BeOS Q & A

This document answers questions regarding the BeOS, including hardware requirements, features, file formats and compatibility, and interface issues.

This page was last updated on July 16, 1997

General

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Q: When will the BeOS Preview Release be available?

A: Today! Get yours now:

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Q: How can I get the BeOS Preview Release?

A: There are a number of ways to get the BeOS. First, you can order it from us:

Second, we have already announced licensing arrangements with Power Computing. Power Computing has said that they will be bundling the BeOS Preview with all new systems shipped in 1997, and all customers who have purchased Power Computing systems since November 26th will be sent the CD when it becomes available. Contact Power Computing (PCC Customer Service: 800-671-6227) for further details.

Third, other Macintosh clone vendors will be bundling the BeOS with their hardware. Contact your favorite hardware manufacturer and ask them if they are bundling the BeOS with their systems.

Fourth, you can visit our booth at Macworld Expo/Boston, during the week of August 4-8. We're giving out a special BeOS Preview Release CD as our giveaway -- free!

Fifth, if you're a registered Be developer, you'll be sent the Preview Release automatically. You just need to make sure your developer record is up-to-date.

Sixth, if you can wait that long, we have plans to bundle the BeOS with a variety of magazines in the US, Europe, and Japan. You'll get the BeOS Preview Release CD for the cost of the magazine. See the press release for more details.

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Q: How much will the BeOS Preview Release cost?

A: Our goal with the BeOS Preview Release is to encourage mass trial and adoption. Many of the methods for obtaining the BeOS Preview Release, detailed in a previous FAQ item, involve no cost at all.

If you are unable to obtain the BeOS Preview Release via one of those methods, you can order it from us:

We have two packages, one for $10 and one for $49. The first package is just the CD and an installation booklet. The second package includes the printed version of the BeOS User's Guide, and two free upgrades shipped directly to you as soon as they are released.

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Q: Will I be able to buy the BeOS through the chain computer stores like Frys, CompUSA, and Egghead? Will I be able to buy it through mail order houses like MacConnection or MacWarehouse?

A: We are exploring conventional distribution channels, but we have no announcements at this time.

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Q: Will the BeOS be distributed outside of the US?

A: Yes. When you order the BeOS through our web site, and specify a non-US address, we will ship it to you through one of our foreign distribution centers.

We are also bundling the BeOS with magazines in 5 countries: the US, the UK, France, Germany, and Japan. See the press release for details.

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Q: Could I be a beta tester of the BeOS (or BeOS for Power Mac) or get a demo? I have lots of experience testing products...

A: Thanks for the offer, but we aren't in need of additional beta testers. We generally seed our developers first, then open it up to a wider distribution.

There are many ways you can obtain released versions of the BeOS Preview Release, and all of them are described on the web site. Check back frequently, we will continue to make the most current information available on the web site.

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Q: I would like to try the BeOS, but I don't want to buy it yet. Do you plan to make a public beta or trial version available for downloading over the Internet?

A: In addition to the free methods of obtaining the BeOS Preview Release, detailed in a previous FAQ item, we have a very low cost ($10) option for people who just want to try the BeOS:

While we do intend to offer a downloadable version of the BeOS Preview Release, we are still working on the technical details. If you're not inclined to wait, the way to go is one of the options above.

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Q: What was "Advanced Access"?

A: Advanced Access was a developer-only, early release version of the BeOS Preview Release that enabled developers to recompile their applications, fixs bugs, and take advantage of new features prior to the BeOS Preview Release being released to the general public.

The Advanced Access release of the BeOS is now obsolete, and is unsupported by Be. You can get the real thing at:

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Q: If I have problems with the BeOS, what do I do?

A: The place to start for BeOS support of any kind is the Be web site:

http://www.be.com/support/index.html

There you will find a wealth of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs), documentation, software updates, and even sample code. If the information you require is not there, you will also find a BeAssisted form that can be used to submit questions to any of the Be support email addresses.

You can also email your question to Be. We have several addresses to handle your different questions:

• devsupport@be.com -- for registered developers who need technical and coding assistance from our developer technical support staff

• custsupport@be.com -- for questions regarding set up, installation, configuration and compatibility of the BeOS or other technical questions that are not about programming or coding

• custservice@be.com -- for assistance with obtaining any of our products, questions about an order, or for questions about maintenance and warranty of your BeBox.

• devservices@be.com -- for developers with developer-specific, non-technical issues including lost developer passwords, changing name or company information in the developer database, moving files in the BeWare section, and the like.

If all of this web searching and email does not do the trick, you will be able to call us. We are available Monday through Friday, between 6am and 6pm (Pacific time) for people in the Western hemisphere and 8am to 8pm GMT for those of you in the Eastern Hemisphere.

US and Pacific Rim Customer Support (English language only):
(972) 389-3740

European Customer Support Line :
Coming August 11, 1997

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Q: Is there a Be/BeBox/BeOS newsgroup?

A: Yes, actually there are five of them!

• comp.sys.be.advocacy: the standard "our computers are better than their computers" group. Unmoderated.
• comp.sys.be.announce: announcements of new developments in the Be world, including new software (Be and third-party). Moderated (but not by Be).
• comp.sys.be.help: questions and answers to BeOS and BeBox difficulties. Unmoderated.
• comp.sys.be.misc: various topics not covered elsewhere. Unmoderated.
• comp.sys.be.programmer: technical discussions of programming problems and techniques for the BeOS.

Additionally, there is at least one foreign language newsgroup, de.comp.os.be. This group is in German.

Please note that these groups are not moderated by anyone at Be (though people from Be do read them regularly), nor is the information presented there verified by Be. They are typical free-form Internet newsgroups.

There are also a couple of Be mailing lists that your can subscribe to. See our mailing lists page for more info.

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Q: What Web sites are there about Be, the BeBox, or the BeOS?

A: Well, we definitely recommend you start with the Be Web site!

http://www.be.com/

If you are in Europe, be sure to visit the Be Europe Web site:

http://www.beeurope.com/

An couple of excellent "Be current events" oriented Web sites are (note that these are not official Be sites):

BeOS Central

http://www.fyi.net/~evgenius/be/

BeForever

http://www.laol.net/org/lamug/beforever/index.htm

Finally, we keep an up-to-date collection of links on our own Web pages:

http://www.be.com/usergroups/wwwlinks.html

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Q: I think I've found a bug in the BeOS! How do I report it?

A: The best answer to this question can be found in a Be Newsletter article by Melissa Rogers titled "Bugs!".

Ideally, you'll take the time to enter the bug into our database via the web form at:

http://www.be.com/developers/bugform.html.

