NeXT Nugget News Digest (vol. 5, issue 3, October 15, 1992) TABLE OF CONTENTS I. GUN (New York City NeXT User Group) October 14th Meeting II. Major NeXT FTP Archive Sites III. NeXT Computer Provides Large Productivity Increase At Swiss Bank IV. Optical Disk Drives for the NeXT V. Xanthus Ships CraftMan 1.1, Multimedia Programming for NeXTSTEP 3.0 VI. NeXTSTEP MiniExample Release Available - September 1992 VII. NeXTwatch Magazine Update VIII. Mac Emulator: Executor for NeXTSTEP Shipping from Abacus IX. Xedoc Announces Netinfo for SPARC Server, Auspex and Solbourne X. ADB Compatible Keyboards from NeXT XI. Item of the week: NeXTSTEP Wins Another Award This is vol. 5, issue 3 of the 1992 NeXT NUGGET NEWS DIGEST - a collection of items of interest for the NeXT User Group members. There are more than 385 NeXT User Groups in 38 countries on all continents around the world. To submit articles or announcements to appear in the Nugget Digest, please send your contributions to the following address: user_groups@next.com. All previous Nugget News Digest issues are archived at the Purdue ftp archive site: sonata.cc.purdue.edu under the following Mailbox format files and directories: April - June, 1992: /pub/next/submissions/Nugget_News_Digest_Q2_1992.tar.Z July - September, 1992: /pub/next/submissions/Nugget_News_Digest_Q3_1992.tar.Z Conrad Geiger Manager, International NeXT User Groups P.S. To be added or deleted from this distribution, please send email to "nugget@next.com." ____________________________________________________________________ I. GUN (New York City NeXT User Group) October 14th Meeting Hello, All NeXT enthusiasts in the New City area are invited to attend this special October 14th Gotham Users of NeXT user group meeting this Wednesday: see below... conrad geiger International NeXT User Groups P.S. I look forward to seeing you there! GUN (NYC NeXT USER GROUP) SPECIAL MEETING WITH THE NEW YORK MAC USERS GROUP Time: Wednesday, October 14th, 7:00PM Place: Martin Luther King High School 123 Amsterdam Avenue (at West 66th Street), New York, NY AGENDA I. NYMUG Elections - 7:00 pm II. GUN Presentation - 8:00 pm 1. Introduction Paul Murphy, GUN 2. NeXT Overview Mike Slade, Mitch Green (NeXT Computer, Inc.) 3. DTP and Graphics Jim Cornacchia (Electronic Directions) John Budocovic Bill Bumgarner (Stone Design) 4. Telecommunications Ray Bloom (Marble) III. Closing Q & A - 9:30 pm Martin Luther King High School 123 Amsterdam Avenue (at West 66th Street), New York, NY 212/ 874-1202 Questions to GUN at 718-260-9848 ____________________________________________________________________ II. Major NeXT FTP Archive Sites For those wishing to check out the latest in public domain NeXT applications, tools, demos, and technical notes, here are the major ftp archives sites for NeXT: sonata.cc.purdue.edu (Purdue) pub/next cs.orst.edu (Oregon State) pub/next etlport.etl.go.jp (Japan) src.doc.ic.ac.uk (UK) pellns.alleg.edu (Allegheny College) pub (academic apps) otter.stanford.edu (mathematica) roxette.mty.itesm.mx (Mexico) pub/next In Europe: rusvm1.rus.uni-stuttgart.de /pub/next fiasko.rz-berlin.mpg.de ftp.informatik.uni-muenchen.de /pub/next atlas.physchem.chemie.uni-tuebingen.de iesd.auc.dk pub/next nic.funet.fi pub/next ____________________________________________________________________ III. NeXT Computer Provides Large Productivity Increase At Swiss Bank News FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Noiseworks Nick Hayes or Alison Campbell Tel. 0628 522122 NeXT Computer Provides Large Productivity Increase At Swiss Bank Internationally Accepted Measurement Rating Shows 100% Improvement Per Man Month Heathrow, 10th September 1992 - NeXT Computer UK today announced that the London-based branch of Swiss Bank Corporation (SBC), a leading investment bank, has measured large productivity gains developing software in the NeXT environment. The results of a three month UK study in London show an increase in productivity of 50-100% in the number of function points per man month after switching to NeXT. `Function Point Analysis' is an internationally accepted measurement system for ratifying individual productivity levels. On the strength of these findings, Swiss Bank Corporation now plans to double the number of NeXT workstations it uses for software development. In the UK, SBC has over 50 NeXT machines, with the majority in use on the trading floor. In addition to accessing SBC's custom developed client databases, foreign exchange and trading systems, the traders utilise other productivity applications such as Wingz, WordPerfect and NeXTmail. The company introduced Albrecht function points to measure its development productivity in early 1991, quantifying functions points achieved in man months for the past six months. Before NeXT workstations were introduced to SBC, all development was carried out using C++ and TELON. SBC uses NeXTSTEP, NeXT's pioneering object-oriented development environment, and