Be Incorporated
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| Fate | Dissolved |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1990 |
| Defunct | November 15, 2001 |
| Headquarters | Menlo Park, California, United States |
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Key people
|
Jean-Louis Gassée, Steve Sakoman (founders) |
| Products | BeOS, BeBox, BeIA |
| Website | www |
Be Inc. was an American computer company founded in 1990, best known for the development and release of BeOS, and the BeBox personal computer. Be was founded by former Apple Computer executive Jean-Louis Gassée with capital from Seymour Cray.
Be's corporate offices were located in Menlo Park, California; as well as regional sales offices in France and Japan. The company later relocated to Mountain View in California for the duration of its dissolution.
The main intent of Be was to develop a new operating system using the C++ programming language on a proprietary hardware platform. The BeOS ran on the BeBox, but was later ported to Apple Computer's Power Macs despite resistance from Apple, due to the hardware specifications assistance of Power Computing. In 1998, the system was ported to the Intel x86 architecture, and PowerPC support was reduced, finally being dropped after BeOS R5.
Be was founded by former Apple Computer executive Jean-Louis Gassée in 1990 with Steve Sakoman after being ousted by Apple CEO John Sculley. Be aimed to create a modern computer operating system written in C++ on a proprietary hardware platform. In 1995, the BeBox personal computer was released by Be, with its distinctive strips of lights up the front that indicated the load of each CPU, and the combined analogue/digital, 37-pin GeekPort has made it a highly desirable item for collectors. In addition to BeOS and BeBox, Be also produced BeIA, an ill-fated OS for internet appliances. It was however used commercially by Sony (with the eVilla) and DT Research, amongst others, during its short lifespan.
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