next-ug@gap.caltech.edu (Caltech and JPL Users of NeXT's) (04/01/91)
REDCITY WOODS, CA -- Job Stevens, director of OVeRTheEdge, NeXT's new
Vaporware division, just announced NeXTStep 4.1.91 for release on
April 1st, 1991. "Yeah, I know this should only be 2.2, but we were
so impressed with ourselves we decided to bump it up a couple notches"
Stevens reportedly said. NeXT founded it's OVeRTheEdge division to
serve people who need to use tomorrow's technology today, whether or
not it exists.
Since there weren't enough seats at the last new product announcement,
NeXT has rented the L.A. Coliseum and will demonstrate the products at
7:30 PM on Monday night, April 1st. Tickets were being given to
registered developers and sold through user groups and Campus
Consultants for $25, but scalpers are reportedly getting up to $100.
The following is a brief summary from an interview with Weekly
NeXTWorld News reporter Flora Spoil. The three areas in which
revolutionary breakthroughs were made are: Systems, Bundled Software,
and the Application Kit.
(what follows is a brief summary; the full text has been submitted to
pub/next/documents in cs.orst.edu and pub/next/docs in nova.cc.purdue.edu
as Release-4-1-91.wn.Z)
A. SYSTEMS
1. Hardware:
-RS/6000 CPU with autoswitching __TEXT segments
-multi-processing boards
-NeXTStation portable
-HalfDimension: low cost color w/o video
-answering machine/fax/modem in software built into phone
2. Operating System
- Real-Time Mach 3.0 as a base
- OSF/SVR4 Unix and Macintosh servers
3. Compiler:
-GCC 2.0
-supports FORTRAN
-Common Lisp run-time
-integrated graphical debugging environment
B. BUNDLED SOFTWARE
1. Object Modules: Software distributed as palettes, not programs
-Edit
-Illustrator (Editableview hierarchy, dumps to .ips editable PS)
-Mathematica
-Terminal
2. Moving Backward-Compatibility Forward
-Edit built on top of Emacs v. 19
-Mail.app built on top of MH (MailHandler)
-TeX in a WYSIWYG format
3. Mathematica 2.1
- EPS equations: edit and output
- GUI Equation Builder
- Graphing routines on hooks
C. APPLICATION KIT
1. Extensions:
-HyperLinks
-Services: automatic button/responder sending
-MusicView with MusicFont; trivial editing
2. New Kits:
-RenderKit: Display RenderMan
-VoiceKit: Recognition and Generation
-UserKit: Public objects maintained by NeXT
3. AppKit Management
-MachoMan: Manage Mach-O objects
-NibEditor: Examine and output Nib files
D. CORPORATE GOSSIP
After discussing the new release, Job Stevens talked some about
pending business deals that would shape NeXT's future:
- PenComm will become a VAR (value-added reseller) for X,
sneaking NeXTs into the offices of X-nophobes.
- NeXT will form a partnership with Sears. The Sears
Financial Network will provide loans and leasing agreements for people
who want NeXTs, and Sear Business Centers will feature the machine..
- Nintendo will announce that its next generation of games
will be developed on the NeXT using RenderMan. The NeXT versions of
the games will be posted to the net freely for beta-testing.
- NeXT-Japan and Sony will add a VCR and CD-reader to a
NeXTDimension to produce the ultimate media machine, combining a a
high-definition TV, radio, multi-channel VCR, CD-player, phone,
answering machine, and computer. If the concept works, they hope to
eventually mass-market an integrated system for under $5k.
======================================================================
Well, maybe this is Vaporware, but everything described here is well
within the realm of possibility. Let NeXT and your favorite third-party
programmer know what you want, and maybe the stuff will be available in
time for 4.1.92.
Ernest Prabhakar ernest@pundit.cithep.caltech.edu CaJUN President
"If we are out of minds, it is for God." -- II Corinthians 5:13awln@cunixb.cc.columbia.edu (William L Nussbaum) (04/01/91)
In article <1991Apr1.063717.1209@nntp-server.caltech.edu> next-ug@gap.caltech.edu (Caltech and JPL Users of NeXT's) writes: >REDCITY WOODS, CA -- Job Stevens, director of OVeRTheEdge, NeXT's new >Vaporware division, just announced NeXTStep 4.1.91 for release on >April 1st, 1991. .. > > -TeX in a WYSIWYG format except maybe this one. Played around a couple days ago with what it would take to do it and still keep both the TeX and the GUIform editable, and it's quite an undertaking. If you know any developer who might be seriously interested, (a) I'd be amazed and (b) I wouldn't, but it's still a huge project, with so many dependencies that it can be problematic. How do you deal, for example, with a bug in a TeXwrite document? Scrub the section and display an "Error in TeX code." box? I know it's part of a Apr1 thing, but most of the software, as you note, is not too far from reality. Except maybe this one. I'm not sure I'd enjoy having to worry about users needing to debug a TeX document if they have an error. > >Well, maybe this is Vaporware, but everything described here is well >within the realm of possibility. Let NeXT and your favorite third-party >programmer know what you want, and maybe the stuff will be available in >time for 4.1.92. > >Ernest Prabhakar ernest@pundit.cithep.caltech.edu CaJUN President > "If we are out of minds, it is for God." -- II Corinthians 5:13a | William Lee Nussbaum, Jr. | CI$: 72401.3554@compuserve.com | WELL: wlnjr@well.sf.ca.us | InterNet: wln@cunixb.cc.columbia.edu