🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <1992Apr10.164205.3372@cs.yale.edu> nathan@laplace.biology.yale.edu writes:
>Not only that, but NeXTstep 486 will only run on *select*
>(ie the most expensive) 486 machines.

It will be shrink wrapped from what I hear.  But you will have to run
certain cards that have been tested for compatibility along with the
motherboard type.  This is no different than SCO, Solaris, etc.
Since there are so many cards on the market you can only hope to support
a subset of them.  Win 3.0, OS/2 has certain problems with compatibility
also.

Remember when OS/2 was first introduced it had to be bought with a machine
that could run it.  Every 386 could not.
>
>How is NeXT supposed to explain that NeXTstep can only
>display mono with that Super VGA card in your 486 that
>OS/2 and Windows can use for cheerful color?

Because what they consider cheerful color is cheerfully slow.  VGA and
SVGA are mapped into 256k of RAM and bank switched not directly accessed,
this hardly a configuration for a  16 bit screen with 1 million pixels.
To do decent color you need some sort of memory mapped
graphics system, ie a frame buffer.  The Dell - JAWS system and the
Compaq - Custom SVGA card are both memory mapped.

>
>Wouldn't it be great if NeXT either added enough RAM/HD to
>the 5K/3.5K (list/edu) price, or lowered the price
>altogether? Instead of purchasing a $5K NeXTstation,
>then adding $450 of RAM (removing 4 MB), then adding a $1K
>external HD, wouldn't it be great if 16 MB RAM and 400 MB of
>disk was included!? 
>

The company is trying to make a little money.  The should price extras
competitively but I don't think they can lower prices and still turn a
decent profit.

--
/*  -The opinions expressed are my own, not my employers.    */
/*      For I can only express my own opinions.              */
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/*   Kent L. Shephard  : email - kls30@DUTS.ccc.amdahl.com   */