From...

June 24, 1999
Web posted at: 3:22 p.m. EDT (1922 GMT)

by Christian McIntosh

(IDG) -- AST Computer on Tuesday introduced what it called the first high-performance system to incorporate BeOS, an alternative to Windows and Linux that optimizes digital media applications. BeOS is designed to coexist with Windows under a dual-boot setup.

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In a separate announcement Tuesday, iDot disclosed that in late July it would begin shipping sub-$500 BeOS computers running on 333-MHz Cyrix processors. IDot.com also announced plans to establish a BeOS storefront on its Web site where you can purchase software and add-ons for your BeOS PC.

The new AST Premium 2000Be with BeOS 4.5 and Windows NT Workstation 4.0 starts at $1912 and contains a 450-MHz Pentium II processor, a 4.5GB hard drive, 64MB of memory, and a network interface card. You can easily toggle between operating systems using the BeOS boot loader, the company said.

More-powerful AST models use a dual-processor architecture with two 550-MHz Pentium III chips. AST will ship its Premium 2000Be family of BeOS computers in July.

The AST Premium 2000Be also features high-capacity disk expansion. The high-end systems have seven expansion slots, up to 2GB of error-correcting code memory, and up to 108GB of disk storage in six internal drive bays.

The Premium 2000Be systems will ship with the Gobe Productive Suite, which integrates word processing, spreadsheet, graphics, charting, image processing, and presentation tools.

You can purchase build-to-order systems directly from the AST Computer Web site.

BeOS believers

Designed by Be, the BeOS lets you run audio, video, image processors, and Web-based software applications simultaneously without any glitch or interruption. But until now, hardware support has been virtually nonexistent.

The upstart has been slowly gaining industry support. Last November, Intel joined four venture capital firms and pledged $25 million to the BeOS cause. Late last year, Hitachi agreed to preinstall BeOS 4.0 alongside Windows 98 on some of its Japanese models.

U.S. PC vendors have been reluctant to adopt BeOS, which does not support portables. Additionally, BeOS doesn't work with several PC devices, including certain sound cards and graphics adapters. Mainstream applications are also in short supply.

Tuesday's announcements could signify a change, analysts say. "Although AST and iDot are not top-tier resellers, their support certainly helps Be," says Rob Enderle, senior analyst with Giga Information Group. "This does signify a positive trend for Be -- any visibility is good visibility."