This is the best way for you to report a bug to us, as it ensures that it gets into our tracking system.

Failing that, please submit bug reports to us via e-mail, at bugs@be.com.

The more detailed and specific you are in your bug report, the more likely we are to be able to track it down and fix it. Taking a few extra minutes to fully describe what you were doing, what happened, why this isn't what you expected, and to describe your system configuration is extraordinarily helpful to us, and we really appreciate it when you are able to do it.

You can see the fruits of your labors and learn even more about how Be handles bugs by viewing the BeOS Bugs On-Line database of public BeOS bugs at:

http://www.be.com/developers/bugs/index.html

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Q: I have thought of a feature that I think the BeOS should have. How do I submit it?

A: The best way to suggest a feature for the BeOS is to enter it into our Bugs database via the web form at:

http://www.be.com/developers/bugform.html.

The more detailed and specific you are in your feature request, the more likely we are to consider it for a future release of the BeOS.

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Hardware Requirements

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Q: What machines does the BeOS run on?

A: The BeOS runs on our own BeBox and various Power Macintosh and Power Mac compatibles (see our web site for a list of BeOS ready computers).

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Q: Does the BeOS run on machines based on IBM's Longtrail or Motorola's Yellowknife system designs?

A: The Longtrail and Yellowknife systems designs are based on the CHRP (Common Hardware Reference Platform) / PPCP (PowerPC Platform) specification. No one is yet shipping products based on these designs.

When systems based on this specification begin shipping, including systems based on Longtrail or Yellowknife, Be will announce further details of our plans to allow the BeOS to run on those systems.

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Q: Does the BeOS run on any systems based on the Exponential Technologies X704 processor (the super-fast PowerPC chip)?

A: No, nor will it. Exponential Technologies has gone out of business, so it is unlikely that anyone will ever ship systems based on this chip. That would make it kind of hard to support with the BeOS...

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Q: Does the BeOS run on other PowerPC-based systems, like the IBM RS6000-series of workstations, or Motorola's PowerStack systems?

A: No.

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Q: Does the BeOS run on Intel-based machines? Do you plan to port the BeOS to the Intel platform?

A: At the present time, Be is focused on delivering the BeOS Preview Release for the BeBox and Power Macintosh compatible systems, and encouraging people to try it and developers to write software for it. Once we have begun to see the fruits of this work, we will look at the important features for follow-on releases of the BeOS.

The BeOS has already run on three different architectures and two different processors, so we know how to port the system -- supporting Intel or any other platform is simply a question of demand by developers and users, and time.

Judging from your e-mail, we know there is demand for an Intel version of the BeOS (you can stop now :-). But we have no announcements to make at this time.

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Q: Does the BeOS run on a Sparcstation? How about a DEC Alpha workstation? MIPS? What about the Geewhiz 2000?

A: At the present time, Be is focusing on delivering the BeOS Preview Release for the BeBox and Power Macintosh compatible systems, and encouraging people to try it and developers to write software for it. Once we have begun to see the fruits of this work, we will look at the important features for follow-on releases of the BeOS.

The BeOS has already run on three different architectures and two different processors so we know how to port the system -- supporting another platform is simply a question of demand by developers and users, and time.

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Q: Does the BeOS support high-performance SCSI cards, like the Adaptec Ultra SCSI card that comes in the Power Center Pro?

A: No. At this time, the BeOS supports only the built-in SCSI interfaces on both Power Macintosh and BeBox hardware.

We do intend to provide support for some high-performance SCSI cards in a future BeOS release. We would be interested in customer feedback regarding which cards we should support. If you have a SCSI card in a machine on which you plan to run the BeOS, please let us know the manufacturer and model of the card, by sending mail to devsupport@be.com.

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Features

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Q: Why is the BeOS so great? Why would I want to run or develop for the BeOS? What are the key features of the BeOS?

A: The BeOS is the only "Media OS," that is to say, a personal computer operating system designed from the ground up to support a new generation of multimedia creation applications. The BeOS is targeted to digital content creators who have high performance requirements that are not being well met by existing systems. Three of the main benefits are high performance, reliability, and integrated services.

Performance

• the BeOS was built from the ground up, without layers of legacy baggage
• the BeOS supports multiple processors (symmetrical multi-processing)
• the entire BeOS and Be apps are extensively multi-threaded to take advantage of parallelism on MP systems
• the BeOS offers preemptive multi-tasking to efficiently perform multiple tasks at once
• the 64-bit Be file system supports files vastly larger than the typical 4-gigabyte limit of 32-bit systems*
• the high-performance Be file system supports journalling which speeds booting after a power failure*
• OpenGL is supported in addition to the native 3-D Kit*
• DMA support for IDE hard drives provides very fast data transfer*

Reliability

• the BeOS supports protected memory, which prevents misbehaved applications from crashing the system or other applications
• the BeOS is built from the ground up with a simplified API, resulting in smaller and more stable applications
• the journalling feature of the Be file system makes disk operations more reliable, ensuring data integrity*

Integrated Services

• system database and queries
• system level messaging
• built-in Ethernet with FTP, Telnet and PPP support
• bundled email and web browser software
• scripting*
• elastic technology*
• MIME type file attributes*
• Unicode UTF-8 font encoding*
• datatypes libraries for integrated opening, saving, etc. media data like JPEG, AVI, QuickTime, etc.*
• improved and more flexible UI*

Compatibility

• Posix compliant layer
• AppleTalk printing*
• PostScript printing*
• Unicode UTF-8 font encoding*
• Mac HFS disk support*
• Java tools with the Metrowerks CodeWarrior for BeOS IDE*

  * new in the Preview Release

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Q: What is new in the BeOS Preview Release?

A: This question is answered in great detail in the "What's New in the Preview Release?" document in the Products section of the Be web site:

http://list.be.com/products/index.html

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Q: How does the BeOS compare to Rhapsody?

A: That is a difficult question to answer because Rhapsody is still in development, which makes it hard to guess what features it will have, and how it will perform.

We can say this -- Rhapsody and the BeOS have different target markets and take two very different approaches to operating system design. Rhapsody is based on a combination of established (aka older) technologies -- Mach as a microkernel, Objective C as a language, Display Postscript as a graphics language. These technologies are then melded into a whole using the OpenStep (aka Concert) toolkit.

The BeOS, on the other hand, was designed from the ground up following a concept we call the "Media OS." It's simply not enough to start with an existing OS, add a few features, and call it a media-oriented OS. The engineering team at Be didn't start with an existing OS and transform it, they started with the Media OS concept and optimized every portion of a new OS -- the BeOS -- for handling digital media.