Objective-C, linking to Sybase databases running on SPARC servers. NeXTSTEP allows SBC to implement faster prototyping than possible on any other platform. Al-Noor Ramji, SBC's executive director of information systems, explained: "These are significant productivity gains, with the tangible cost savings clearly apparent. I don't believe we could get close to these productivity levels with any other software development tools on the market today. We have focused on a particular type of application so far and we need to prove that these gains hold for other types also." Devised by Dr Allen Albrecht of IBM, function points provide a way to measure the level of functionality of a system. The number of function points produced per man-day is an accurate measure of development productivity because: - Function points measure functions delivered, not effort or program size; - Function points are language and machine independent; - Function points are intelligible to users; - The measure is independent of changes in information systems and user organisations; - Reference data is available from several sources. Function points are recognised by the NCC and CCTA, and a European Function Point Analysis User Group was recently established. Swiss Bank Corporation is the second largest bank in Switzerland and one of the top 20 banks worldwide. The London office - opened in 1898 - was the first branch established outside Switzerland and is one of the largest and most important centres in SBC's international network. The Bank offers a full range of services and financial solutions to corporate, institutional and private clients using the latest financial analysis tools and resources available. NeXT Computer, Inc. designs, manufactures and markets professional workstations based on its NeXTSTEP object-oriented system software. NeXT computers are used by medium and large organisations to develop and deploy mission-critical custom applications, which can run alongside a robust suite of advanced productivity applications and share the same user interface. ____________________________________________________________________ IV. Optical Disk Drives for the NeXT FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE For more information: Radiant Technology voice: 303-762-6059 fax: 303-681-2204 e-mail: doreen@radiant.com COMPLETE LINE OF OPTICAL DRIVE PRODUCTS FOR NeXT COMPUTERS Denver Colorado, September 23, 1992 Radiant Technology announces the availability of their complete line of optical disk drive products for NeXT computers. These products include optical products from manufacturers like Panasonic, Maxtor, and Pinnacle Micro, all of which support ANSI/ISO standards, and all of which are very competitively priced. Radiant offers a range of capacities from 128 MB to 1 GB with average access times starting at 19 ms! Radiant is pleased to announce as part of its line, the Optical Hard Drive from Pinnacle Micro. It boasts an industry leading 19ms access time, bringing to the market the benefits of a 650 MB optical drive with the access time of a hard drive! Furthermore, Radiant is offering the RT-650PM at the introductory price of $XXXX, a 30% reduction over slower drives in its class from leading manufacturers. Look for the RT-128PM, a 128 megabyte 19 ms access time optical drive, and the RT-1000P, a 1GB optical drive, later this fall. The optical solution is perfect for users who need removable high capacity storage and the random access capability required by applications such as multi-media, desktop publishing, digital video and audio, document processing, and imaging. Radiant's optical products feature the following advantages: - High speed removable media for unlimited storage - ISO compatibility for transporting data between multiple platforms - High speed random access times approaching, and in cases exceeding, some hard disk drives - Reliable rewritable media with up to a 40 year shelf life - Low cost erasable optical disks (the lowest cost random access data solution available!) - Free 24 hour technical support - One year manufacturer's warranty - Sub-systems include documentation, installation software, and cables SUMMARY: A full line of optical storage products is available from Radiant Technology in the following configurations: Product Capacity Access Transfer Availability (MB) time rate(B/s) RT-128PM 128 19ms 1.36MB November RT-128P 128 40ms 640KB Now RT-650PM 650 19ms 1.36MB Now RT-1000TT 650/1000 35ms 1.00MB Now RT-1000P 1000 90ms 522-983KB October 30 day money back guarantee and extended warranty. ____________________________________________________________________ V. Xanthus International Ships CraftMan 1.1, Multimedia Programming for NeXTSTEP 3.0 Stockholm, September 22, 1992 - Xanthus International AB today announced that it is shipping CraftMan 1.1, its multimedia programming tool for the NeXT computer platform. CraftMan 1.1 is designed to run under NeXTSTEP 3.0. Aimed at both commercial and in-house