easy to use. The majority of them probably don't even realize that there are alternatives available. Windoze is not easy to use, BeOS is. It's also very responsive. Tracker windows open instantly, even on a slow machine. Think about everything you hate about the Windows OS; BeOS has none of it. It's this technology that has the real worth. Sony, I'm sure would love nothing more to market a BeOS-based VIAO PC that has no Windows on it whatsoever. Sony loves proprietary hardware/software and they HATE Microsoft.
Sorry, I'm not trying to start any kind of heated discussion.

Remember. it's YOUR computer, not Microsoft's. You are free to run any type of OS of your choice. (Microsoft can't take that away from us! Well, not yet, at least)

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"Life is what you experience between racing games"
Galley

Registered: Jan 2000
Location: Twin Cities, MN
Posts: 1683

quote:

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What I meant was that BeOS is the only OS that I could see becoming the dominant OS if Microsoft was severely punished and we suddenly able to buy a PC with any OS of our choice.

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Well, you can buy any PC you want. And you can buy any OS you want.

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Mac OS X, may be alright, but it doesn't run on PC hardware

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True. For now. I bet within a year or so we will see some port of the OS, either a legitimate one, or a hacked one.

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and Linux isn't "ready for prime-time".

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I hate that saying. Linux isn't ready for 'idiot computer users' yet. I know that's a bit harsh, and, admittedly, Linux could improve it's OS a bit more, but it IS a good, current OS. It's not just for mom.

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The average person doesn't care about the OS, they just want a computer that is easy to use.

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Which means they care about the OS. ;-)

And that isn't necessarily true, either. The average person doesn't know what they hell they want when buying a computer. And then they rely on the advice of a CompUSA or BestBuy employee.

The problem is that people don't educate themselves when buying a computer. They'll spend weeks researching a new car purchase, a new cell phone, an new snowmobile, a new toaster, but they just don't take any initiative to try and understand what a computer is so that they can best evaluate what they need.

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The majority of them probably don't even realize that there are alternatives available.

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Sadly, most people don't even know what version of the OS they are running.

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Sony, I'm sure would love nothing more to market a BeOS-based VIAO PC that has no Windows on it whatsoever.

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BeOS isn't a consumer OS, though. It is optimized for one thing and one thing only, Multimedia production.

What Sony (or ANY PC manufacturer) should do is to develop a usable interface for Linux. The OS underpinnings are fine, it's the GUI that could use a little work.

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Sorry, I'm not trying to start any kind of heated discussion.

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Too late!



(that's what discussion forums are for, right!)

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We're all naked if you turn us inside out.
-David Byrne

Registered: Feb 2001
Location: Greenville, SC
Posts: 172

quote:

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Originally posted by homer


Well, you can buy any PC you want. And you can buy any OS you want.

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Not at retail, you can't. It's either Windows or Windows. When I had my current computer built I did not purchase an OS since I already owned a copy of Windoze. I did the same for a lady from work who wanted one from the same company. I put on a copy of my Win98 CD. I told her she could buy a legitimate copy of WinXP when it comes out. Go ahead MS sue me! I picked out a really nice system for her, but the funny thing is she's too scared to use it!

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"Life is what you experience between racing games"
Galley