This page is intended to help people get some fun out of running BeOS on actual real PowerPC hardware. It feels like most of the support on the internet is directed towards x86 installs, with many downloads not even bothering to identify whether they are for PPC or x86 (they’re usually for x86).
A good website to read about BeOS is a mirror of the corporate website, which can be found here :
http://testou.free.fr/www.beatjapan.org/mirror/www.be.com
Picking Hardware for Your PowerPC BeOS Install
PowerPC BeOS can be run on original BeBox hardware, some Apple Macintosh machines (mostly PCI based “Power Macintosh” branded beige machines, fitted with 604 and 604e processors), and some Macintosh Clones.
Installing BeOS
It is generally recommended that you install BeOS 4.5 or 5.0.3. The easiest way to get up and running is with a pre-made image which can be placed on a SCSI SD card adapter such as the ZuluSCSI or MacSD. Otherwise, installing from a CD is a good option. When obtaining a CD installer disk image, beware that a number online exclude the PowerPC partition. It is best to use a bin / cue style image as they capture all partitions properly. When using bin / cue images, do not re-name the image files or they will not work without additional effort.
This is a Macintosh Garden hosted BeOS 5.0.3 image for your favourite SD Card adapter.
Basic directions for installing BeOS 5.0.3 on a fully supported Power Macintosh will be available here, once I have written them.
PowerPC BeOS Software
https://macintoshgarden.org/apps/gobe-productive-201
https://macintoshgarden.org/games/corum-iii-chaotic-magic-beos
Quality of Life Refinements
Click here for a selection of settings and patches designed to make using BeOS on PowerPC a little more comfortable in the modern age.
Making Your First BeOS Application
A free, limited, version of MetroWerks CodeWarrior called BeIDE was distributed with some versions of BeOS to enable users to get stuck in and extend the software available for the fledgling platform.
I’m no programmer, but I thought I’d make a quick getting started to show how to make a very basic application using these tools.
I’ve not completed the guide yet, but have made a start!
BeOS Resources
Manuals
- https://archive.org/details/BeOS_Instalation_Guide_Release_4.5
- https://archive.org/details/h42_BeOS_Users_Guide_4.5
Books
- The BeOS Bible by Scot Hacker
- Programming the Be Operating System by Dan Parks Sydow
- Be Advanced Topics by ‘The Be Development Team’
- Be Developer’s Guide by ‘The Be Development Team’
- BeOS Porting Unix Applications by Martin C Brown
- BeOS for Intel and PowerPC by Shuwa System Co,. Ltd
Websites
General
- http://testou.free.fr/www.beatjapan.org/mirror/www.be.com (mirror of Be’s website)
- https://www.cebix.net/beos.html (programming reference and also some software downloads)
Some PPC Software Archives
- https://github.com/beosppc/beos-ppc-archive/tree/main/unprocessed
- http://bebits.irixnet.org/beos/bebits/
- https://pulkomandy.tk/~beosarchive/ (mixed with x86)
- https://www.be.wildman-productions.org/ (mixed with x86)
- https://archive.org/details/bespecific-discs (some beSpecific Discs, some of which are PPC compatible)
Software can also be found on sites such as the Macintosh Garden and Archive.org.
Archived Sites on archive.org
- https://web.archive.org/web/20010204022700/http://www.be.com/ (Be’s website in February 2001)
- https://web.archive.org/web/19980520212158/http://www.be.com/beware/Available_List_PPC.html (ftp links will be unusable, but helpful for getting filenames for searches)
- https://web.archive.org/web/20001018045311/http://www.sheepshaver.com/ (SheepShaver website from 2000)
Magazines
https://besly.de/index.php/books-magazine/beos-haiku-and-zeta-magazins
PowerBeC Gallery
For some BeOS on PowerPC related photographs, click here.
Future Topics
The following are potential future topics for the page. Please feel free to make suggestions.
- Networking / Transferring files
- Getting Online
- Games
- Writing CD-Rs and Other Removable Media
- MIDI
- Recording Audio
- Image Manipulation
- Controlling External Circuits
- Getting Sound Working on the TAM (https://oldvcr.blogspot.com/2022/12/the-strange-case-of-beos-srs-and-silent.html)
- Fixing Other Quirks
- Gallery
- Emulating PowerPC BeOS
- Emulating x86 BeOS (https://cdn-learn.adafruit.com/downloads/pdf/build-a-bebox-with-beos-and-virtualbox.pdf)
- Virtualising a Mac on BeOS
- Emulating other platforms on BeOS (DOSBox / SCUMM VM / Others?)
Your Contributions
If there is anything you would like to submit to these PowerPC BeOS pages, please get in touch! There is a contact form on the site here. I’m not the best at noticing messages, but I generally do eventually, even if it takes me a little while.