Motorola to License Be System for Mac Clones

Motorola Inc. said it will license the Be Inc. operating system and put it on Motorola’s line of personal computers that also run the Macintosh system from Apple Computer Inc. The announcement comes nearly two months after Apple ditched plans to buy or license the Be system, which was developed by former Apple executive Jean-Louis Gassee. Apple instead bought Next Software Inc. for $430 million. Other makers of Apple-compatible computers, including International Business Machines Corp., are reported to be interested in putting the Be system on their clones as well. Schaumburg, Ill.-based Motorola and Menlo Park-based Be also are working together in a technology alliance to ensure that the Be system will run on future PowerPC systems. Motorola shares rose 50 cents to close at $62.625 on the NYSE.