BeOS 5 Available March 28th

Be, Inc. announced today that BeOS 5 Personal Edition would be available for download from their Web site on March 28th. This version will be entirely free, and will not be restricted by time limits or any other nag screens. The Pro Edition of BeOS will be available shortly after the release of the Personal Edition, and can be purchased through a third-party distributor in North, South, and Central America, and soon after in Europe and Asia.

What makes BeOS 5 special is that it can be downloaded for free, and run within Windows, without repartitioning the hard drive or making any other adjustments. It runs within a self-contained file, and can be started by simply doulbe-clicking the file on the desktop.

Be, Inc. told BetaNews the Personal Edition is "ideal for first-time or casual users who want to experience the power of a progressive operating system."

The Pro Edition will be packaged with several applications and services for those users who wish to take full advantage of BeOS and its powerful video and audio features.

BeOS Pro is "ideal for individuals involved in audio and video production," as BeOS has always been an operating system aimed at and optimized for video and audio manipulation.

Users have been able to pre-register for the free download at the BeOS Web site, and nearly 100,000 users have done so. For more information visit Free.Be.com to register, and learn more about the features and powers of the operating system, or read more about it on BetaNews.com.