From: wilcoxt@cuug.ab.ca (Terrance Wilcox 260-8100)
Subject: Re: Macintosh advocacy (really!)
Keywords: NeXT, Mach, Mac, NeXTSTEP, Unix
Organization: Calgary UNIX Users' Group
Date: Thu, 5 Nov 1992 17:07:19 GMT

In article <8jf1cnb@rpi.edu> johnsd2@rpi.edu writes:

>I thot NeXTstep refered to everything graphical, but not the
>kernal or shell.
NeXTSTEP is everything. NeXTSTEP486 will be everything from kernel up.
>
>Id rather run native apps, and thereby take advantage of the
>platforms Im using, whatever it is. I dont see how this makes
>the NeXt superior, tho. Nor do I see the relevance of NeXTSTEP 486.

Its relevance is sales. People would rather buy cheap clones than 
Mac's or NeXTs. The cheap clone buyers need a decent operating system.
>
>|> On a system with logins, like a NeXT, every user has a home directory.  Each
>|> application can store its configuration in a 'rc' file in the current user's
>|> home directory.
>
>Oh gads!
>
>That's aweful!
>
>I thot NeXTSTEP had done away with rc files!
>
I've got 2 rc files in my home directory. I've never looked at them. NeXT 
applications save their defaults in a default database. You never have to
see it. The advantage is that each user has individual defaults. No more
putting up with people that crank the volume and then leave.
>
There was some comment about case sensitivity and deleting files. Why
not just drag them to the recycler?
>
>|> > |> > System Level Print Monitor
>
>Details?
Sure. I select print from the menu. A print panel pops up. I can save,
print, or preview (or fax if I had the modem for it). This is the standard
print panel for all NeXTSTEP apps.
>
>|> > Spiffy. Anything else? I thot it had something like publish&subscribe,
>|> > and Apple-event like stuffs.
>|> 
>|> On some level, yes.  For example, your word processor can bring up the
>|> mail program and stick text into it for you to edit and mail out, etc.
>
>Ok- how widespread is support for this feature?
Pretty much universal. Too many examples to go into detail. You should try
using the machine.
>
>|> Regarding monitors: I don't know about NeXT's, but other unixes in their
>|> general class support multiple monitors well.
>
>No, they don't do so in a useful way. They use X, which knows about
>multiple "displays" but requires you to muck about a bit to
>tell an app where to open its windows. You can't move them around
>on the fly, and its inconvinient, requiring you to know display names.
>
>But as NeXT uses display postscript, I thot it might be different.

The NeXTdimension supports multiple monitors. A cube with multiple CPU
boards supports multiple monitors (in a completely different way).
>
>Hmmm. I dunno, A/UX really doesn't bring that much to the party. I
>think you can reasonably compare NeXTstep and MacOS. Some Macs
>are in teh NeXT performace class, CPU-wise anyway. Tho I understand
>they are pricyer.
When I bought my NeXTstation, the Mac Plus was $1000 educational here in
Calgary. No hard drive, 1 800k floppy, 1 Meg RAM. My station was $3900,
17" monitor, 105 Meg HD, 8 Meg RAM, etc. I didn't have to do much agonizing
over what to buy. The low end modular Mac at the time was as expensive
as the NeXT.

>|> Of course, this would make the Mac look pretty bad on a price-value
>|> basis.
>
>Yeah! None of that! :)
>[actually, I think it depends on what you mean by "value"]
>
Exactly. It's nice to see that attitude. Value is user-dependent. A 486
running Windows 3.1 is valuable to some people, but some of us don't
play Wing Commander, so we think it's of little value :).

Terry Wilcox



Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.advocacy