corporate developers as well as multimedia artists, CraftMan is a complete tool for building real multimedia applications for the NeXT platform. For example, CraftMan can be used to create impressive presentations and highly efficient computer-based training applications, as well as to build graphical interfaces to other applications. In addition, it is an ideal tool for rapidly prototyping applications with real functionality. "CraftMan has many things in common with tools like HyperCard for the Apple Macintosh and Visual Basic for Windows," says Jesper Lundh, marketing manager at Xanthus." Basically, it is object-oriented program development for normal computer users. But CraftMan is also carefully designed to grow with the user, so even proficient C-programmers can develop programs in a fraction of the normal development time using CraftMan." CraftMan lets users design complete multimedia applications including the user interface for the NeXT platform without having to program in Objective-C. Instead, users write the necessary program code in the built-in CraftScript language. As a complete tool, CraftMan includes all the building blocks needed for building multimedia applications: - user interface design tools - drawing tools - multimedia object types like image, sound, animation and video - a powerful and easy-to-use object-oriented scripting language The user interface is designed by dragging objects from palettes, importing graphics and sound from any other application and by free-hand drawing. The functionality of the program is defined simply by dragging connectors between objects and by connecting CraftScript code directly to interface objects like buttons, sliders and text-fields. CraftMan takes full advantage of NeXT's multimedia capabilities, including 32-bit color PostScript graphics with alpha channel for portraying transparency; CD-quality stereo sound; on-screen video; and animation. For example, partly transparent animation objects can run "over" any other object, and graphics can be displayed "over" live video. The built-in scripting language CraftScript is a user-friendly, truly object-oriented language that can be used even by non-programmers. With CraftScript, users can build complete scripts by simply selecting language components from a list. CraftMan is fully integrated with the NeXTSTEP operating environment and can control other NeXTSTEP applications and exchange data by sending CraftScript messages to them. CraftMan is also delivered with a run-time module that makes it possible to freely distribute CraftMan programs. The run-time module can run CraftMan programs but not edit them, making it easy for many users to run the same CraftMan programs without having to purchase more than one copy of CraftMan. CraftMan 1.1 is available now. For more information about CraftMan, please contact craftman@xanthus.se Xanthus International, headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden, is a privately owned software development company that specializes in the NeXTSTEP platform. CraftMan is the first in a series of general-purpose productivity tools for NeXTSTEP. Xanthus International was founded in 1990. ____________________________________________________________________ VI. NeXTSTEP MiniExample Release Available - September 1992 From: mai_nguyen@next.com Subject: MiniExample Release - September 92 Date: 8 Oct 92 23:30:43 GMT Hi: MiniExamples are small programming examples provided by NeXT Developer Support. Each one contains its own README file. If you are interested, you can get the examples via anonymous ftp (file transfer protocol) from one of the following Internet archive servers. Note that they may still be in /pub/next/submissions. ________________________________________________________ hostname MiniExamples-directory ________________________________________________________ cs.orst.edu pub/next/documents/NeXTanswers/MiniExamples/3.0Release (may still be in pub/next/submissions) sonata.cc.purdue.edu pub/next/docs/MiniExamples (may still be in pub/next/submissions) The September 92 Release contains 8 miniexamples for the 3.0 NeXTStep Release. 7 of them are DBKit MiniExamples. AssociationExample shows how you can attach a qualifier to your fetch on the detail fetchgroup in the case of a one-to-many relationship. BarChart demonstrates how to use the DBCustomAssociation protocol with your UI object to retrieve or set values to your database. BooleanFormatter shows how to translate 0/1 values of your database into YES/NO strings. OrderByTest shows how to change the sort order every time the columns in your tableview are rearranged. QuickApp is a simple workaround for fetching records with a qualifier built from one-to-one relationship attributes. RadioAssociation provides an extension to the Matrix class so that you can connect radio buttons to integer attributes of your module. TableViewExample shows how you can set up your own tableview programmatically