The BeOS is designed to meet the high-performance needs of digital content design and Internet communications, removing the limitations and complexity of the aging architectures of current mainstream operating systems. The BeOS is the first new operating system designed to unlock the door to much more powerful personal computers, and extract more performance from the systems we use today.

The two systems also have very different target markets as their design centers. Rhapsody's design center is the enterprise business user. The BeOS's design target is interactive media, and the individual who sits down to design digital content. As Apple has stated, it bought Next in order to establish a better solution for Apple in the enterprise market, and converting the Next OS to Rhapsody will help them accomplish that goal.

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Q: How does the BeOS compare to Windows NT?

A: Actually, at Be we like Windows NT. We use some Windows NT systems as file and network servers interconnecting our BeOS systems, Unix systems, and even Mac OS systems.

But this points out a basic difference -- the two operating systems are designed to address two different sets of problems. Windows NT is designed to be a robust network backbone server. It was designed to compete with Novell Netware (and has been doing a good job at that), and is increasingly designed to compete with Unix on workstation-class hardware, such as Sun, SGI, and IBM RS6000 machines. New versions of Windows NT are focused on adding large numbers of network administration functions, and acting as communications hubs between clients of all types.

The BeOS, on the other hand, was designed from the ground up following a concept we call the "Media OS." It's simply not enough to start with an existing OS, add a few features, and call it a media-oriented OS. The engineering team at Be didn't start with an existing OS and transform it, they started with the Media OS concept and optimized every portion of a new OS -- the BeOS -- for handling digital media.

The BeOS is designed to meet the high-performance needs of digital content design and Internet communications, removing the limitations and complexity of the aging architectures of current mainstream operating systems. The BeOS is the first new operating system designed to unlock the door to much more powerful personal computers, and extract more performance from the systems we use today.

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Q: But what about all of the graphics and design applications moving from Mac OS to Windows NT?

A: Yes, this is happening. But it's important to examine the reasons why this is happening. When we talk to these developers, they tell us they are moving because they -- and their customers -- require modern OS services and stability, services which not being delivered by the Mac OS.

In fact, these services are not delivered by Windows 95 either, or developers would be moving to Windows 95 before Windows NT, in theory, because of the larger Windows 95 installed base. Windows NT provides developers and customers with a modern operating system platform, even though in many applications it performs less well than Windows 95 or, indeed, the Mac OS.

This landscape is changing with the introduction of the BeOS and, some time next year, Rhapsody. With the introduction of the BeOS Preview Release, there are multiple platforms which provide these basic modern services, and so the real question becomes on which platform can the digital design work be done faster and better.

At Be, we believe the answer is on an operating system written from the ground up to provide the kinds of features and performance that these applications demand. You can read more about the reasons why in our Media OS white paper.

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Q: What are Be's Mac OS compatibility plans?

A: There are several different kinds, or levels, of Mac OS compatibility that we have identified as important to our customers:

• Dual-boot systems (multiple OSes on one computer system). This level of compatibility is already available in the BeOS, with a "launcher" utility to move from the MacOS to BeOS, and an integrated boot-time "OS Chooser" which allows you to select the operating system to boot into at system start up time.

• File and network access. This capability is in the Preview Release. Mac OS HFS volumes can be mounted and used from the BeOS, and BeOS applications, including the Tracker, have full access to those Mac volumes, just as if they were Be volumes (though without the database and other capabilities -- the BeOS cannot make up for the limitations of HFS), in a read-only mode.

  You can also print to AppleTalk laser printers, etc., and of course, the BeOS' integrated Internet services provide you access to Mac OS, Windows, and Unix machines via standard TCP/IP services such as http (Web) and ftp (file transfer).

• Virtual machine. This is the only part of Mac OS compatibility that fredlabs was working on for Be. We had talked about having this capability ready by the Fall, and are still on track to do so.

  We can't talk much about the specific technologies yet as the business arrangements aren't yet final (yes, that means we are working with someone outside).

  Not that this capability will be the "Blue" portion of the Mac OS (System 7.5, 7.6, and 8.0 are being examined) only. We have never announced plans to host Apple's Rhapsody "Yellow" services on top of the BeOS, and have no plans to do that in the future.

  Of course, the dual-boot system capability will still be there, even with Rhaphsody loaded on another partition (unless Apple does something odd) so, once Rhapsody begins shipping, your BeOS system would be able to play nicely with a Rhapsody installation.

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Q: What happened to the "VirtualMac" technology you demonstrated at Macworld Expo in January?

A: As fredlabs -- the developers of VirtualMac -- has stated, they are no longer working on VirtualMac. We had been talking with them for some time about the VirtualMac technology but unfortunately, as they also indicated, the two companies were unable to come to terms for the development of their approach to the virtual machine capability.

We have encouraged them to develop the technology and bring it to market themselves, while Be plans to develop alternative technical solutions to this issue.

While it would be great to work with fredlabs, we at Be believe that the directions we're pursuing will result in a better overall solution. We really appreciate the work fredlabs did with the BeOS, and the advice they have provided us.

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Q: Does the BeOS support foreign languages? How easy is it to localize the BeOS?

A: The BeOS is currently available only in English. In response to the overwhelming interest in the BeOS in Japan, with the Preview Release Unicode support appears throughout the system.

A feature originally planned for late 1997, the Preview Release utilizes the Unicode UTF-8 encoding format (the format used by Java) within all text objects and within the font system. You can read some of the details in a Be Newsletter article, Unicode UTF-8.

This support is a major step towards a fully international version of the BeOS, and further enhancements in this area will be introduced throughout 1997.

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Q: Does the BeOS support Unicode, or otherwise support double byte languages, such as Japanese or Chinese?

A: In response to the overwhelming interest in the BeOS in Japan, with the Preview Release Unicode support appears throughout the system.

A feature originally planned for late 1997, the Preview Release utilizes the Unicode UTF-8 format (the format used by Java) within all text objects and within the font system. You can read some of the details in a recent Be Newsletter article, Unicode UTF-8.

We still have work to do to support Japanese and other multibyte languages, such as adding input methods, but this is a critical first step. Look for more details on this issue in the future.

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Q: If you support Unicode, why do Japanese pages look bad in NetPositive?

A: The BeOS supports multibyte characters using the UTF-8 encoding format. Most web pages use the Shift-JIS format to encode Japanese characters.

For NetPositive to display Shift-JIS encoded pages, you must configure the mapping for converting between the two schemes. Instructions for doing so can be found in the BeOS User's Guide, Chapter 5 "Using Internet Services", in the section Document Encoding.

