🚀 go-pugleaf

    I'm trying to decide whether to plunge into my "Next" decision.  Currently,
I have a MacII-CX, 8Meg, hard drives total of 210Meg, with AU/X 2.0, and XR4
using twm. I develop alot of Motif/X stuff at work (Sun & HP workstations),
and typically work on the X layer at home.  I'm currently developing widgets,
so this setup is working out fine.  But, my Mac is slow (68030@16mhz), so compiles
(using cc or gnu) are slower than I would expect( but in general, the system is slow).

    So, now the decision!  Do I upgrade my Mac (cpu, memory, AU/X 3.0, cdrom, ....),
or a NeXT. I like to Next for 2 reasons: the development envir. (object_oriented), and
it can be configured to be an X workstation, using either Co-Xist or possibly Cub-X.
I'm looking at this configuration:

        NextStation - Color, 25mhz/040, 16Meg ram, 250Meg drive, Rel. 3.0.

    Will I be happy with this performance? Any input to my concerns on configuration
and performance would be appreciated.  I know i'm probably trying to compare apples
to oranges, but I'm looking for workstation performance, not just another MAC Quadra,
or a pretty box with a nice interface (impressive i might add). I realize its not risc,
but I'm spoiled. If I got my Mac to used also as a dos machine (SoftPC/AT is great), a
unix box (which I use almost always), I'm sure I can configure the NeXT with endless
possibilities (am I being naive?).

    Also, if I use my existing external scsi drives, can I found formatting software
out there for NeXT?  What cdrom drives are out there that are compatible with the
Mac and NeXT?

    I'd like you to tell me yeh, your going to like it, do it!, but I want the best
of both worlds: the NeXT envir., and workstation performance when it need it. Keep
in mind that I want to keep this affordable (yeah, right).

                                                Thankx, ronyd@atinc