without using Interface Builder. TIFFandEPS shows how to open EPS or TIFF images and save them back as EPS or TIFF, converting the image in the process. This version has been upgraded to 3.0. Enjoy! mai Developer Support ____________________________________________________________________ VII. NeXTwatch Magazine Update Arthur C. Kyle ack@skylee.com (NeXTmail) Editor-in-chief, NeXTwatch Skylee Press PO Box 471645, San Francisco, CA 94147-1645 USA Tel: 415-474-7803 Fax: 415-474-7896 NeXTwatch(tm) The NeXTSTEP(tm) Information Resource NeXTwatch is-- Informative--NeXTwatch will help you understand and use your NeXTstep computer more fully and keep you up-to-date on the rapidly expanding NeXT market. Monthly--As an 8-24 page newsletter, our lead time is short--typically about a week--so you get the latest information. Responsive--Our articles and reviews address the issues and products you need to hear about and we work hard to give you the complete picture. If a topic is too large to be covered in one article (such as networking), we'll split it up over several months rather than give you an incomplete sketch. We give you complete descriptions of products, both their defects and their benefits, so that you can make informed decisions. NeXTwatch isn't-- Glossy--We don't spend money on slick paper or color covers. Instead, with the help of a top-notch graphic designer, NeXTwatch is an easy-to-read, informative, concise, and helpful resource. Ad-driven--NeXTwatch accepts no advertising. Our editorial policy isn't influenced by vendors so if we praise a product, you can be sure it deserves it. You'll find our criticisms straightforward and helpful in deciding what products you'll buy. We accept review copies of software, and will tell you so if we review them. Expensive--A one year subscription is $30* (12 issues), $3 for a single copy. An inexpensive way to increase your knowledge of and control over your NeXT computer. To subscribe, send your postal address and check; money order; or Visa/MasterCard number, expiration date, and signature to Skylee Press PO Box 471645 San Francisco, CA 94147-1645 415-474-7803 415-474-7896 fax nextwatch@skylee.com *California residents please add $2.55 sales tax. *Canadian subscriptions are $34 for 12 issues. *Overseas subscriptions are $50 for 12 issues. NeXTwatch Back Issues Available from Skylee Press for $3 per issue.* Issue 1 January 8 pages Third-party market (editorial) Mac-NeXT connectivity Black Magic (UNIX help) Issue 2 February 10 pages Three dock extenders reviewed Expo coverage & the future (editorial) NeXT Software Update Black Magic Issue 3 March 16 pages Five backup apps reviewed Seven commercial IB palettes/objects reviewed NeXT Software Update Black Magic Reader Survey Issue 4 April 16 pages Concurrence and DataPhile reviews NeXT Software Update Software in the Mist (announced but not shipping) Black Magic Issue 5 May 24 pages CD-ROM software disk reviews Graphic design tools and utilities NeXT Software Update Software in the Mist Black Magic Issue 6 June 20 pages About NeXTwatch Modem and telecommunications software reviewed SLIP and Internet services reviewed NeXT Software Update Software in the Mist What's New? (Recent announcements of particular interest) Black Magic Issue 7 July 28 pages SBook and SpeedDex reviewed Who's Calling? and OnDuty reviewed VirtSpace reviewed Modem update NeXT Software Update Software in the Mist What's New? Black Magic NeXTwatch is a joint production of Skylee Press and The Shaman Group: Arthur C. Kyle, Editor-in-Chief, and Jiro Nakamura, Technical Editor. NeXT, NeXTSTEP and NeXTwatch are trademarks of NeXT Computer, Inc. and NeXTwatch is used herein pursuant to license. NeXTwatch is not affiliated with NeXT Computer, Inc. ____________________________________________________________________ VIII. Mac Emulator: Executor for NeXTSTEP Shipping from Abacus For more information: E-mail: questions@ardi.com NeXTmail: questions@ardi.com Abacus R&D, Inc. FAX: +1 505 247 1899 1650 University Blvd., NE Phone: +1 505 766 9115 Albuquerque, NM 87102 FTP: see below ABACUS RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT ANNOUNCES NEW NeXTSTEP VERSION OF EXECUTOR(tm), THEIR MACINTOSH(r) EMULATOR ALBUQUERQUE, New Mexico, September 28, 1992 - Abacus R&D, Inc. (ARDI) began shipping copies of Executor 1.2.1 today. Executor is an application that allows programs originally written on a Macintosh to run on a non-Macintosh. Currently Executor is available for NeXT computers only. Executor is FAST: On a 25 MHz NeXTstation, Executor calculates twenty-six times faster than a Macintosh Classic and can perform graphics up to ten times as fast as a Macintosh Classic. Executor 1.2.1 allows Excel 4.0 to run, an application that didn't run under Executor 1.2. In addition, two bugs that affect NeXTSTEP 3.0 users have been fixed. Executor 1.2.1 is able to run more applications than Executor 1.2 was able to. Some of the programs that run very well