You will also need to install a Unicode-enabled font, such as Bitstream's CyberBit, because none of the fonts installed with the BeOS include the extended character sets required to display kanji characters -- or other multi-byte glyphs, for that matter. (Be was unhappy with the quality of the hinting in most such fonts, which causes characters at small sizes to look bad. We're still looking, and we hope to make available such a font in the future.)

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Q: How well does the BeOS handle time-sensitive graphics (MPEG, AVI, QuickTime), or does this depend primarily on the graphics accelerator card?

A: The real-time nature of the BeOS, along with the Media Kit's fantastic buffer management tools, make the handling of time-sensitive graphics easier and more efficient than on other platforms.

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Q: Have you or will you be licensing Apple technologies like QuickTime or their new Sprockets/3D RAVE?

A: The BeOS is currently able to play "flattened" QuickTime movies compressed with the Cinepak compressor, but it does not support the full QuickTime API.

We have been talking to Apple for some time about QuickTime, as we would like to provide full QuickTime support on the BeOS. In the past, Apple's licensing requirements and costs made this impossible, but it seems that they may now be more open to realistic licensing costs and terms. We have no plans to support Sprockets or 3D RAVE.

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Q: When I play a QuickTime movie, I don't hear any sound. Do you support sound in QuickTime movies?

A: The BeOS is currently able to play "flattened" QuickTime movies compressed with the Cinepak compressor, but it does not support the full QuickTime API. Part of what we don't support yet is sound inside movie files.

Various third-party developers have implemented more complete support of the QuickTime format (as well as other formats) through our DataTypes library. Check BeWare in the Libraries section for the currently available DataType plug-ins.

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Q: Do you support QuickDraw GX? Do you support QuickDraw3D?

A: The BeOS does not support either of these Apple-proprietary APIs, nor will it.

Be has a robust graphics model already, and QuickDraw GX is being de-emphasized by Apple.

The BeOS has both its own lightweight 3D Kit and an initial implementation of OpenGL, the industry standard 3D graphics API. We're much more likely to put effort into refining and extending our existing 3D software interfaces than in trying to license and implement proprietary technology from Apple.

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Q: Do you support DirectX? Do you support Direct3D?

A: The BeOS does not support these proprietary APIs, nor will it.

Be has a robust graphics model already, and plans for extensive support for hardware acceleration for 2D and 3D graphics. The BeOS has both its own lightweight 3D Kit and an initial implementation of OpenGL, the industry standard 3D graphics API.

We're much more likely to put effort into refining and extending our existing 2D and 3D graphics software interfaces than in trying to license and implement someone else's.

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Q: Does the BeOS have file sharing?

A: The BeOS supports logging in remotely via either telnet or ftp using the industry standard TCP/IP networking protocols. Currently, there can be only one user login/password, but we plan to add support for multiple users in a future BeOS release.

The BeOS does not at this time provide for Macintosh-style AppleShare/AppleTalk-based file sharing, though that is an interesting opportunity for Be developers. We are looking into supporting NFS in the future as well.

In the meantime, third-party NFS software is available in the BeWare section of the Be web site:

http://www.be.com/beware/highlights/benfs.html

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Q: Does the BeOS have compute sharing?

A: Not at the current time. We are looking at it for future releases.

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Q: Is it possible to have applications running on remote sites with local display (like X11)?

A: Not yet. The architecture of the system is such that it could be possible and effective, since all GUI goes through the Application Server (analogous to an X server). But this feature is not planned for the next release of the BeOS.

In the meantime, at least one X11 project is in progress. You can check out the details of BeX (and the most excellent BeX logo) at:

http://humper.student.princeton.edu/BeX/

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Q: Will the BeOS support multiple users?

A: We thought long and hard about the issue of multiple versus single user, and have decided to focus on a single user with a single user's preferences for the initial shipment of the BeOS.

The underlying infrastructure for supporting multiple logins and multiple users' preferences is there, and the facility will likely appear in a future release.

In all, we're trying to keep to a personal computer's roots while not ignoring the utility and reality of multiple users, both local and remote.

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Q: Is there going to be any way of adding multiple users, groups, telnetd, for logins?

A: The BeOS actually makes use of password protection for ftpd and telnetd, but only allows for a single user. We do not yet have multiple users and groups implemented, but there is functionality in the BeOS to support it, and it is planned for a future release of the BeOS.

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Q: What security protection will the BeOS have?

A: We're planning to offer a security/encryption mechanism at the kernel level. However, we haven't nailed down the details of this mechanism, so your expert input would be appreciated.

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Q: Does the BeOS have a text/command line mode or is it completely graphical (even during boot)?

A: The BeOS does provide command line interaction via the Terminal application, which is a Bash shell. Many commands familiar to Unix users are available, including the familiar ls, grep, awk, etc. However, much of the BeOS environment (e.g., screen settings) can only be accessed using the graphical environment.

The boot sequence is completely graphical, although a text mode at boot has been under discussion.

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Q: Does the BeOS have a scripting language similar to AppleScript or Frontier (on the Mac) or ARexx (on the Amiga or OS/2) or is there something similar planned?

A: The BeOS Preview Release provides a language independent scripting API, built into the Kits. Because the BeOS is inherently object-oriented and the messaging scheme in our system is extremely rich, we feel we provide some unique scripting opportunities.

Every application can easily fit into and extend this framework, allowing it to be scripted from any BeOS compatible scripting environment (e.g., a BeOS version of Frontier or Rexx). Applications can control other applications without being a "scripting environment". Any application can send any other application a scripting-like message.

In the BeOS, script messages are no different from regular messages (like a MOUSE_DOWN being reported by the system). In addition, pure interapplication communication (IAC) will use the same messaging and object model, allowing applications to communicate.

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Q: If I set up two monitors on one machine, can two people use it at once?

A: No, we don't currently support more than one monitor nor more than one keyboard and mouse. While support for multiple monitors is planned, the BeOS is very much a single-user operating system at this time.

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Q: When the BeOS supports multiple monitors, will I need a separate video card for each one?

A: Yes, you will.

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Q: What is the maximum video resolution the BeOS supports?

A: Dependent on the capabilities of your graphics hardware, the BeOS is capable of supporting up to 1600 by 1200 pixels at 32-bit color.

If you have a specific question about specific video hardware, you should contact the manufacturer of that hardware to determine its capabilities under the BeOS.

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Q: Does the BeOS have the Amiga-esque ability to support each window at an independent bit depth?

A: Each BeOS Workspace can have its own screen depth, as can each offscreen bitmap. A BeOS window has no inherent bit depth, but uses the current screen/workspace depth setting.

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Q: Does the BeOS support "odd" bit depths, say 7 or 9 bits if I want to work with a 128 or 512 color palette?

