TyCom Systems BeOS 5 ReadMe File

BeOS 5 Personal Edition Introduction ------------ Thank-you for downloading BeOS 5 Personal Edition, the "operating system in a file" that's easy to install, easy to use, and that brings the fun back to personal computers. Within minutes of installing and launching BeOS 5 Personal Edition, you'll say to yourself: "I didn't know my computer could do that!". But first, let us explain what BeOS 5 Personal Edition is and how it works. BeOS 5 is an operating system that's designed from the bottom up to unleash the processing power of modern personal computers. To make BeOS 5 available to as many people as possible, we've created this Personal Edition version that fits inside a single compressed file that can be downloaded to your Windows 95, 98, 2000, or Windows NT4 computer. By following the instructions included in this document, you can turn your downloaded file into a Windows application that boots and runs BeOS 5*. You don't need any special hardware, you don't need a separate partition for your BeOS files, and, best of all, it's free. As you might expect, squeezing an entire operating system into a single file imposes some limitations (as described in the next section). Although BeOS 5 Personal Edition is by no means a "crippled" version of BeOS, it isn't as robust or as flexible as the "real" version, BeOS 5 Pro Edition. We hope that the Personal Edition version will give you enough of a taste of BeOS 5 that you'll want to purchase the Pro Edition. To purchase a copy of BeOS 5 Pro Edition, go to either... http://www.tycomsystems.com/beos/store.html or http://www.gobe.com For the latest Personal Edition news -- such as updates and bug fixes -- check in at... http://www.tycomsystems.com/beos/beospe.html * In some cases, you may need to boot from a boot floppy rather than simply launch an application; this will be described in detail in the installation instructions. Limitations of BeOS 5 Personal Edition -------------------------------------- In the spirit of full disclosure, this section lists some of the limitations of BeOS 5 Personal Edition. As noted in the descriptions, some of these limitations are alleviated in BeOS 5 Pro Edition. - Disk Space (Part 1) When it's uncompressed, BeOS 5 Personal Edition inflates to 512 megabytes, no more, no less. This means that you need to have 512 megabytes of disk space available before you start the installation instructions (below). The BeOS 5 Pro Edition can be installed in a partition as small as 256 megabytes or as large as your largest hard drive. - Restarting Windows after Running BeOS As mentioned above, the BeOS 5 Personal Edition that you downloaded turns itself into a Windows application when you install the downloaded file. Unlike most Window applications, however, BeOS 5 Personal Edition takes over your computer: It shuts down Windows and launches BeOS 5. To get back to Windows, you have to reboot your computer. Note that running BeOS 5 Personal Edition will not harm your Windows operating system -- it doesn't delete any data or alter the Windows registry. When you reboot into Windows after running BeOS 5, your computer will revert to its normal plodding existence. - Disk Space (Part 2) Once you've got BeOS 5 Personal Edition running you may wonder, "Where did all my disk space go?" Remember, Personal Edition "lives" inside a 512 megabyte file. Some of the 512 megabytes is taken up by the operating system itself, and some more is devoted to a variable-sized "swap file" (or "virtual memory"). After all of that is accounted for, you might not have a whole lot of room left for writing and saving files. To get around this shortcoming, you can mount other partitions. For example, you can mount your "normal" Windows partition and read, play, and write files you have stored there (of course, not all files will be recognized by BeOS). But if after booting you find you don't have a lot of disk space available, we recommend you purchase the BeOS 5 Pro Edition, which isn't limited to 512 megabytes. - Multi-processors One of the most important breakthroughs in modern computer hardware is the advent of multiple processor systems (i.e. computers that have more than one CPU). However, most operating systems have been slow to adapt to this new world -- they simply don't know how to take full advantage of multi-processor systems. But BeOS does: The ability to recognize and really get the most out of multiple processors is one of the features that makes BeOS stand apart from the other guys. Unfortunately, BeOS 5 Personal Edition, because of technical reasons, can