Brought to you by the authors of Aaron, Greg's Buttons, and DoubleScroll.
greg@math.harvard.edu (Greg Landweber)
This is our main address for tech support, comments, and bug reports.
http://greg.math.harvard.edu/
shareware@kagi.com (Kagi Shareware)
This is where you send your registration form. Kagi is a service that handles the shareware fees for us, and all they know about BeView is that it costs $10. Kagi is NOT a software publisher.
http://www.kagi.com/
BeView is a small extension that transforms your Mac's user interface to resemble that of the BeBox, a new computer from Be, Inc. For more information on the BeBox and Be, Inc., check out the Be web site: <http://www.be.com/>. BeView patches your buttons, windows, scroll bars, menu colors, and Finder icons. To use BeView, just drop it into your Extensions folder (or drop it onto your System Folder and let the system put it where it belongs), and restart. To disable BeView, move it out of the Extensions folder or disable it with your extensions manager.
BeView is a “Fat Binary” containing both 680x0 and PowerPC native code for optimum performance on both Macs and PowerMacs. In other words, BeView is Accelerated for Power Macintosh. BeView requires a 68020 or better, so in particular it won't work on a Mac Plus. Sorry.
Shareware info
BeView is shareware; it is NOT free. If you use BeView for more than a week or two, you should pay a $10 registration fee. Registrations for BeView are handled by the Kagi Shareware service run by Kee Nethery. In addition to cash in various currencies and US dollar checks drawn on US banks, Kagi Shareware also accepts credit card registrations by snail-mail or e-mail (your card number is scrambled). For organizations, they handle invoices and site licenses, too. For more information, read the enclosed “How to Register” document.
FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)
What is a BeBox?
Take a look at the Be web site: <http://www.be.com/>.
It does not match the screen shots.
BeView is based on screen shots I took from an actual BeBox in June 1996. However, this interface differs slightly from the screen shots on the Be web site. The Be OS is still under development, and I expect that the interface was not finalized when the web site screen shots were taken.
I hate the yellow tabs.
Get used to them. As far as I can tell, the Be OS does not let you change the color of the window tabs, and I want BeView to be true to the Be OS interface.
The grays are too light.
The shades of gray I use in BeView are as close as I can get to the actual colors on the BeBox using the standard Mac 256 color palette. If you think the window frames are too light, or the fills look washed out, that is how they look on a real BeBox. Again, I want BeView to be true to the Be OS interface.
Can I use BeView with Aaron?
I do not recommend this. I do not think anything bad would happen, but you would end up with a confusing hodgepodge of the BeBox interface and the Mac OS 8 default theme.
Can I use BeView with DoubleScroll?
Yes. In fact, the BeBox has an option for double-headed scroll bars built into the OS.
System Font
The BeBox uses a font similar to Helvetica 10 Bold for its system font, but I have not been able to find a good match. If I come up with a font that looks like the BeBox system font, I will include it in a future version of BeView. For now, if you want a system font other than Chicago 12, use my other shareware program Greg's Buttons.
Progress Bar
The BeBox I saw did not appear to have any progress bars. Maybe they had not been designed yet, or perhaps I was not looking in the right places. It could be that since the BeBox is so fast, you never need to wait long enough to justify a progress bar. If I find out what the progress bar on the BeBox looks like, I will include it in a future version of BeView.
Check Boxes and Radio Buttons
On the BeBox I saw, the check boxes were black and white just like on the Mac. I did not see any radio buttons, but I assume they were the same. Again, if I see fancier check boxes or radio buttons on a BeBox, I will implement them in BeView.
You should add more features.
The whole point of BeView is to emulate the BeBox interface, and I want to limit it to that. I will add additional features to BeView only if they are implemented on the BeBox. In particular, I do not intend to offer all the features of Aaron in BeView. Aaron is based on Mac OS 8, which is a completely different operating system from the Be OS.
You should merge BeView with Aaron and Greg's Buttons.
I do not intend to do this. I do not think it is a good idea to mix and match elements from different user interfaces. Also, Apple wants me to limit Aaron to just the Mac OS 8 Default Theme, so I will not be combining it with BeView in a theme switching control panel.
Why has Greg not responded to my e-mail?
I often get overwhelmed by e-mail about Aaron and my other shareware programs, and I do not have sufficient time to reply to all of your messages. It might take only a few minutes to write a quick response, but that time adds up when I have hundreds of messages in my in box. However, I do read all incoming e-mail, and I note every bug that is reported.
How do I disable the Annoying Shareware Message?
Once Kagi Shareware has processed your registration, they send you an e-mail reply with the subject "Thanks for your Registration". That reply contains the instructions to disable the Annoying Shareware Message in BeView, provided that you read all the way to the end of it. If you do not have an e-mail address, you must check the "Postcard Receipt" box in the Register program so that Kagi will send you a printed copy of this reply.
Disclaimer
The authors, Gregory D. Landweber and Edward Voas, make no warranties, either express or implied, regarding the fitness of “BeView” for any particular purpose. Use “BeView” at your own risk. The authors claim no liability for data loss or any other problems caused directly or indirectly by “BeView”. The authors are in no way affiliated with Be, Inc.