A: No, not currently, nor is this planned for the immediate future.

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Q: What is the maximum hard disk size the BeOS can support?

A: The BeOS Preview Release uses the 64-bit Be File System. BFS supports drives measured in petabytes (a thousand terabytes).

We would be very excited to hear about any customer who has a hard drive or other computer storage device which actually exceeds this limitation. ;-)

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Q: What is the maximum file size in the BeOS?

A: The Be File System uses 64-bit addressing, and can handle volumes and files with sizes measured in petabytes (a thousand terabytes).

Even digitizing the entire "Friday the 13th" horror movie series wouldn't create a file this large. Of course, that could change if they make more movies. A lot more movies. ;-)

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Q: What is the maximum number of files the BeOS can support?

A: In the BeOS Preview Release, the number of files is limited only by the number of blocks on your drive, because each file takes up a minimum of one block (in other words, it's a really big number :-).

The Be File System uses 64-bit addressing, meaning that it can accomodate volumes that are measured in petabytes (a thousand terabytes). You could store a whole lotta files on a hard drive that large...if you could buy one, that is. ;-)

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Q: What is the character limit for file/folder/etc. names on the BeOS?

A: The Be File System in the BeOS Preview Release supports file names of up to 256 characters. In other words, a file named "A letter I wrote and sent to my mother in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and ninety-seven" has a name which is actually less than half as long (96 characters) as it could have been.

Plug-in "foreign" file systems mounted under the BeOS may have more restrictive limits inherent in their design. For example, HFS (Mac) supports a maximum of 31 character file names ("Letter to Mom, sent 5/5/97"), and the inimitable FAT (DOS and Windows 3.x) restricts you to 8-DOT-3 character names ("LETR2MOM.DOC").

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Q: How big can the attributes for a file be on the BeOS? What kinds of data can I store in a file attribute?

A: The Be File System in the BeOS Preview Release supports file attributes of any size or data type. The limitations are exactly the same as for files themselves.

For an attribute to be indexable, and therefore searchable, it must be of a more basic (and smaller) data type, such as integer or string (256 characters maximum).

Plug-in "foreign" file systems mounted under the BeOS which do not support attribute-adorned files (such as Mac OS HFS or DOS FAT) will obviously not be able to have or use file attributes of any size or type.

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Q: Does the BeOS support RAID (redundant array of inexpensive drives)?

A: At this time, the BeOS does not provide any support for RAID in software. If you have a RAID device set up by a software RAID toolkit, such as the FWB RAID Toolkit, it will not be accessible under the BeOS.

However, if you happen to have a hardware RAID device which pretends to be a single hard drive, that should work fine. These are rare, though.

We do intend to support RAID in a future BeOS release, but we do not have a schedule for that at the moment.

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Q: Is the BeOS database object-oriented, relational, or a mix?

A: In the BeOS Preview Release, the database has been integrated into the file system, and there is no separate database per se. Instead, what we have is an attribute adorned file system with a query engine for the attributes.

It is not intended to be an Oracle/Sybase/Postgres clone. What we're doing is not a fully relational SQL queriable object oriented super whiz bang database. What we are doing is a method of indexing additional information about entities in a file system name space.

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Q: Is the BeOS UNIX-based (or Mach-based), or is it a new design?

A: The BeOS is not Unix- or Mach-based. It is a completely new operating system, written from the ground up. While it's a new design, it does owe much to UNIX/Mach in some of the design decisions we made.

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Q: Is BeOS similar to Unix? Is there a GUI and command line, is it multiuser, etc.?

A: The BeOS was influenced by a number of operating systems, and Unix is certainly among them. To be very general about it, you might say that the BeOS is more similar to Unix at the lower levels and more like the Mac OS or Windows at the higher levels. There is a GUI and a command line interface. The BeOS is not currently multiuser in the Unix sense.

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Q: Are there any plans for the BeOS to support OpenDoc?

A: Given that Apple is de-emphasizing the OpenDoc technologies, and market acceptance has been low, we will not be supporting it.

We have developed a very light weight and simple model for application components called Replicator technology. One manifestation of is you can drag pieces of applications (like a "Check Mail" button or a "Clock View") onto a container like the desktop. This model is just a small extension to the existing powerful BeOS messaging/scripting system.

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Q: Is the BeOS a replacement for UNIX?

A: No, it's not, or at least not quite. Our system sports bash from GNU as a command line interface. With many of the GNU applications ported to the BeOS and available from the bash command line, we have what for some people is a reasonable replacement for UNIX.

We're hoping that enterprising developers will port and distribute all the other whizzy UNIX-derived commands we don't get to. We have a nearly complete POSIX layer to make this easier.

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Q: Are you POSIX compliant?

A: Our libraries contain all the Posix and most of the common Unix function calls. Not only have we paid close attention to the Posix standard but also to the de facto standards in the Unix community. The goal has been to minimize the pain in porting code.

However, we don't want to claim outright POSIX compliance because at this point we don't have the resources to dedicate to completing the implementation. We'd like to but, balancing that against our other priorities, full POSIX compliance will have to wait.

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Q: What parts of POSIX is the BeOS compliant with?

A: The idea behind Be's POSIX support is to make it easier rather than harder to port (compile and run) POSIX-style code that you may have lying around. To that end, we have a library which contains most of the "popular" POSIX calls.

Most Unix code compiles with little or no change, e.g., all of the 100+ GNU utilities included with the BeOS distribution compiled with no changes. Even more difficult programs, such as the GNU Bash shell, work.

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Technical Tidbits

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Q: How much of the BeOS is portable and how much is tied to the PowerPC processor line?

A: At Be, we believe there is no such thing as portable code, only code that has been ported. In other words, we believe in doing rather than theorizing.

With that in mind, more than 95 percent of the BeOS is portable. The PowerPC chip is the second processor the BeOS has been implemented on, the first being AT&T's Hobbit (also called CRISP) processor, which was the basis for our original (and never released) hardware design.

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Q: If the BeOS is so portable, does this imply that you plan to port the BeOS to other systems?

A: While we aren't against porting per se, Be is a small startup company and are currently very focused on delivering the BeOS Preview Release and working to help our developers build great BeOS applications.

Technically the portability of the BeOS is inherent in the almost complete (95%) high-level code used to implement the BeOS.

The kernel portions that rely on our hardware are both flexible and isolated to allow crossing platforms. And we've done it before; the BeOS has already moved from one processor (AT&T's Hobbit processor) to another (the PowerPC processor).

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Q: Could Be ever adapt the BeOS to the set-top market?

