Right, first off, OpenBeOS isn't out yet in any shape or form, and even though its progress is good, its still probably 7 years away from being where the original R5 was in terms of functionality.
For macs, BeOS only supports vanilla machines, ie, pre iMac. Anything newer and it wont run
The Mac edition of BeOS R5 is available on the same cd as R5pro for x86.
A few caveats however: Installing BeOS or indeed, any OS other than MacOS in one of these older macs is difficult, and two, Most BeOS software was x86 only, ppc stuff is few and far between.
tbh for a newbie, I'd say get an old PC and install it on that, and the best free distro around atm is vaspers "MaxEdition" which has just recently released its third edition distrobution. Its BeOS personal edition with tonnes of third party apps and drivers.
BeOS Max EditionThere is also Zeta, which was based on BeOS R5.1d0 or Dano, which was a beta edtion of BeOS that was never released for public consumption due to Be Inc's bankrupcy. Zeta is a licenced version of this but its expensive at 100euro +P&P
Zeta is X86 only as ppc support was officially dropped with R5pro.
Right... anything else I should be remembering... Oh yes
frizbe.net go here to check to see if your hardware is supported, basically if it isn't listed in there, then chances are your hardware isn't supported at all. BeOS's achilies heal was its hardware support...
If there are any questions regarding any of this, then don't hesitate to private message me
