🚀 go-pugleaf

Matthew Gabriel (soupigf@enterprise.america.com) wrote:
: beverins@aol.com (B E Verins) writes:

: >Jim Frost wrote:


: >Well, UNIX may be developer's nirvana, but are there GUI shells in
: >existance that are as easy to use as Amiga Workbench 3.1, or System 7.5? I
: >think this is the one thing holding back the spread of UNIX as a really
: >popular OS (I'm talking seeling UNIX w/GUI in electronics stores like the
: >WIZ, here). I've heard of XWindows (very long time ago). What's new in
: >Unix OS's?

: 	OSF/Motif doesn't fill the bill as the worlds most advanced GUI, 
: neither do Solaris or X-Window solutions stack up for 
: ease-of-use/integration. The Mac clearly has the superior interface. 

: 	BUT! There IS a Unix out there with an interface lightyears 
: beyond the Mac...or indeed beyond anything else out there. It is quite 
: simply the best interface ever devised. 
: 	NeXT is a company founded by Steve Jobs, they guy who co-founded 
: Apple computers, and invented the Mac. NeXT was originally in the 
: business of making 68030 based workstations that everyone seemed to think 
: were personal computers. This error was due in large part to the 
: astounding array of innovative hardware peripherals available for the 
: system, but in even larger part to the remarkably easy to use interface. 
: Since the NeXTStations were priced competitively with other workstations, 
: the PC users couldn't afford them, and the workstation crowd just never 
: clued in that this was a powerful Unix system. 
: 	Then, when the hardware side of the NeXT folded, all that was 
: left was the OS. So Steve ported it to the PC...it runs on 486 and faster 
: machines. He has also ported it to Sun and Hewlett Packard workstations, 
: with a DEC Alpha version on the way. 

: 	NeXTStep is a fully Object-Oriented operating system, the first 
: one, and still the only one. It has been around for 7+ years, has a 
: sizable, if not huge, application base, incredible development 
: enviroment, and cross-platform portability. This is due in large part to 
: the fact it is based on the Mach Unix kernel from IBM, and incorporates 
: all the nice features you expect from Unix. 
: 	It is also a ground-up GUIsystem, remarkably easy to learn and 
: simple to use, but sophisticated and powerful beyond everything else out 
: there. It uses display postscript rather than bitmaps for superior 
: resolution and color fidelity, and incorporates dozens of other computing 
: first, many of which have not been succesfully duplicated elsewhere. 

: 	Its only downfall is the massive overhead. You need at least 20 
: megs (it does run display postscript, after all) and 300 megs of HD ( it 
: is a fully fledged Unix, remember.)

: 	Still, this is a Unix for the masses if ever there was one. Only 
: its massive overhead and steep price ($500) keeps it away from the 
: mainstreeam. 

Watch for GNUStep - the Free NextStep!

: 	SoupIsGood Food