melling@cs.psu.edu (Michael D Mellinger) (05/07/91)
In article <1991May6.193235.27330@leland.Stanford.EDU> bard@jessica.stanford.edu (David Hopper) writes:
And those of us who have an '030 NeXT and can't afford to upgrade? Well, we
can just go straight to hell, I 'spose. My A1000 has more support. 1/2 :-)
NeXT Step 2.0 runs on the 030 machines. NeXT didn't make some
optimizations to the OS because they wanted to make sure that it ran
on the 030 machines. Let me know when you can get Amiga DOS 2.0 for
your Amiga. Hopefully the 040 board upgrade will be offered for some
time so you will be able to get one. $1000 bucks is not bad for a 3-4
fold increase in speed. If you wait a year, just get the 88K upgrade
instead.
-Mike
BTW, I think we're forgetting that the NeXT 040 upgrade is $1500 for
non-University owners.gblock@csd4.csd.uwm.edu (Gregory R Block) (05/07/91)
From article <m72G7+s&1@cs.psu.edu>, by melling@cs.psu.edu (Michael D Mellinger): > > In article <1991May6.193235.27330@leland.Stanford.EDU> bard@jessica.stanford.edu (David Hopper) writes: > > > And those of us who have an '030 NeXT and can't afford to upgrade? Well, we > can just go straight to hell, I 'spose. My A1000 has more support. 1/2 :-) > > NeXT Step 2.0 runs on the 030 machines. NeXT didn't make some > optimizations to the OS because they wanted to make sure that it ran > on the 030 machines. Let me know when you can get Amiga DOS 2.0 for > your Amiga. Hopefully the 040 board upgrade will be offered for some > time so you will be able to get one. $1000 bucks is not bad for a 3-4 > fold increase in speed. If you wait a year, just get the 88K upgrade > instead. Okay, I'll run this by you again, because I know diddley about the 88k. UNLESS IT IS BACKWARDS COMPATIBLE WITH THE 680X0 LINE, THERE WON'T BE AN AMIGA UPGRADE TO IT. Commodore has no need to leave people in the dust. And if suddenly an Amiga doesn't run Amiga software anymore, is it still an Amiga??? (rhetorical, don't answer) > BTW, I think we're forgetting that the NeXT 040 upgrade is $1500 for > non-University owners. So when is Jobs going to leave the 030 behind? That's the way your message sounds. Like he's letting the 030 hold him back... something you said the NeXT doesn't do. Anyways. Enough babbling, I have work. :) -- All opinions are my own, and not those of my employer. Why? He doesn't know I'm doing this. -Wubba
greg@travis.cica.indiana.edu (Gregory TRAVIS) (05/07/91)
In <11876@uwm.edu> gblock@csd4.csd.uwm.edu (Gregory R Block) writes: >From article <m72G7+s&1@cs.psu.edu>, by melling@cs.psu.edu (Michael D Mellinger): >> NeXT Step 2.0 runs on the 030 machines. NeXT didn't make some >> optimizations to the OS because they wanted to make sure that it ran >> on the 030 machines. This doesn't sound true. DEC has certainly managed to produce operating systems that run on an incredibly wide family of processors. I think NeXT has the expertise to do the same. I suspect the O/S senses the type of processor and uses the appropriate optimizations. >> If you wait a year, just get the 88K upgrade >> instead. >Okay, I'll run this by you again, because I know diddley about the >88k. UNLESS IT IS BACKWARDS COMPATIBLE WITH THE 680X0 LINE, THERE >WON'T BE AN AMIGA UPGRADE TO IT. Commodore has no need to leave >people in the dust. And if suddenly an Amiga doesn't run Amiga >software anymore, is it still an Amiga??? (rhetorical, don't answer) You're making it sound as if Commodore has a choice. I daresay there is a lot more NeXT (and UNIX in general) software that's processor independent than there is Amiga software. Many Amiga packages loudly tout the fact that they're 100% assembly (NewTek's paint, for one). Also, much of Exec itself is coded in assembly. It's going to be a lot more painful to move the average Amiga program from an Amiga 680x0 to and Amiga 88K (or whatever) than it will be for the same UNIX program. The emphasis is different between the two systems. One is constrained in both speed and memory while the other is open-ended in both respects. Which is why you get a totally non-portable implementation like Intuition / Exec on one hand and an easily portable implementation like (NeXTStep/X) / (Mach/UNIX) on the other. To be fair, Exec is probably fairly portable. But its extremely lean character, often touted as an asset, is a liability with larger systems. An embarrasment of riches needs to be policed effectively and Exec just doesn't have the authority. At least not for general-purpose computing systems. Let's look at what's happening wrt. Sun's abandonment of the 680x0 line for the SPARC-based systems. Not too much complaining from the customer base 'cause most applications just need to be recompiled. > >> BTW, I think we're forgetting that the NeXT 040 upgrade is $1500 for >> non-University owners. About what one would pay for a decent '030 board for the Amiga a year ago. Even less. And those board don't come with built-in SCSI/Ethernet/Serial ports/DSP. -- Gregory R. Travis Indiana University, Bloomington IN 47405 greg@cica.indiana.edu Center for Innovative Computer Applications Not an offical pinko of CICA or Indiana University