tgingric@magnus.ircc.ohio-state.edu (Tyler S Gingrich) (11/01/90)
NeXT was on the Ohio State campus yesterday offering seminars on the NeXT systemand bundled software.
The performance of the 68040 NextStation w/B&W display is VERY GOOD. For
comparison I feel the 68030 Cube performance is FAIR. In tinkering with
the old cube I was excited by the software, but the machine was almost to
slow to be useful. (Too much overhead).
The 68040 systems (I've only played with the NextStation) appear to have enough
CPU horsepower to get some real work done.
Lotus Improv is VERY SLICK!! When the advertising literature speaks of re-
defining the spreadsheet, they aren't kidding. (For those of you who want
to Boycott Lotus, I recommend buying your NeXT before Dec 31, acquire the free
copy of Improv, try it out (so you know what it does), BUY somebody else's
spreadsheet (like Ashton-Tate's), and mail the used copy of Improv back to
Lotus with a scathing letter. This costs Lotus more and will probably generate
more attention than a mere boycott of Improv will accomplish. After Dec 31,
feel free to boycott.
The Lotus Graphing OBJECT is designed to allow other apps to attach to it so
Improv really includes TWO separate program "objects" Improv and the
graphing program.
WordPerfect-NeXT is nice. It's a wysiwyg version of WP on the PC (version 5
I think....).
Version 2.0 :
- fixes the "anybody on the net can set the clock" problem.
- improves the directory browser allowing often-used directories to be
placed in a "directory dock" (for lack of a better term).
- replaces the black-hole icon w/ a recycle icon. (Boo-Hiss!).
- allows multi-headed cubes (up to 3 NeXT dimensions + 1 Mono/Color).
- speeds up app launching. (how much is v2.0 & how much is 68040??).
- (probably lots of other things I was to over-whelmed to notice).
The NeXT techno-dude (John ???) from Cincinatti made the following statements:
1) All new Lotus products will come out on NeXT first. (before ANY other
platform).
2) The "68040 problems" are ONLY problems for HP. Apparently, HP asked Moto
to include certain features in the chip that were VERY important to the
operation of an HP product line (Apollo??) and these features are not
working correctly. Conclusion : Tough luck HP, we're shipping merch!!
(I would personally place this statement in the RUMOR column!!)
3) The 68040 NeXT boxes will ship in volume 2nd week of November.
4) The NeXT developer training is offered in Pittsburg & CA. Cost is $1000
plus travel & lodging, etc.
Tyler
PS: Standard Disclaimers Apply.jacob@gore.com (Jacob Gore) (11/01/90)
/ tgingric@magnus.ircc.ohio-state.edu (Tyler S Gingrich) / Oct 31, 1990 / > (For those of you who want to Boycott Lotus, I recommend buying your NeXT > before Dec 31, acquire the free > copy of Improv, try it out (so you know what it does), BUY somebody else's > spreadsheet (like Ashton-Tate's), and mail the used copy of Improv back to > Lotus with a scathing letter. Not Ashton-Tate. They are on the same list: Apple, Ashton-Tate, Lotus, Xerox (in alphabetical order). Lest people forget in all this new hype about Lotus and A-T, Wingz is still a spreadsheet... Jacob -- Jacob Gore Jacob@Gore.Com boulder!gore!jacob
eboltz@jhuvms.hcf.jhu.edu (Eric S. Boltz) (11/01/90)
> Lest people forget in all this new hype about Lotus and A-T, Wingz is still > a spreadsheet... Haven't seen the NeXT version but it's probably the best spreadsheet for the mac. Especially the 3-D contour plots. -- Eric S. Boltz The Johns Hopkins University eboltz@jhuvms.hcf.jhu.edu