On this thought I left out the classic runtime because it was needed with either direction, my point was many at the time saw BeOS as the shorter path to a modern OS. Because NeXT needed and got a reworking from the ground up. It is now apparent that that was the plan all along but from the arm chair quarterbacks, back then it seemed like a foolish move, a fair percentage of Mac users back then where rooting for Be because it had almost mystical quality for the time, it was like Amiga in it's day. I am not saying Apple made the wrong decision, just that back then most people including myself could not understand the decision. If you can find any of the old Mac User or Macworld rags from that period there where articles and articles lamenting over how they could not choose such an advanced OS as Be.