joel@sundc.UUCP (Joel McClung - Federal TS Mgr Washington DC) (04/12/88)
AT&T ANNOUNCES OPEN LOOK GRAPHICAL USER INTERFACE
FOR RELEASE MONDAY, APRIL 11, 1988
New York -- AT&T today announced an advance that will make it
easier for many customers to use computers based on the
company's UNIX(R) operating system.
Called the OPEN LOOK(TM) user interface, it employs common-sense
graphic symbols instead of written commands to help users work
more efficiently with their UNIX System V-based computers.
"OPEN LOOK will change the way the industry thinks of the UNIX
system," said Vittorio Cassoni, president of AT&T's Data Systems
Group. "This interface brings the benefits of the UNIX system
to a whole new group of users who otherwise might never have
taken advantage of the power of a UNIX system-based computer."
The OPEN LOOK technology was designed for AT&T by Sun
Microsystems Inc. of Mountain View, California. Sun's design is
based on original work, contributions from AT&T, and on
technology licensed from Xerox Corporation, which originated
many of the concepts present in today's computer interfaces.
The OPEN LOOK interface's graphic symbols include push pins to
"pin" important menus to the screen for further reference and an
elevator to move up or down in the text. To print or store
files, users move a hand-held mouse to push labeled buttons
designed to look like those on a household appliance.
"As the name implies," said Cassoni, "the OPEN LOOK user
interface supports AT&T's commitment to open systems and the
need for a standard user interface."
This interface represents the next critical step in truly
expanding the UNIX system marketplace," said Scott McNealy,
president of Sun Microsystems. "Applications developed with the
OPEN LOOK interface can vie for a larger market because the
interface is standard."
The interface has already generated endorsements from key
computer system suppliers, PC and workstation software suppliers
and systems suppliers.
"We believe this is what the industry has been waiting for,"
said Cassoni, adding that endorsements by key MS-DOS application
vendors represent a watershed in the evolution of the UNIX
system.
"Lotus' goal is to provide its customers with common
applications such as 1-2-3 across standard platforms," said Jim
P. Manzi, president and CEO of Lotus Development Corporation.
"Until recently, the variants of the UNIX system were a barrier
to that goal. The OPEN LOOK interface exemplifies a movement
toward a more standardized UNIX environment. This movement has
encouraged vendors like Lotus to develop UNIX system versions of
proven applications such as 1-2-3."
"We consider the UNIX system environment a strategic development
platform today and in the future," said Edward M. Esber, Jr.,
chairman and CEO of Ashton-Tate Corporation. "The OPEN LOOK
user interface will play an important role in helping us to
provide our customers with powerful, yet easy-to-use UNIX system
applications."
Wayland R. Hicks, president of Xerox Corporation's Business
Products and Systems Group said, "Xerox is endorsing the OPEN
LOOK interface as a future building block for Xerox document
processing products and systems."
UNIX System V is the fastest-growing operating system, according
to industry sources, with worldwide shipments of UNIX
system-based computers expected to grow at an annual rate of 30
percent over the next three years. AT&T said the OPEN LOOK
user interface should make the UNIX system even more popular by
making it easier to use.
The interface offers benefits for users and application
programmers alike.
In addition to being easy for them to learn, the OPEN LOOK
interface will make users more productive because it allows them
to create multiple "windows" on their computer screens, each of
which can perform a different task simultaneously.
Programmers will find that the various Application Programmer
Interface (API) Toolkits AT&T plans to release will give them a
set of tools -- or pre-programmed components -- to make it more
efficient to write new applications by reducing the amount of
code that needs to be written per function.
In addition, because the OPEN LOOK user interface is the
standard interface for UNIX system-based computers, programmers
don't have to be retrained to write software for different
machines -- thus, increasing their productivity.
AT&T will circulate OPEN LOOK specifications for comment this
summer and will make them available in the third quarter of this
year. These will include a specification of the common style
for applications -- the Applications Style Guide -- as well as
descriptions of the programming interface for OPEN LOOK under
two toolkits, both of which AT&T will support via a single
graphics system platform. They are the XT toolkit based on the
X Windows and the NDE toolkit based on NeWS.
The first availability of OPEN LOOK features in an AT&T product
will be this summer in a window manager for the 6386
workstation, followed by an XT toolkit in the fourth quarter
1988 and an NDE toolkit in the first quarter 1989.
In keeping with its commitment to support standards, AT&T said
that as they become accepted, the company would support APIs
for emerging standard interfaces. AT&T also will license source
code for the various toolkits supporting the OPEN LOOK user
interface.
The OPEN LOOK user interface toolkits are scheduled to be available in
source form in early 1989.