only recognize one processor. If you have a multi-processor system, we strongly encourage you to purchase the BeOS 5 Pro Edition. We think you'll agree that it's worth it. - Graphics Cards, Sound Cards, Network Cards, and Other Hardware BeOS 5 doesn't support every piece of hardware in the world. We try to cover most of the modern, mainstream (and some cutting edge) hardware, but, to be honest, we don't come close to the range and variety of cards and devices that are supported by Windows. It's possible that your graphics card, sound card, network card, or other hardware device won't work with BeOS 5, whether you have the Personal Edition or the Pro Edition. For a full list of compatible hardware, check the list at... http://www.be.com/products/freebeos/beosreadylist.html - RealPlayer and Others All the royalty-laden software that's available in BeOS 5 Pro Edition has been removed from the Personal Edition version. Most notably, you won't be able to play streaming Real audio or video, and you won't be able to write mp3 or indeo media data. Installation Instructions ------------------------- To install BeOS 5 Personal Edition you need: - A Pentium-based computer with at least 32 megabytes of RAM (P90 or higher is recommended). - At least 512 megabytes of free disk space on a non-compressed FAT, FAT32, or NTFS drive. - Windows 95/98, 2000, or NT4. - A blank floppy. Important: The last item is used to create a bootable floppy. If you're running Windows 2000 or NT4 you must create and use the boot floppy -- you won't be able to simply launch BeOS 5 from an application file. For Windows 95/98 users, launching the application file should work, but even so, you should create a boot floppy just in case. If you find yourself having problems launching or running BeOS 5 Personal Edition try launching using the boot floppy instead of using the BeOS 5 Personal Edition icon on the Windows desktop. Boot into your Windows operating system, and then follow these steps: 1. Close all running applications. 2. Launch the ".EXE" file that you downloaded. 3. The BeOS 5 Installer starts and displays a Welcome... screen. Click Next. 4. Read the License Agreement that appears and click Yes to proceed or No to quit. If you quit, you'll return to Windows without installing any BeOS files. 5. Read the BeOS Information screen; it tells you more about the installation procedure. Click Next when you're ready to continue. 6. Select the drive you want to install onto, or accept the default (drive C:). 7. Select the Program Folder that should be used to store the BeOS icons, or accept the default. 8. A summary of the your settings is displayed. Accept them by clicking Install, or click Back to change them. 9. If you're running Windows NT4, 2000, ME, or XP, you'll be prompted to insert the blank boot floppy. If you're running Windows 95/98, you'll have to create the boot floppy after the installation has finished, as described in the next section. Now sit back while the BeOS 5 Personal Edition files are copied onto the chosen drive. When the installation is finished, you'll be prompted to register your copy of BeOS 5 Personal Edition. We strongly recommend that you reboot Windows before booting into BeOS 5 Personal Edition for the first time. Creating a Boot Floppy ---------------------- If you're running Windows NT4, 2000, ME, or XP, you should have created a boot floppy during the BeOS 5 installation. But if you're running Windows 95/98 -- or if you simply want to create another boot floppy -- follow the instructions here. 1. Boot into Windows. 2. Go to the Start button, browse to Programs > BeOS 5 Personal Edition, and select Create Boot Floppy. 3. A dialog asks you if you want to create the floppy. After you've inserted a blank floppy disk into the A: drive, click Yes. 4. When the floppy is ready (it takes about a minute), exit Create Boot Floppy. Launching BeOS 5 Personal Edition --------------------------------- 1. Double-click the Start BeOS 5 icon on your Windows desktop. If you encounter problems launching or running BeOS 5 try starting your computer from the BeOS Boot Floppy: 1. Shut down your computer. 2. Insert the BeOS Boot Floppy into the A: drive. 3. Start your computer. Booting into BeOS 5 Under Windows NT4, 2000, ME, or XP ------------------------------------------ 1. Insert the BeOS 5 boot floppy you made into the A: drive. 2. From the Windows Start button, browse to Programs > BeOS 5 Personal Edition and select Start BeOS 5, or double-click on the Start BeOS 5 icon that's on the Windows desktop. This automatically quits Windows and launches BeOS 5.