Path: gmd.de!newsserver.jvnc.net!howland.reston.ans.net!usc! cs.utexas.edu!uunet!athena.com!usenet From: tr...@athena.com (Tracy Kugelman) Newsgroups: comp.sys.next.advocacy Subject: PC Magazine ---Good News Date: 23 Jul 1993 15:34:01 GMT Organization: Athena Design, Inc. Lines: 123 Distribution: world Message-ID: <22p0d9$eig@hermes.athena.com> Reply-To: tr...@athena.com NNTP-Posting-Host: kore.athena.com Keywords: press, review This article is reprinted without permission. PC MAGAZINE August 1993 Page 48 FIRST LOOKS NeXTStep Brings Objectivity to Operating Systems by Stephen J. Vaughan-Nichols Choosing among high-end operating systems just got harder. If you think the choice between OS/2 and Windows NT (not to mention UnixWare and Solaris) is complex, now add NeXTStep for Intel Processors from NeXT to the mix. First developed as the operating system of the now discontinued NeXT computer, the $795 NeXTStep workstation operating system brings a distinctly different look and feel to today's PCs. With the arrival of NeXTStep, object-oriented operating systems are no longer the stuff of science fiction for PC users. It is just this design approach that makes NeXTStep an extraordinary development platform ready for corporate America. Other than built-in networking, multimedia e-mail, true multitasking, and support for 24-bit true color graphics, what does NeXTStep deliver? First and foremost is a breathtaking interface the Workspace Manager that rivals and even surpasses that of the Macintosh. However, one thing you won't get in this version is the ability to run MS-DOS or Windows programs. This was promised as an option through Insignia Solution's SoftPC, but it's one that won't be fulfilled until fall, when NeXTStep 3.2 appears (a free upgrade to registered users will be offered). A WORLD OF OBJECTS NeXTStep's interface is completely object oriented, which means that Workspace Manger's individual elements icons, menus, and windows can be taken apart and sewed back together to form a customized interface. For example, there's a "shelf" for files and an "application dock" for programs that resemble icon bars in Windows apps. But unlike icon bars, where you can place only predetermined program functions, NeXTStep's shelves accommodate any program, directory, or file for quick retrieval. The object metaphor is carried beyond the interface. For example, linked editable items, such as documents, use Object Links (similar in concept to Windows' Object Linking and Embedding) to transport changes from a document to a spreadsheet automatically and transparently. Applications don't need to be aware of this facility since it's built into the operating system. A multithreaded, multiprocessing microkernel operating system called Mach makes the Workspace Manager run smoothly. Mach gives NeXTStep the ability to run multiple applications at once without the starts and stops that plague the performance of other operating systems that multitask applications. On top of Mach is NeXTStep's version of Unix. Don't start sneezing if you're allergic to Unix: NeXTStep completely protects you from Unix's complexities while preserving its file access structure and rich command set. Thanks to the Workspace Manager, most users will never know they're running Unix. NeXTStep has superior interoperability features. Besides the TCP/IP and NFS client/server networking capacity it inherits from Unix, NeXTStep comes ready to step into existing NetWare networks as a NetWare client. And it can use not only Unix and DOS files, but Macintosh files as well. DEVELOPER'S VERSION The $1,995 price tag of the separate developer's version of NextStep shouldn't scare off developers. The development environment and language Objective C make building programs from reusable objects as easy as building houses from Lincoln Logs. NeXTStep isn't high and dry on the application side either. Word Perfect, Mesa (a spreadsheet) and Gupta SQLBase Server are now available, to name a few. NeXT includes a catalog of apps along with a sampler CD-ROM in NeXTStep. It also comes richly endowed with its own apps: NeXTMail, a network-capable mail system that includes multimedia; an editor that works with ASCII and rich text format files and displays EPS and TIFF graphic files: VT-100 and 3270 terminal emulators: network system administration tools; an on-line version of Webster's Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary and Collegiate Thesaurus; and the complete works of Shakespeare. NeXTStep is a truly rich package, but it's not perfect. Like any 32-bit operating system, there's a paucity of drivers. Though it has a more complete collection of video drivers than OS/2 2.1, it can work only with PostScript printers. One other oddity: NeXTStep can only wok on a system with a single 3.5-inch high-density floppy disk drive. The 5.25-inch disk drive must be disabled if you have one. NeXTStep doesn't belong on everyone's desktop. The massive system requirements alone (16MB RAM, 120MB hard disk space) put it beyond the reach of most users. Still, in testing, NeXTStep worked like a fine Swiss watch both in standalone mode and concurrently as a node on NetWare and TCP/IP networks. And adventurous programmers will be delighted with NextStep's development environment. We foresee NeXTStep taking a place similar to that of the Macintosh: an operating system that's not for everyone, but extraordinarily powerful and easy to use for those willing to travel a path away from the mainstream. Fact File: NeXTStep Release 3.1 for Intel Processors NeXT Inc., 900 Chesapeake Drive Redwood City, CA 94063 800-879-6398; 415-366-0900 Fax: 415-780-3714 List price: $795; developer's version, $1,995. Requirements: 16MB RAM (24MB recommended); 120 MB hard disk space (200MB recommended: 486DX processor of better; SCSI CD-ROM drive. In Short: The first PC-based version of NeXTStep has intriguing interface twists and the ability to multitask flawlessly. The catch: it doesn't run DOS and Windows applications. Screen shot graphic with caption: ANOTHER OS: NeXTStep hides its Unix-based core with a great object-oriented interface. -- ----------------------------------------------------------- Tracy Kugelman, Director Athena Design Sales and Marketing