The OPEN LOOK user interface is designed to be useful into the
1990's. For instance, unlike some graphical interfaces, the
OPEN LOOK interface is designed for a wide range of applications
from simple document processing to much more sophisticated
computer-added engineering (CAE). In addition, the graphics
perform well whether they appear on a PC or a high resolution
engineering workstation. Also, the interface will support a
variety of terminals accessing different applications.
AT&T today also announced it will co-sponsor with Sun
Microsystems a series of eight, three-day conferences around the
world beginning in September to give independent software
vendors, value-aided resellers and large corporate users a
preview of the key technical features of UNIX System V Release
4.0, including the newly announced OPEN LOOK interface.
"Today's announcement, "Cassoni concluded, "further delivers on our
promise to provide our customers with the world's premiere computer
operating system."
###
OPEN LOOK is a trademark of AT&T. UNIX is a registered trademark of
AT&T.
_________________________________________________________________________
AT&T ANNOUNCES SOFTWARE DEVELOPER CONFERENCES
AT&T will hold eight, three-day conferences around the world
beginning in September to give independent software developers
(ISVs), value-added resellers (VARs) and selected large
corporate users a preview of the key technical features of
UNIX(R) System V Release 4.0.
The Software Developer Conferences, co-sponsored by Sun
Microsystems Inc., will focus on the move toward a single UNIX
system standard under Release 4.0 and will give developers
information on how to port or write software applications now in
anticipation of the single standard.
Attendees will learn how applications written for existing
releases of UNIX System V, SunOS, Berkeley and XENIX versions
of the UNIX system can be adapted to take advantage of the new
features in UNIX System V Release 4.0. In addition, attendees
will receive documentation including compatibility and migration
guides and the OPEN LOOK(TM) Graphical User Interface Style
Guide.
Further, the conference will cover UNIX System V Release 4.0's
key capabilities in the areas of networked computing and user
interfaces. For example, in the networking area, UNIX System V
Release 4.0 brings together AT&T's Remote File Sharing and
Sun's Network File System (NFS), Remote Procedure Call (RPC) and
External Data Representation (XDR). In the area of user
interfaces, Release 4.0 adds graphics and windowing capabilities
to UNIX System V's set of character oriented capabilities. The
OPEN LOOK interface will provide a common look and feel across
the UNIX system in either a standalone or networked
environment using either X Windows or X11/NeWS.
"We view these conferences as an excellent opportunity for UNIX
system developers to gain detailed technical information on
developing UNIX system applications," said William O'Shea, AT&T
vice president, product development. "We've promised to keep
the UNIX system community informed of new UNIX system releases
and we're doing that. We're giving developers a head start with
these conferences."
"Our goal in introducing this standard software platform is to
establish a single UNIX system environment that will be the
development and delivery vehicle of choice for the 1990's," said
Eric Schmidt of Sun, vice president of the Software Products
Division. "These conferences will serve as an ideal forum for
UNIX system vendors to help guide the evolution of the UNIX
system toward a single standard."
Topics to be covered in the conference include new features of UNIX
System V Release 4.0 and its adherence to other industry standards,
such as IEEE POSIX and the X/Open common application environment.
The conferences will include presentations by technical staff from
AT&T and Sun. The schedule is as follows:
New York Sept. 14-16
Los Angeles Sept. 27-29
Tokyo Oct. 11-13
London Oct. 25-27
Boston Nov. 9-11
Chicago Nov. 29-Dec 1
San Francisco Dec. 6-8
Washington, D.C. Dec. 13-15
The conference costs $750 per person; group discounts are available.
For information call 1-800-247-1212, ext. 795.
###
UNIX is a registered trademark of AT&T.
XENIX is a trademark of Microsoft Corp.marc@ima.ISC.COM (Marc Evans) (04/12/88)
I don't understand from this article, what this product has to offer beyond the current X/NeWS systems available. Maybe the conference would shed some light on this subject... My question is this: X and NeWS are already available and are being designed into many products at this moment. X is public domain, as are most of the tools that provide ease of programming. NeWS, for a nominal fee, offers some nice extensions to X, but isn't required to create what could potentially be *standard* interface mechanisms. Given these basic concepts, what would make AT&T think that they can announce some vapor-ware, which apparently they are planning to charge for, and expect it to become *the standard*? I could understand that maybe, if it was available today, they could potentially be in the running for *the standard*, but the thing doesn't appear to be available until late in 1988 or early 1989. By then alot of programs will have been created incorporating either X or NeWS alone. What about the interface IXI of Cambridge, Englang has created? It is already available in some form... There is also the Apollo DIALOGUE package which is available across a couple of different platforms... Everybody, I think, realizes that there is a potentially large market for a *standard* interface mechanism, and Apple has done a rather good job at proving this point in the MAC series computers. It just seems to me, that if everybody is going to put out a different *standard*, rather then working with eachother (through ANSI or IEEE or X/Open possibly), to make a universal *standard*, the industry is going to end up getting nowhere real fast.... OK - Now that I've blown off some steam, let the debate begin. Am I full of sh*t or do others see the same problems coming towards us?