A: Although not our original design focus, it's certainly possible. As a clean piece of new system software, the BeOS is much smaller and less encumbered than other PC OSes (such as Windows or the Mac OS). But we have no announcements to make at this time.

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Q: What is "kernel_joe"?

A: "Kernal Joe" is a forthcoming action figure from Mattel. He is GI Joe's smarter brother, and he is a BeOS programmer. Kernel Joe is cool.

While we all wait eagerly for Kernel Joe to arrive in toy stores worldwide, "kernel_joe" is the BeOS kernel for BeBox hardware. If you are running the BeOS on a BeBox, this software is essential (while "kernel_mac" is unused). Vice versa if you are running the BeOS on Power Macintosh hardware.

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Q: Very funny. Why is it named "kernel_joe"?

A: Maybe because the original action figure was named "GI Joe". Or maybe because the PowerPC-based BeBox was designed by Joe Palmer, our former director of hardware engineering.

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Files and Formats

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Q: What video and motion picture file formats does the BeOS support? OpenDML, Video For Windows, QuickTime, OMF?

A: We currently support playback of Cinepak-compressed QuickTime movies only.

A number of developers have and are creating modules that plug into the Datatypes library that enable the BeOS system and applications to use a wide variety of data formats, including QuickTime and MPEG.

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Q: What sound formats can the BeOS recognize and support?

A: The BeOS currently supports AIFF, WAV, and Sun/NeXT audio.

It is possible, even easy, for developers to create modules that plug into the Datatypes library that enable the BeOS system and applications to use a wide variety of data formats. So more formats will likely be added to the list.

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Q: How do I get a screen shot of the BeOS to my Mac? How do I use it in Photoshop on my Mac?

A: With the BeOS Preview Release, screen shots are stored in a more standard graphic format, the "targa" file format. You should find accessing screen shots taking under the Preview Release to be much easier than before.

The following is the method we use here in the Be office to move BeOS screen shots from a BeBox to a Mac, and edit them in Photoshop for placement on the Web.

1. Take a screen shot, by pressing the PrintScreen key (F13). The screen shot file will appear in your /boot/home directory, with a file name like "screen01.tga".
2. FTP, or otherwise transfer the file to a Mac (or PC, if that's where you use Photoshop).
3. In Photoshop (or any other graphics application which can open Targa graphic files), open the file by dragging it onto the application's icon, or by choosing File/Open in the application and selecting the file in the Open dialog box.

You now have the screen shot open in a Photoshop window, which you can save into native Photoshop format, or any other format that Photoshop supports, such as GIF or JPEG.

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Networking

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Q: Does the BeOS support TCP/IP? Any other networking protocols? Does it come with the standard TCP/IP utilities like FTP, telnet, etc.?

A: The BeOS Preview Release support TCP/IP and AppleTalk printing. FTP, ftpd, PPP, and telnet are included in the BeOS, as is a Web browser and server, and a POP/SMTP client for mail.

The network programming interface is sockets-based, so it is quite possible that developers will port software from the rich collection of Unix- and sockets-based network software available on the Internet.

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Q: Does the BeOS support TCP/IP configuration via DHCP?

A: DHCP support is not available in the BeOS Preview Release. We hope to add it in a future release of the BeOS. It's on our list of things to do, and we want to add it. However, our list of things to implement is a long list...

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Q: Does the BeOS support TCP/IP connections over PPP?

A: Yes, the BeOS supports TCP/IP via PPP connections over both serial cables and modem connections.

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Q: Does the BeOS support PPP authentication via CHAP?

A: The BeOS supports PPP authentication via PAP and via a more traditional Unix-style authentication. It does not support CHAP at this time, and CHAP is not supported in the Preview Release. We hope to add it in the future, but we don't have a schedule for it yet.

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Q: How easy is it to add other networking protocols than TCP/IP, or support for other layer 1/2 stacks (token-ring, arcnet, ISDN, ATM,...)?

A: The BeOS Preview Release provides the ability to add support for alternative networking drivers and protocols.

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Q: If I set up some sort of Ethernet between my Mac 8500 and a BeOS-based computer (BeBox or Power Mac) will I be able to send files between the two.

A: Absolutely.

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Q: Will remote access (telnet, whatever) be available to the users of a BeOS-based computer?

A: We support telnet, ftp, and other forms of IP-based remote access. Passwords and user identities will still be required for this kind of access.

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Q: Is there any support for mounting a remote NFS drive, or mounting a BeOS drive over NFS?

A: That is not in the BeOS Preview Release. We are looking at NFS for a future release.

In the meantime, there is an NFS server, BeNFSServer, that was written by Andreas Huber. You can find it in BeWare, or check out his own web site:

http://www.barecode.de

Additionally, it is possible to write a BeOS file system plug-in that would mount NFS volumes, just as the BeOS can mount Macintosh hard drives. Be will be providing documentation regarding how to write file system plug-ins, so a wide variety of foreign file systems, including NFS, may become supported in the future.

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Q: Is there an X Window server available on BeOS?

A: There is indeed. BeX is a written from scratch, no legacy code X server implementation for the BeOS operating system. It translates X protocol requests into native BeOS Interface Kit messages, so X applications are seamlessly integrated into the BeOS environment.

You can find more information about BeX at its web site:

http://humper.student.princeton.edu/BeX/

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Q: Can we realistically run a prototype commercial web site off the BeBox using the PoorMan Web server?

A: PoorMan is intended as a personal web server application -- not a production level server. Our developers have more robust Web servers in the works.

At this time, three web server projects have been publicly announced, Charlotte by Purity Software, Quid Pro Quo 2.0 from Social Engineering, and the FastTrack server from Netscape.

You can read more about Charlotte on the Purity web site:

http://www.purity.com/charlotte/

You can read more about Quid Pro Quo 2.0 on the Social Engineering web site:

http://www.socialeng.com/index.html

You can read more about Netscape's plans to bring their FastTrack web server to the BeOS in the press release covering the announcement:

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Third-Party Software

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Q: How many applications are available for the BeOS?

A: Our BeWare third-party developer web site has over 375 applications in it, ranging from small, simple demos to full-blown applications.

There are currently over 3,300 registered Be developers. Now that the BeOS Preview Release is available, we expect to see an increasing number of exciting applications coming out for the BeOS. Over 800 developers expect to be shipping their software by August 1997!

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Q: What applications are available for the BeOS?

A: In the BeWare section of the Be website there are over 375 BeOS applications. These range from small, simple demos to full-blown applications.

With the shipment of the Preview Release, we expect to see an increasing number of commercial, shareware and freeware applications available for the BeOS. Most developers have been holding release of their products until the BeOS Preview Release because it is the first release that guarantees forward compatibility for applications. In fact, nearly 800 registered developers expect to ship applications by August 1997.

