Be Inc., maker of the well-regarded BeOS operating system, filed an antitrust suit against Microsoft in February 2002, alleging that Microsoft's exclusionary licensing terms with PC manufacturers had prevented them from offering BeOS — even as a dual-boot option — and helped drive Be out of business. In September 2003, Microsoft agreed to pay $23.25 million (after attorneys' fees) to settle the case, while admitting no wrongdoing. Be, which had already sold its assets and wound down, had argued that Microsoft's contracts effectively foreclosed rival operating systems from the market. The settlement was one of a series of payouts Microsoft made in the 2000s to competitors it had been accused of harming.