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A look at BeOS 4.5 on Power Macintosh computers

This article is about BeOS on Power Macintosh computers, since this is the platform I use. The Intel version of the BeOS is not much different except for platform specific details like partitioning (BeOS Intel usually uses one primary partition of the type 0xEB, while on the Macintosh the Apple partitioning scheme is used to allow BeOS to be used on the same hard disk as MacOS and LinuxPPC/MkLinux) and booting (BeOS Intel boots directly from its partition or its boot loader, which can also be used to boot other operating systems like Windows 98, while on the Macintosh BeOS boots using a MacOS application or system extension). However, the tools and applications included are very similar on both platforms.

 

Installation on a Power Macintosh

The installation procedure of release 4.5 of the BeOS is as simple and straightforward as it has been in previous releases. BeOS is started using a Macintosh application (BeOS_Launcher) or alternatively the OS_Chooser system extension, and boots into the installation program on the CD, assuming that BeOS is not yet installed. Otherwise the shift key can be used to allow for rescanning for BeOS bootable drives, of which the CD-ROM is one.

The installer itself knows nothing about configurability, and confronts the user only with options concerning on which partition BeOS should be installed (should be an Apple_HFS partition which the installer will then convert to a Be_BFS partition) and whether "optional" software should be installed. The optional software includes some tools, third party demos, images, videos, audio clips and a BeOS version of GNU Emacs, which I could not get to run properly.

The installation does not take long. Afterward, the installer wants to reboot the machine, which will then reboot into MacOS, assuming that no other boot loader or system extension commands the machine to boot into another OS. Now the BeOS can be booted using the Be_Launcher application (or the OS_Chooser system extension during MacOS' startup).

 

Differences from previous releases (specifically release 4.0)

 

The first big difference I noticed was some changes in the style of the user interface. One that I personally regret is the change of the Be logo used on the deskbar (it used to be the blue-red Be logo and is now a symbol and the word "Be" in blue). Another addition is a modular screen saver.  New screen saver modules can be downloaded from BeWare.

I also noticed that now the BeOS automatically dials when a network connection to an ISP is needed (aka when I type "www.be.com" in the NetPositive web browser than comes with BeOS), a feature that used to be present in BeOS 3.1 and somehow didn't work in release 4.0, at least on my machine. This is especially useful with an ISP that charges per minute, because it makes it easier to redial the ISP after hanging up in order to take some time to read a web site. It would be even more useful if BeOS' dial-up networking had a feature allowing the modem to hang up automatically after a specific idle time.

The bundled applications have also been looked after. Two new applications for handling video input (CodyCam and TV) have been added. This is just one more sign that BeOS is indeed on its way to be the multimedia operating system of our time. Also, a Tracker (the user interface) add-on has been replaced: the old "make archive" function which created a TAR archive has been replaced by a new tool called "ZipOMatic" which apparently is able to also store the BeOS file attributes and not only the data in the file. This makes it finally possible to store Be files like the ones created by the "People" program in the apps folder in an archive without losing all information which is stored in the attributes only.

 

Differences concerning compatibility and the MacOS

The BeOS will still not run on Apple's new (or now old) G3 machines, but it will run, so I have been told, on older machines that were upgraded with a G3 CPU. This means that BeOS' hardware support on PowerPC machines is essentially the same as in earlier releases. BeOS will run on most BeBoxen and on most PCI Power Macintosh machines with 603 or 604 CPU (or an upgrade G3 CPU).

BeOS' interaction with MacOS is limited to accessing Macintosh filesystems. It can neither access the Macintosh's "special" features (like turning the machine on and off) nor can it run MacOS software natively (which seems logical, as BeOS is a totally different operating system with totally different goals). Also, the Macintosh partition access seems to be somewhat unstable. Sometimes my machine hangs when I try to access Macintosh volumes from the BeOS!

See chapter 5 for further discussion of the BeOS/MacOS relationship.