BeOS

Computer operating system developed by Be Inc, a company founded in the USA in 1990 by French-born Jean-Louis Gassée, head of research and development and manufacturing at Apple from 1985 to 1990. The BeOS, launched in October 1995, was originally intended to run on the BeBox (Be's microcomputer designed for video and audio applications), without the need to be backwards-compatible like the Windows PC. In November 2001, Be's assets were sold to Palm for US$11 million and the BeOS is now commercially obsolete.

Before Apple bought NeXTStep to use as the basis for its new generation of operating systems, it considered using the BeOS. Like NeXT Technology Inc before it, Be decided to drop its own hardware in January 1997, and the BeOS now runs on both the Apple Macintosh and the Windows PC. In 2000, Be launched BeIA, an operating system for Internet appliances, based on the BeOS.