So who's taken a look at the Be operating system lately? Maybe not too many of you, given Be's forced "refocusing" on the Intel architecture. Yes, the BeOS continues to run on Powermacs, but not on the latest Powermacs, the G3's. That's a shame, because the G3's are exactly the kind of machine on which the BeOS would probably do very well, targeted, as it is, at people who use their computers for media tasks such as video and audio editing. And whereas just six months ago, most media coverage of the BeOS discussed its viability as an alternative to the Mac OS for Mac users, these days we mostly see articles like this one in Network Computing, which instead focuses on Be's port to Intel hardware and its potential as a rival for Windows.

Why is Be pushing so hard for Intel compatibility? Well, there's the obvious reason that the vast majority of machines out there have x86's on their motherboards, not PPC's. It's important for any new operating system to try to capture marketing share early on. There's also the fact that the BeOS runs surprisingly well on Intel hardware; while the Pentium family can't touch the PowerPC for raw speed, Be found that the other advantages of the Wintel side (like better memory subsystems, faster bus speeds, multiple processors, etc.) more than made up for any deficiencies in the Pentium itself. But the most important reason that the Powermac G3's don't show up on Be's list of supported systems is that, as detailed in their FAQ, Apple refuses to give them the information they need to make the BeOS run on the G3's.

That's a darn shame, because we at AtAT think that the BeOS could be a real contender in the OS field. We can also understand, though, Apple's current decision to "shut down" alternative Macintosh operating systems just as they shut down alternative Macintosh hardware-- things are still a little too sketchy and Apple needs to get its house in order first. We sincerely hope, however, that once Apple is back on more stable ground, it will consider not only rebooting the Mac clone industry, but also working with Be to support the latest Macs that come out of Cupertino.