Be, Incorporated Announces Support For Upcoming Pentium^® III Processor

RELEASED February 17, 1999

For more information contact:

Be, Inc.
Sylvie Pelaprat sylvie@be.com
+1 (650) 462-4113

CHEN PR
Shelly Eckenroth or Mary Leddy
+1 (650) 357-8749

In Europe:
Jean Calmon, jcalmon@beeurope.com
+33-1-55-91-7731

Be, Incorporated Announces Support For Upcoming Pentium® III Processor

MENLO PARK, Calif., February 17, 1999 - Be, Incorporated today announced that the Be Operating System (BeOS®), will support Intel's new Pentium® III processor. The BeOS is designed for digital content creators who want to manipulate high bandwidth digital media, such as graphics, audio, and video, in real time on personal computers. The BeOS delivers breakthrough computing power to users who want to create and produce dynamic media - animated 3D models, digital audio mixes, and digital video masterpieces.

The Pentium III processor delivers BeOS users unsurpassed processing speed resulting in richer graphics and video, faster rendering and the ability to manipulate sound on-the-fly. The following support will be included in BeOS Release 4.1, scheduled for release in Spring 1999:

• Improved OpenGL performance for fast 3D rendering
• Optimized BeOS libraries delivering increased bandwidth
• More Pentium III processor-enabled applications, allowing more efficient and faster application execution for plug-ins and add-ons (audio tracks, video effect, channels)

"This is an exciting time for digital technology consumers," said Jean-Louis Gassée, chairman and chief executive officer of Be, Incorporated . "Creators of multimedia have always clamored for more processing power to meet the robust needs required to dynamically blend audio, video and graphics data. The BeOS was designed to address such needs from a software framework standpoint and now with next generation hardware such as the Pentium III processor, the potential in home digital studios is vast."

"Intel is pleased to see that the latest version of the BeOS has been designed to take full advantage of the performance of the Pentium III processor platform," said Tom Galvin, director of Entertainment and Education at Intel Corporation. "PC users who work with high bandwidth digital media should find this combination delivers the performance they need."

The first commercial release of BeOS was made in July 1997, followed by Release 2 in October. BeOS Release 3, made in March 1998, was the first version to support Intel Pentium II processor-based systems. Release 4, announced November 1998, was made available simultaneously for both Pentium and PowerPC-based systems.

For more information on the Pentium® III processor Preview Day, please visit Intel Corporation's http://www.intel.com/pressroom/archive/releases/dp021799.htm.