cruff@ncar.ucar.edu (Craig Ruff) (04/12/88)
In article <944@ima.ISC.COM> marc@ima.UUCP (Marc Evans) writes: >I don't understand from this article, what this product has to offer beyond >the current X/NeWS systems available. Maybe the conference would shed some >light on this subject... What I really would like to know is if they used NeWS to implement the AT&T product. If they can run Suntools and X on top of NeWS, it should be straight forward. -- Craig Ruff NCAR INTERNET: cruff@ncar.UCAR.EDU (303) 497-1211 P.O. Box 3000 CSNET: cruff@ncar.CSNET Boulder, CO 80307 UUCP: cruff@ncar.UUCP
BECKER@HUMBER.BITNET (Bruce Becker) (04/13/88)
>Everybody, I think, realizes that there is a potentially large market for a >*standard* interface mechanism, and Apple has done a rather good job at >proving this point in the MAC series computers. It just seems to me, that if >everybody is going to put out a different *standard*, rather then working >with eachother (through ANSI or IEEE or X/Open possibly), to make a universal >*standard*, the industry is going to end up getting nowhere real fast.... > >OK - Now that I've blown off some steam, let the debate begin. Am I full of >sh*t or do others see the same problems coming towards us? I have the feeling that no *single* standard is forthcoming for quite a while. The game is more like - how easy (or possible) to support multiple standards, some of which are "moving targets" because they're so new? X is more a toolkit, as to a fair extent is NeWS... Open Look appears to be more ambitious a la Mac, in trying to specify User Interface & dialogue standards - it seems that IBM's SAA also is their attempt to stumble about in this minefield... Cheers, BBecker Humber College Etobicoke, Ont. z MAILER-D JADE.BER 4/12/88 ' Mail Delivery Subsy BECKER@HUMBER.BITNE 88. 4.12 Returned mail: Host unknown
klee@daisy.UUCP (Ken Lee) (04/14/88)
In article <8804122102.AA23385@brillig.umd.edu> Bruce Becker writes: >X is more a toolkit, as to a fair extent is NeWS... Open Look appears to be >more ambitious a la Mac, in trying to specify User Interface & dialogue >standards - it seems that IBM's SAA also is their attempt to stumble about >in this minefield... I agree. X and NeWS are primarily function libraries, much as stdio and curses are for dumb tty's. Open Look seems more like a command interpreter, i.e., a graphical shell. In fact, I would be suprised of Open Look were not implemented on X, NeWS, or Sun's announced merged product. The shell windows that come with X and NeWS, e.g., xterm, are really pretty primitive, so I think Open Look has alot of potential. The problem they will have is maintaining the power of UNIX with a graphical command language. Although easier to use, I think the Macintosh command interpreter is much less powerful than csh or ksh. Ken -- OS/2 won't really be available until next year? The IBM PS/2: half a computer today, half an operating system tomorrow. "When you ain't got nothing, you got nothing to lose." - Dylan
guy@gorodish.Sun.COM (Guy Harris) (04/14/88)
> I agree. X and NeWS are primarily function libraries, much as stdio > and curses are for dumb tty's. Open Look seems more like a command > interpreter, i.e., a graphical shell. Well, sort of. Ultimately, it's a set of user-interface guidelines. Various pieces of software will implement a user interface adhering to these guidelines. I suspect these would include: an X11 window manager, which would in some ways be part of a graphical shell (i.e., you could pop up a menu listing the applications you could launch); NeWS PostScript code to manage the root NeWS window, which would be part of a graphical shell in the same way the aforementioned X11 window manager would. It would also include toolkits to be used to write applications that adhere to these guidelines. > In fact, I would be suprised of Open Look were not implemented on X, NeWS, > or Sun's announced merged product. A videotape of the AT&T/Sun/Xerox/Lotus/Ashton-Tate press conference was shown at a Sun Software Products Division meeting today. Among other things, it was stated that AT&T would be implementing Open Look atop Xt (I assume this would be a procedural interface implemented atop Xt) and making it available on their 386 box (along with X11) sometime late this year. It was also stated that Sun would be providing an implementation atop the NeWS Development Environment (a NeWS toolkit under development) late this year as well; I don't know whether this would come out with a future NeWS release, but I presume this is the intent. > The problem they will have is maintaining the power of UNIX with a > graphical command language. Although easier to use, I think the > Macintosh command interpreter is much less powerful than csh or ksh. Well, I suspect that at least one application implemented using the Open Look guidelines and one of the Open Look toolkits would be a "terminal emulator" - i.e., the moral equivalent of "shelltool", "xterm", "nterm", etc.. For certain users, this may very well be the proper way of providing a "command interface". Another "command language" that might be implemented could be a version of the Sun Organizer(TM, sigh) announced with the Sun-386i machine; it shows a list of icons for files in a given directory, with the name of the file next to its icon, and permits you to click on the icons to e.g. edit a text file. (In order to be generally useful, this would have to be customizable through a file, such as the NBI/ISI window manager or DonZ is. I don't know whether the Sun Organizer is or not.) Somebody could, conceivably, come up with an interface that is sufficiently powerful that it could replace a conventional command language interface in many cases. They could provide an Open Look-style implementation of this, providing yet another "command language". In other words, I don't know that there will be a single "command language" for Open Look. Although many aspects of the user interface of (well-designed) Mac applications are the same, the "command language" for a spreadsheet is likely to be different from the "command language" for a mechanical CAD program, simply because they manipulate different objects; I don't think there's likely to be a "recalculate" command in the CAD program, or at least not one that means the exact same thing as the "recalculate" program in the spreadsheet.