under Executor include: Word 4, Word 5, Excel 3, Excel 4, Quicken 3.0, Managing Your Money 4.0, Where in Time is Carmen Sandiego and SimAnt. Applications that haven't been tested as thoroughly and may have Quirks include: Crystal Quest 2.20Z, CricketGraph 1.3.2, FileMaker Pro 1.0v2, Fontographer 3.5, MacInTax 1992 9.01, MacPaint 2.0, MacProject II 2.5v1, MacWrite II 1.1v1, MacMoney V3.52 and Resolve Showing promise, but not useable in Executor 1.2.1 are: ClarisCAD, HyperCard, MacDraw II, MacDraw Pro, PageMaker and Quark XPress Executor 1.2.1 has a suggested retail price of $XXX and a suggested retail educational price of $XXX. Both educational and non-educational purchasers of Executor 1.2.1 will receive automatic free updates until October 1, 1993. Executor 1.2.1 is the first version of Executor that is available from a variety of NeXT dealers as well as from ARDI itself. It is also the first version of Executor to come with a three ring manual and slipcase. Current Executor owners will automatically be sent a free update to 1.2.1. Executor 1.3 is due out in December. It will run even more applications and is being ported to a variety of non Motorola 680x0 platforms. A publicly distributable crippled version of Executor, Executor-DEMO4 is available via anonymous ftp in the following places: unmvax.cs.unm.edu:pub/ardi/DEMO/Executor-DEMO4.tar nova.cc.purdue.edu:pub/next/submissions/Executor-DEMO4.tar cs.orst.edu:pub/next/submissions/Executor-DEMO4.tar ARDI is a privately held Delaware Corporation with primary offices in Albuquerque, New Mexico. ARDI was incorporated in 1989 with the mandate to further develop and market the Macintosh compatibility software begun by founder Clifford T. Matthews in 1986. In December of 1991, ARDI was the first company to release a binary Macintosh compatible product that did not require any software from Apple Computer, Inc. Executor is a trademark of Abacus Research and Development, Inc. Macintosh is a registered trademark of Apple Computer, Inc. ____________________________________________________________________ IX. Xedoc Announces Netinfo for Sparc Server, Auspex and Solbourne FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE For more information contact: Emily Brower Phone: (415)777-0270 XEDOC ANNOUNCES NETINFO SPARC SERVER EDITION: ALSO ANNOUNCES MARKETING AGREEMENT WITH AUSPEX AND OEM AGREEMENT WITH SOLBOURNE NEW YORK, September 21, 1992 - Xedoc Software Development Pty. Ltd. (formerly called Codex Software) announced today at UNIX Expo a new version of their network administration software for SPARC workstations, called NetInfo SPARC Server Edition. Xedoc's product is based on NetInfo, network administration software from NeXT Computer. Xedoc also announced a marketing agreement with Auspex of Santa Clara, CA, in which Auspex will help sell and support NetInfo for SPARC Servers, and an OEM agreement with Solbourne Computer of Longmont, CO, in which Solbourne will sell NetInfo Workstation Edition, Xedoc's current product. Network managers operating mixed NeXT and SPARC-based networks can use the NetInfo-based software to administer networks from Solbourne or Auspex servers. Xedox software will be demonstrated on SPARC server hardware from Auspex and Solbourne in the NeXT Computer booth (#521, Jacob Javits Convention Center) at UNIX Expo, which runs from September 22 to September 24. "Our NetInfo SPARC Server Edition has been specifically developed to meet the needs of customers using the products of our new partners, Auspex and Solbourne," said Brett Adam, Director of Marketing. "Our relationships with both these vendors not only validate Xedoc's technology, but reinforce the competitive advantage delivered by NetInfo. They are also further steps forward in our stated commitment to deliver NetInfo on the widest range of platforms possible." NetInfo SPARC Server Edition includes support for AutoConfig, a NetInfo feature which enables automatic configuration of network addresses and host names for network clients. Xedoc is also bundling access to a direct, toll-free hotline for technical support with the new product. NetInfo SPARC Server Edition, which will ship in the fourth quarter of this year for $XXXX per server license, is intended for use with high-end SPARC-based servers, like those offered by Auspex and Solbourne. The company will continue to sell NetInfo SPARC Workstation Edition, which shipped in June of the year, for $XXX per workstation license. Both products enable network administrators to easily manage mixed networks of SPARC-based and NeXT workstations. OEM Agreement with Solbourne Solbourne Computer has licensed NetInfo Workstation Edition and will sell and support a version for its SPARC-compatible symmetric multiprocessing servers. NetInfo will be used to manage networks of NeXT computers using Solbourne servers. "Xedoc is a perfect example of the important role third party developers play in allowing multiple vendors to participate