From: jfr@RedBrick.COM ()
Subject: Re: NT / NeXT trivia
Organization: Red Brick Systems, Los Gatos, CA
Date: Mon, 28 Sep 1992 03:54:53 GMT

In article <1992Sep27.150705.2142@lkba.uucp> uunet!lkba!lkb writes:
>In article <1992Sep27.191416.762@prim> prim!dave@germany.eu.net (Dave  
>Griffiths) writes:
>> 
>> It's a lot of work to supply DOS and Windows capability for NS486, and  
>it's
>> my guess that it's too much for NeXT. We'll probably have to buy a special
>> new version of SoftPC. That's why NeXT can promise that the ability to
>> run Windows programs will be there, but become coy on details.
>
>Not only would it be "a lot" of work, but it just might be illegal too.
>I'm not a lawyer, but I can't imagine that anyone could get away with  
>selling their own implementation of Windows, running on the native hardware,  
>without being subject to the "Look and Feel" litigation of todays computer  
>software business.  It is ok to BUY MS-DOS and MS-Windows to run under the  
>SoftPC emulator but is it ok to write a look-alike for these programs?
>I'd love to hear comments about this from any lawyers out there...

  Well, I am not a lawyer (although I am legally trained) and this is
  an issue that is still very far from final determination by either 
  the courts or the legislatures.  In fact, within the past couple of
  months, Federal District Courts have ruled in exact opposite ways 
  on this very issue, in cases involving Lotus (favored Lotus over
  Borland on the "look" issue involving Quattro's duplication of the
  1-2-3 menu style) and Microsoft/Apple (refuted Apple's claim that
  Microsoft's Windows infringed on Apple's "look and feel").  Although
  there are differences in all cases, there is still no real settlement
  of this issue.  

  Executor is a "clone" of the Macintosh running on a NeXT and they
  have not, to the best of my knowledge, been challenged by Apple.
  However, Microsoft very well might try to protect their interest
  in Windows.

  BTW, an interesting product (I don't know the name of it or the
  company) exists on several Motif platforms that supports execution
  of Macintosh programs.  The trick is that it uses Motif objects
  to emulate Mac objects.  Therefore, the code is Mac code but the
  "look" (if not the "feel") is Motif, not Mac.  

  The question here is: do people want to use a familiar environment
  or run a popular program?  And the answer is, it depends.  If you
  expect to put your Mac-trained clerical assistant to work using
  MS Word on a NeXT, MS Word better look EXACTLY like the assistant
  is used to or you have a learning curve.  On the other hand, if you
  have a highly trained professional who simply wants the FUNCTIONALITY
  of a product like MS Excel, maybe code emulation with GUI substitution
  is perfectly acceptable (as opposed to having nothing, or a native
  mode program with no compatibility with the documents you have been
  using on the old platform).  

Jon Rosen
jfr@redbrick.com
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