lkw@csun.UUCP (Larry Wake) (04/15/88)
In article <1043@daisy.UUCP> klee@daisy.UUCP (Ken Lee) writes: >In fact, I would be suprised [i]f >Open Look were not implemented on X, NeWS, or Sun's announced merged >product. The product announcement I saw said that Open Look's programming interface was going to come in the form of two toolkits: one called "XT" for X, and one called "NDE" for NeWS. This is kind of neat as it offers Yet Another Layer of Transparency -- the user will see the same kind of interface no matter what windowing system the programmer chooses to develop the application on top of. -- Larry Wake uucp: {ihnp4,hplabs,psivax}!csun!lkw CSUN Computer Center BITNET: LKW@CALSTATE Northridge, CA 91330 ARPA: LKW%CALSTATE@WISCVM.WISC.EDU (but not for long...)
paul@MRFLOODS.CC.UMICH.EDU ('da Kingfish) (04/15/88)
> New York -- AT&T today announced an advance that will make it > easier for many customers to use computers based on the > company's UNIX(R) operating system. The way this message started, I thought they were announcing a more liberal licensing arrangement. --paul
rwhite@nusdhub.UUCP (Robert C. White Jr.) (04/17/88)
in article <944@ima.ISC.COM>, marc@ima.ISC.COM (Marc Evans) says: > Given these basic concepts, what would make AT&T think that they > can announce some vapor-ware, which apparently they are planning to > charge for, and expect it to become *the standard*? I could understand > that maybe, if it was available today, they could potentially be in > the running for *the standard*, but the thing doesn't appear to be > available until late in 1988 or early 1989. By then alot of programs > will have been created incorporating either X or NeWS alone. This is NOT so vaporous as it might seem. At u3g [University UNIX Users Group] in Atlanta a month or so ago, I witnessed [at least a pre-cursor] of this product in action. I bailed out on one of the lecture sets due to extreem dis-intrest <the only really bad discorse at the meeting< and discovered that the door to the lab was open <schedule said it was closed<. Inside there was a "man-from-AT&T" messing around on one of the 6386 machines. He was loading and unloading packages from the system (I don't know why) and I stopped to look over his shoulders at the prety pictures. I was very impressed! [I impress easily ;-)] When I asked him what was up, he told me [essentially] the following: This new "thing" was a windowing system which was designed to work in several different ways. There were several header files [c.f. #include] one each for "X Windows" "NeWS" and something else which I forget at the moment. Each of these headders provided the "basic" routines for the above, as was accompanied by libraries to complete the idea. [I know nothing about "NeWS" or "X Windows", nor did I actually see these header files, So I can make no claims to the correctness of their contents] Aparently the actual windowing system is capable of doing quite a bit more than the either-or choice of NeWS/X Windows, but my expertise runs low here. Whatever it was, it didn't huccough once durring the three hours I was watching, and it was FAST. I was rather impressed, but then again All I ever use under UNIX is the borne shell. <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< << All the STREAM is but a page,<<|>> Robert C. White Jr. << << and we are merely layers, <<|>> nusdhub!rwhite nusdhub!usenet << << port owners and port payers, <<|>>>>>>>>"The Avitar of Chaos"<<<<<<<<<<<< << each an others audit fence, <<|>> Network tech, Gamer, Anti-christ, << << approaching the sum reel. <<|>> Voter, and General bad influence. << <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< ## Disclaimer: You thought I was serious???...... Really???? ## ## Interogative: So... what _is_ your point? ;-) ## ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^