We have highlights of new applications on the BeWare section of our website.

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Q: Are there any developers working on the BeOS?

A: There is a great deal of momentum behind the BeOS application development, and with the shipment of the BeOS Preview Release, we expect to see a steady stream of products being released.

We currently have over 3,300 active BeOS developers. Over 750 developers attended our May developer conference from 30 states and 14 different countries. Nearly 800 developers expect to release a product by August of 1997. 60% of our developers are working on totally new applications rather than ports of products available on other platforms.

Our developers are experienced and understand the limitations of other platforms; 55% from have developed on Macintosh, 44% on Unix and 36% on Windows.

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Q: What large developers are supporting the BeOS? That is, what "big names" do you have working on BeOS software?

A: A number of large developers are registered Be developers but haven't announced plans for the BeOS at this time. At Be's developer conference on May 10th, Netscape and NeoLogic announced plans for the BeOS.

While large established developers are important, we believe the BeOS offers a unique and excellent opportunity for small innovative developers for several reasons. There are no established competitors, the API is lean so your don't need a huge team of engineers to create a product, and Be is aggressively investing in electronic distribution so even small developers can afford to get their products into customers hands.

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Q: Is Adobe going to port to the BeOS? When will Adobe Photoshop be available for the BeOS?

A: While many of the established companies, including Adobe, are registered Be developers, we expect much of the early development on the BeOS to come from smaller developers and new developers. New developers have several advantages in the BeOS compared to established developers:

• they have less legacy code to support
• they can start from scratch to take advantage of BeOS capabilities rather than having to rework existing code
• they don't have to steal resources from highly profitable existing products
• they are willing to take risks
• they have new ideas

It is important to note that most innovative new products come from new/small developers rather from the established companies. Photoshop, Video Toaster, and Electric Image are three examples of products that established whole new categories and came from the minds of couple of developers.

If there is a particular application you would like to see on the BeOS it doesn't hurt to ask for it, as it is customer demand that drives product decisions like this.

You can give feedback to Adobe at:

http://www.adobe.com/misc/comments.html

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Q: Is it possible to use the Macintosh version of Netscape as my web browser, or any browsers other than NetPositive?

A: No, the BeOS does not run Macintosh software. The BeOS is a new and different operating system, and requires new software. We bundle a web browser called NetPositive with the BeOS. Third parties are writing other web browsers as well.

On May 10, 1997 Be and Netscape announced an agreement to bring the Netscape FastTrack to the BeOS. Beyond that nothing has been announced at this time.

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Q: How does your Internet software compare to Netscape Navigator or Microsoft Explorer?

A: We ship many of the basic Internet tools, including a functional Web browser, Web server, ftp client and server, telnet client and server, etc., but third parties will be producing the "high-power" versions.

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Q: I currently run WebSTAR and ListSTAR Software on a PowerPC server and need a second server. Will the BeOS platform be a great idea, or do I have to get Quarterdeck to port their software over first?

A: A number of companies are working on various Internet tools for the BeOS, but it sure wouldn't hurt to ask Quarterdeck about their product plans for the BeOS ;-).

You can give feedback to Quarterdeck/Star*Nine by sending them mail at:

suggest@starnine.com

In the meantime, you might want to check out Purity Software's Charlotte web server or Quid Pro Quo 2.0 from Social Engineering:

http://www.purity.com/charlotte/

http://www.socialeng.com/index.html

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Q: How do I get the BeSpecific CD-ROM you were selling at Macworld Expo, the one with all that great BeOS software on it?

A: The BeSpecific CD is a CD-ROM containing almost 400 megabytes of software, taken from the Be, Inc. ftp site and other software repositories, and represents the vast majority of freeware and shareware available for the BeOS at the time it was pressed. The current version is the second release.

The BeSpecific CD also includes several months of messages from the comp.sys.be.* USENET newsgroups, sorted into complete threads, and named and indexed for easy access.

You can get more information and order the CD from the BeSpecific web site:

http://www.bespecific.com/marketplace/bespecific.shtml

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Usage and Interface

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Q: I have a lot of software I downloaded to use with BeOS DR8 and Advanced Access:Preview Release, but it doesn't seem to work with the BeOS Preview Release. Why doesn't my old software run?

A: Many of the internals of the BeOS changed in the Preview Release, and we also added considerable new functionality. As a result, there are new libraries and APIs, and applications must make use of the new interfaces.

Software which was compiled for previous versions of the BeOS, including Advanced Access, will not run with the customer release of the Preview Release, and may crash your computer.

To be compatible with the Preview Release, all software needs to be recompiled and most need to be partially rewritten. For some applications this is relatively trivial (the work of a couple hours), for others it is not trivial (the work of days or weeks).

Note that applications recompiled for the Preview Release will not run under previous versions of the BeOS.

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Q: Is there a Desktop in the BeOS? Can I put my files and folders on the Desktop?

A: Yes. In the BeOS Preview Release you can have files, applications and folders on the Desktop.

More information about user interface improvements to the BeOS Tracker (the desktop interface formerly known as Prince--, er, the Browser) can be found in the Media OS, What's New in the Preview Release, and the Tour of the BeOS documents available on the Be website.

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Q: I liked the way I could put anything onto the old Be Dock. Can I drag applications or files onto the Deskbar?

A: No, the items in the Deskbar are automatic, and dynamic. It shows the currently running applications only, while also providing you with a way to hide and show the windows in each application. Additionally there is a mail status icon, and that neato digital clock.

Third parties are free to create applications which more closely duplicate the old Browser Dock (at least one is already available). Check the BeWare section of the Be web site to find utilities which might provide the functionality you're looking for:

http://www.be.com/beware/

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Q: Does the BeOS support a "virtual desktop" like the Mac, with multiple screens being "stiched together" to make a single virtual screen?

A: The BeOS has "workspaces," which are multiple virtual desktops that you can switch between. Multiple monitor support is in the works for a later release.

See the BeOS User's Guide, chapter 6 "Customizing the BeOS", for more details regarding Workspaces and how to use them.

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Q: Why does my background screen not display in the Preview Release?

A: Unfortunately, due to time and resource constraints we're not supporting the background screen feature in the Preview Release. We'll do our best to re-enable this feature as soon as possible.

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Q: It sounds as if the graphical Tracker isn't integral to the OS. If so, is it conceivable that others could design alternative GUIs to manipulate the BeOS?

A: This is certainly possible. In fact, Be has done it ourselves! The BeOS Tracker used to be the BeOS Browser; we completely re-wrote and replaced the old interface for the Preview Release.

