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Article #2813Re: On SW for NRW
From: John G Shirlaw
Date: Thu, 08 Oct 1992 18:09
Date: Thu, 08 Oct 1992 18:09
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3582 bytes
In article <1992Oct7.041657.6153@cx5.com>, tlc@cx5.com writes: |> |> The reason I was asking if software running on an 040-cube would run on the |> upcoming NeXT RISC-based workstation was for two reasons: |> |> 1) My system is monochrome. I would like to get a color NeXT machine (decided, |> wisely it seems, against the NeXTdimension), and have pretty much decided to |> wait to see the RISC machines before investing in the current color offerings. |> With the speed ratings (~200 MIPS) being brandied about in comp.sys.x, it seems |> as if these machines will be most appropriate for my intended usage (high-end |> graphics/animation/post-production). |> |> 2) I saw some very interesting software at Seybold San Francisco recently: |> Retouche (image processing from 3K Computerbild), Stylist (page layout from |> Archetype), announcements for several 3D modeling packages (including Stone |> Designs' 3Dreality) and several CAD packages in short, many of the applications |> I have been waiting for on this platform for 2-3 years now. This was very |> exciting, even if it is probably 6 or 8 months before this stuff really |> happens... But to get back to the point, I was very hesitant to purchase, or |> intend to purchase, any of these applications unless they will run on the RISC |> machines (assuming for a moment that my future NeXT color system will indeed be |> a RISC machine). |> |> The several replies I got directly or saw posted confirmed my suspicion that |> software compiled to run on 040 machines will not run on RISC machines. Would |> any developers out there care to comment on how they indend to deal |> (financially) with this issue? For example, will you send out two versions in |> the same packaging, offer a reasonable fee (say on the order of an "upgrade" |> price) for purchasing both versions of the same package, or at the very least a |> nominal charge for license-type use on two different machines? |> |> On a related note: I think that the RISC machine will be able to be networked |> with my Cube (right?). Is it going to be possible to, say, model on the Cube |> and render on the RISC (or vice versa), or any other foreseeable combinations |> of using these machines in tandem? I'm thinking here of distributed computing, |> which seems like such a good idea for really using these machines together. Is |> there going to be some conflict because the systems use different CPUs? Pardon |> my ignorance if this is obvious, I am not an engineer... |> |> I look forward to your replies, |> |> Thierry Castro |> tlc@cx5.com |> Given that NeXT clames that I forget who but one of the major vendor managed to port there software to NS486 in less than a day. I would guess/hope that the same porting situation will occure with the NRW. Thus unless the companies making the software using porgramming languidges other than C and IB shouldn't be a problem on porting. Well that is my $0.02 worth. john.
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Newsgroups: comp.sys.next.misc Path: arc1-ca.pugleaf.net!sparky!uunet!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!bloom-picayune.mit.edu!athena.mit.edu!jgshir From: jgshir@athena.mit.edu (John G Shirlaw) Subject: Re: On SW for NRW Message-ID: <1992Oct8.180935.17530@athena.mit.edu> Keywords: software, NeXT RISC workstation Sender: news@athena.mit.edu (News system) Nntp-Posting-Host: m33-222-7.mit.edu Organization: Massachusetts Institute of Technology References: <1992Oct7.041657.6153@cx5.com> Date: Thu, 8 Oct 1992 18:09:35 GMT Lines: 56