---
title: BeBox
categories:
- Computers
types:
- Professional Computer
origins:
- U.S.A.
years:
- '1995'
cpus:
- Two RISC-based PowerPC 603
params:
  name: BeBox
  image: /media/museum/photos/be_bebox_syqtem_s1.jpg
  company: /companies/be
  company_name: Be
  specs:
  - label: NAME
    value: BeBox
  - label: MANUFACTURER
    value: Be
  - label: TYPE
    value: Professional Computer
  - label: ORIGIN
    value: U.S.A.
  - label: YEAR
    value: October 1995
  - label: END OF PRODUCTION
    value: '1997'
  - label: KEYBOARD
    value: Standard PC-AT
  - label: CPU
    value: Two RISC-based PowerPC 603 or 603e
  - label: SPEED
    value: 66 or 133 MHz
  - label: RAM
    value: Up to 256 MB (up to 8 72-pin SIMM modules)
  - label: ROM
    value: Unknown
  - label: TEXT MODES
    value: 80 columns x 25 lines
  - label: GRAPHIC MODES
    value: 640x480 to 1600x1200
  - label: COLORS
    value: 256 to 16.7 million
  - label: SOUND
    value: 16-bit stereo sound system - Dual MIDI channels
  - label: SIZE / WEIGHT
    value: 21 (W) x 39.8 (H) x 46.1 (D) cm
  - label: I/O PORTS
    value: 4xserial, Parallel, 3xInfrared, SCSI II, 2xjoystick, 2xMidi, GeekPort
  - label: BUILT IN MEDIA
    value: 3.5'' 1.44 MB FDD, SCSI & IDE HDD
  - label: OS
    value: BeOs
  - label: POWER SUPPLY
    value: Built-in 240W PSU
  - label: PERIPHERALS
    value: 3 x PCI and 5 x ISA card slots
  - label: PRICE
    value: Unknown
  tabs:
  - photos
  - emulators
  - links
  forum_thread: 1112
  photos:
  - title: COMPLETE SYSTEM
    subtitle: ''
    text: Picture taken from a Be brochure. Notice the two LED Bar-graphs that showed the processor work loads.
    image: /media/museum/photos/be_bebox_system_s2.jpg
  - title: MOTHERBOARD DIAGRAM
    subtitle: ''
    text: ''
    image: /media/museum/photos/be_bebox_motherboard_s1.jpg
  - title: BEOS GUI INTERFACE
    subtitle: ''
    text: ''
    image: /media/museum/photos/be_bebox_beos_s1.jpg
  emulators:
  - title: MESS
    url: http://www.mess.org
    platform: Multiplatform
    text: The newest MESS version can emulate the BeBox
  links:
  - title: Beatjapan.org
    url: http://www.beatjapan.org/mirror/www.be.com/products/bebox/dual603spec.html
    text: Mirror of be.com, the official Be web site, now closed
  - title: BeBox Zone
    url: http://www.bebox.nu/
    text: The BeBox Zone offers a wealth of information about the BeBox
  oc_id: 1142
  source:
    url: https://web.archive.org/web/20230604181440/http://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?c=1142
    date: '2023-06-04'
---

In October 1995, Be, Inc. unveiled its first (and last) computer, the BeBox.

Be was founded in 1990 by Jean-Louis Gassé, former manager of the French Apple subsidiary.\
For almost 5 years, 12 engineers from Apple, NeXT and Sun designed the BeBox and its operating system, BeOs. The total design cost was about US$9 million.

BeBox hadware was based on a dual PowerPC 603 C.P.U. running at 66 MHz (later 133 MHz). The motherboard was not really innovative but featured a large range of Input/Output ports, including IDE and SCSI HDD interfaces, standard PC card slots, MIDI, audio, infrared ports plus a special GeekPort for hardware experiments.

The Be Operating System was also developed from the ground up. It aimed to be an alternative to the "Heavy weight" Windows and Mac OS's, which were handicaped by backward compatibility hardware and software issues.\
BeOs was a clear and clean multi-processor (up to 8), multi-threading, multi-tasking, GUI-based operating system, optimized for digital media management.\
The first BeBox machines were mainly intended for use by software developers, BeOs was delivered with Metrowerks CodeWarrior and C++ languages.

In spite of its numerous advanced features, the BeBox never met the success expected by its designers, mainly because it was compatible with nothing else in the computing industry. Less than 2000 machines were delivered between October 1995 and January 1997, when production ceased.

In 1996, BeOs was ported to Apple PowerPC machines but Apple eventually preferred the NeXT basis for its future Mac OS X. Two years later, BeOs ran on Intel machines.

Because of the small size of the company and the competition from much larger competitors, the Be adventure finally ended on Novembre 2001 when the company sold all of its intellectual property and technology assets to Palm. Just before this happened, J.L. Gassé offered for free the lastest version of his OS (R5) to Intel PC users.\
Nowadays, Although marginal, BeOs is still alive, and new releases and updates are regularly announced by the BeOs community.

<table> <tr> <td></td> <td>We need more info about this computer ! If you designed, used, or have more info about this system, please send us pictures or anything you might find useful.</td> <td></td> </tr> </table>