Nextstep

Infobox_OS
name = Nextstep


caption = Nextstep graphical user interface
developer = NeXT
family = Unix
version_number = Varies
source_model = Proprietary software/closed source
latest_release_version = 3.3
latest_release_date = 1995
kernel_type = Hybrid kernel
ui =
license = Proprietary EULA
working_state = Historic – is code base for OS X.
website =
supported_platforms = Motorola 68000, Intel x86, SPARC, PA-RISC

Nextstep was the original object-oriented, multitasking operating system that NeXT Computer developed to run on its range of proprietary computers, such as the NeXTcube. Nextstep 1.0 was released on September 18, 1989 after several previews starting in 1986.Fact|date=September 2008 The last version, 3.3, was released in early 1995, by which time it ran not only on Motorola 68000 family processors, but also IBM PC compatible x86, Sun SPARC, and HP PA-RISC. Apple Inc.'s Mac OS X is a direct descendant of Nextstep.

Description

Nextstep was a combination of several parts:
* a Unix operating system based on the Mach kernel, plus source code from BSD Unix
* Display PostScript and a windowing engine
* the Objective-C language and runtime
* an object-oriented (OO) application layer, including several "kits"
* development tools for the OO layers

Nextstep was notable for the last three items. The toolkits offered considerable power, and were used to build all of the software on the machine. Distinctive features of the Objective-C language made the writing of applications with Nextstep far easier than on many competing systems, and the system was often pointed to as a paragon of computer development, even a decade later.

Nextstep's user interface was refined and consistent, and introduced the idea of the Dock, carried through OpenStep and into Mac OS X, and the Shelf. Nextstep also created or was among the very first to include a large number of other GUI concepts now common in other operating systems: 3D "chiseled" widgets, large full-color icons, system-wide drag and drop of a wide range of objects beyond file icons, system-wide piped services, real-time scrolling and window dragging, properties dialog boxes ("inspectors"), window modification notices (such as the saved status of a file), etc. The system was among the first general-purpose user interfaces to handle publishing color standards, transparency, sophisticated sound and music processing (through a Motorola 56000 DSP), advanced graphics primitives, internationalization, and modern typography, in a consistent manner across all applications.

Additional kits were added to the product line to make the system more attractive. These included Portable Distributed Objects (PDO), which allowed easy remote invocation, and Enterprise Objects Framework, a powerful object-relational database system. The kits made the system particularly interesting to custom application programmers, and Nextstep had a long history in the financial programming community.

Naming

The name was officially capitalized in many different ways, initially NextStep, then NeXTstep, and also NeXTSTEP. It became NEXTSTEP (all capitals) only at the end of its life. The capitalization most commonly used by "insiders" is "NeXTstep". The confusion continued after the release of the OpenStep standard, when NeXT released what was effectively an OpenStep-compliant version of Nextstep with the name Openstep.

Influence

The first web browser, WorldWideWeb, was developed on the Nextstep platform. Some features and keyboard shortcuts now commonly found in web browsers can be traced to Nextstep conventions. The basic layout options of HTML 1.0 and 2.0 are attributable to those features available in NeXT's Text class. [ [http://www.w3.org/People/Berners-Lee/WorldWideWeb Tim Berners-Lee: WorldWideWeb, the first Web client ] ] The game "Doom" was also largely developed on NeXT machines, [ [http://rome.ro/2006/12/apple-next-merger-birthday.html John Romero of id Software talks about development of Doom on NeXT] ] as was Macromedia FreeHand, the modern "Notebook" interface for Mathematica, and the advanced spreadsheet Lotus Improv.

About the time of the 3.2 release, NeXT teamed up with Sun Microsystems to develop OpenStep, a cross-platform standard, and implementations of that standard (for Sun Solaris, Microsoft Windows, and NeXT's version of the Mach kernel), based on Nextstep 3.2. The implementation for NeXT's version of the Mach kernel was called "Openstep for Mach"; the 4.0 release of that was the successor to Nextstep 3.2. Following an announcement on December 20, 1996, [cite press release | title = Apple Computer, Inc. Agrees to Acquire NeXT Software Inc. | publisher = Apple Computer, Inc. | Date = 1996-12-20 | url = http://web.archive.org/web/19970301172356/http://live.apple.com/next/961220.pr.rel.next.html ] on February 4, 1997, Apple Computer acquired NeXT for $427 million, and used the Openstep for Mach operating system as the basis for Mac OS X. [cite book | title=Apple Confidential: The Real Story of Apple Computer, Inc | last=Linzmayer | first=Owen W. | year=1999]

A free software implementation of the OpenStep standard, GNUstep, also exists.

Versions

Versions up to 3.3 were published, the last version 3.3 after purchase of NeXT by Apple

ee also

*OpenStep
*Miller Columns, the method of directory browsing that Nextstep's File Viewer used.
*GNUstep, a free software implementation of OpenStep
*Window Maker, a window manager designed to emulate the NeXT GUI for Linux and others
*Mac OS X Direct code descendant of Nextstep, after NeXT and Apple merged

Notes

References

External links

* [http://www.nextarchive.net NeXTarchive.net – The Last Outpost: This Community keeps NeXTSTEP / OpenStep / Rhapsody alive with new software and patches]
* [http://www.objectfarm.org/Activities/Publications/TheMerger/OpenstepConfusion.html A complete guide to the confusing series of names applied to the system]
*
* [http://www.nextcomputers.org NeXTComputers.org]
* [http://youtube.com/watch?v=j02b8Fuz73A Video of Steve Jobs Demo'ing NeXTSTEP Release 3 (YouTube)]