Different graphic front ends can certainly make the BeOS more accessible to some audiences. The main point here is that it can be done, and easily. The Tracker functionality is independent of the BeOS.

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Q: Will the BeOS have drop shadows on windows? It would be really cool...

A: This is something that's been under consideration for years, as it's very easy to do. The problem is that drop shadows result in window regions that are nonrectangular, and this affects performance in clipping calculations, if only a little. There are no current plans to implement drop shadows in the BeOS.

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Q: How do I use PPP on the BeOS under the Preview Release?

A: The Preview Release fully supports TCP/IP connections over PPP. PPP is simply another interface option in the Network preferences application.

Complete instructions for configuring and using a PPP interface are available the BeOS User's Guide, Chapter 4 "Connecting Your BeOS System to the Internet", in the section Network Interfaces for Modem Connections.

We have also written some PPP troubleshooting guidelines that may help you if you are having difficulties, and there are additional PPP-related answers in the FAQ section of the web site.

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Q: I can't find a button or application that will let me initiate a PPP session. How do I start a PPP connection?

A: In the BeOS, there is no manual way to start a PPP connection. Instead, it happens automatically when you need network services.

So to start a PPP session, simply do whatever it was that needs the network, like using NetPositive to visit the Be web site (please! we love visitors! ;-). The connection process will begin, and you'll connect to your ISP.

Note that there is a small applet that will allow you to disconnect your PPP session, by clicking the Disconnect button, so that you don't have to reboot your machine to disconnect from your service provider. This application window will appear automatically once you successfully establish a PPP connection.

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Q: If it doesn't start a PPP session, what does the Connect application do?

A: The Connect application is for serial communications sessions. This can be over a direct serial connection, perhaps debugging your application using the serial debug output, or it can be over a modem, perhaps to a remote telnet server, or to a bulletin board service (BBS).

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Q: I have my BeOS system running the Preview Release and hooked up to the Ethernet at my company. Why can't I see external Web sites in NetPositive?

A: Your attempts to surf the web are being blocked by your company's firewall. You need to configure NetPositive to use your company's http proxy server. Instructions for doing so can be found in the BeOS User's Guide, Chapter 5 "Using Internet Services", in the section Using NetPositive with Proxy Servers.

Note that the ftp proxy support implied by the options in the NetPositive configuration dialog box is not actually functional at this time.

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Q: I've been using NetPostitive for a couple weeks now, and it seems like it has gotten much slower. Why?

A: NetPositive keeps track of all the sites you visit, in something called the cache log. As you visit more sites, this list gets longer. When it gets very long, the current version of NetPositive slows down. For some people it slows down quite a bit.

The simple fix is to delete the cache log file. Be sure you have quit NetPositive, and then delete the "/boot/home/config/settings/NetPositive/NetCache/CacheLog" file.

NetPositive should once again be zippy!

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Q: When I download BeOS files from the Internet, they have the file extension ".tgz" (or ".tar" or ".gz"), and double-clicking them doesn't do anything useful. What do I do with these files?

A: BeOS files and applications made available over the Internet are generally stored in a compressed archive, similar to the Macintosh's StuffIt archive in many respects.

Specifically, files are generally collected together into a "tar" archive, and then compressed into a "gzip" file. The file extensions you will commonly see are ".tgz" (for tar-ed and compressed files, ".tar" (for tar-only files), or ".gz" (for gzip-compressed files).

At this time there is no equivalent of StuffIt Expander for the BeOS (though a reasonable substitute, Xplode, is described in the next FAQ item). Instead, you need to use some of the Unix-derived utilities to decompress the files. For a ".tgz" file such as "X-FilesV2.1.tgz":

1. Launch the Terminal application (from the Apps folder).
2. Use the cd command to change directories until you are in the directory that contains the archive file.
3. Type gunzip X-FilesV2.1.tgz and press the Return key. This will decompress the file, producing a file named "X-FilesV2.1.tar".
4. Type tar -xvf X-FilesV2.1.tar and press the Return key. This will extract the file or files from the archive.

You should now have a folder containing the file(s) which were encoded into the archive.

Note that the gunzip and tar commands can be used by themselves to decode files with ".gz" or ".tar" extensions, respectively.

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Q: I have a file with a ".zip" extension, and gunzip and tar both give me an error message when I try to use them on it. What kind of file is it?

A: ".zip" files are files compressed and archived by a different utility, and tar and gunzip do not know how to deal with those kinds of files. Instead, you will need to use another utility called "unzip".

Unzip is part of the BeOS distribution, so you can simply use it in a Terminal session to extract the file (much like you use gunzip and tar):

$ unzip <myfilename.zip>

Considerably more information about working with compressed and archived files is available in the BeOS User's Guide, Chapter 5 "Using Internet Services", in the section Compressing and Archiving Files.

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Q: Why doesn't my downloaded file have a groovy icon? And when I double-click it, the BeOS asks me if I want to open it in StyledEdit! What's wrong?

A: Some of the BeOS archiving utilities which are used to compress and archive files for transmission over the Internet do not automatically set certain file settings that the BeOS Tracker expects to see before it will show a custom icon, or treat the item as an application. Instead, it makes the file look like a generic document file.

There is an easy way to fix this, you just do a mimeset on your entire file system at once, catching all the files which might not be set correctly:

1. Launch the Terminal application (located in the /apps folder).
2. At the "$" prompt, type "mimeset -all" and press return.

It will take a minute or two for mimeset to touch all of your file system, then you should be all set, custom icons and all.

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Q: When I try to use a Tracker add-on (such as "ExpandMe"), by selecting files and then choosing the add-on from the File/Add-Ons menu, I get an error message saying "add-on could not be loaded." What's wrong?

A: Some add-ons are not written properly. When the Tracker tries to load them, they are failing in some way (perhaps they were written for an earlier release of the BeOS), and returning an error to the Tracker. The Tracker is only sharing the grief. :-\

Other add-ons require extra installation steps, like modifying your "/boot/home/config/boot/UserBootscript" file. Be sure to read the add-on's documentation to make sure you've covered all the steps.

Contact the author of the add-on you're having problems with (hopefully their e-mail address is in the documentation for the add-on), and determine if you have the latest version. If you do, they may have more specific questions for you that can pin-point the problem.

Good luck!

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Q: Your database query system uses comparison and conjunction operators (like "greater than" and "and") as it works through a query. Can I add my own operators, or change the way any of those operators function?

A: No. The only operators supported are those built in to the file system. Additional operator will be added as warranted by demand and usage. However, at the present time, developers cannot add their own custom operators.

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Q: What is the BeOS command shell?

A: It's based on bash, the "Bourne-Again Shell."