in exciting technology advances, " said Travis White, vice president of marketing at Solbourne. "We're proud to be the first to extend this important functionality to symmetric multiprocessing SPARC server users." Marketing Agreement with Auspex Auspex Systems and Xedoc also announced a joint marketing agreement for the sale of NetInfo SPARC Server Edition for Auspex NetServers. In the agreement, Xedoc will sell NetInfo SPARC Server Edition and Auspex will provide the first line of support for customers installing the software on their server hardware. "NetInfo SPARC Server Edition gives a significant boost in efficiency and management support to networks of NeXT workstations served by Auspex NetServers," said Ken Kark, Auspex's channels marketing manager. "Xedoc's software development expertise for NeXT systems is unmatched P in particular, the firm's specialized knowledge of heterogeneous NeXT/Sun Microsystems network environments and our SPARC-based systems. Combined with Xedoc's strong commitment to customer service, this superior experience will make Xedoc NetInfo Editions a standard for the industry." About NetInfo SPARC Server Edition and Workstation Edition NetInfo for SPARC systems improves upon traditional "file configuration" based network administration used in UNIX networking with new tools that provide hierarchical access to configuration information and fast, automatic propagation of that information. It is based on NetInfo, network administration software from NeXT Computer of Redwood City, CA, and is one hundred percent compatible with that product. Network managers operating mixed NeXT and SPARC-based networks can use all the graphical tools provided on NeXT systems to administer the entire network. NetInfo is a complete "drop in" replacement for Network Information System (NIS), network administration software for Sun workstations from Sun Microsystems. It can replace NIS or work with it. Like hierarchical file directories, hierarchical NetInfo domains provide organization and structure to network administration data. Domains allow information to be stored either locally, departmentally or throughout an organizations network - efficiently, effectively and where it's needed most. NetInfo also provides quick, automatic updates of changes to the network database. It does this by propagating only the changes to the database rather than the entire database as NIS does. In addition, NetInfo SPARC Server Edition supports distributed administration and auto configuration. Distributed administration allows network managers to access NetInfo databases and make changes from any system in the network. Auto configuration provides tools for automatic addition of new hosts to an existing network, reducing the addition of a new system to a few simple steps. About Xedoc Xedoc Software Development Pty. Ltd., located in Albert Park, Victoria, Australia, is a software development company specializing in network development and management tools. The company also develops and sells XEvents, a developer toolkit for creating network applications for Macintosh, Sun and NeXT computers. -30- NetInfo SPARC Server Edition and NetInfo Workstation Edition are trademarks of Xedoc Software Development Pty. Ltd. NeXT is a trademark of NeXT Computer, Inc. All other products or companies mentioned are trademarked by their respective holders. ____________________________________________________________________ X. ADB Compatible Keyboards from NeXT NeXT Announcement October 1, 1992 All NeXT systems are now ADB-compatible Starting October 1, 1992, NeXT is standardizing on ADB-compatible hardware. Because of the advantages of the new ADB keyboard and mouse, NeXT has decided to support this system enhancement across the entire product family. The NeXTstation, NeXTstation Turbo, NeXTstation Color, NeXTcube Turbo systems along with the NeXTstation Color Turbo system are now fully compatible with NeXT's new ADB Keyboard and Mouse. Effective late October, NeXT will begin shipments of a new ADB-compatible MegaPixel 17" monochrome display. This ADB-compatible 17" monochrome display will replace the old 17" monochrome display. Along with the Sony 17" MegaPixel Color Display and the Hitachi 21" MegaPixel Display, now all NeXT displays are completely ADB-compatible. Now that all products are ADB compatible, the ordering process is very straightforward. All displays work with the same keyboard. There is one Starting Point Kit for all systems, Starting Point Kit 3.0A. The old kit Starting Point Kit 3.0 (N8504-5216) has been taken off the price list. For color systems, the Sound Box 2 supports all color monitors. Note: Because of the need for NeXTSTEP Release 3 to support ADB, new NeXT systems are not downgradable to prior NeXTSTEP releases. You can only run Release 3 on new systems shipped from the factory. _____________________________________________________________________ New Products 17" Megapixel Monochrome Display (N4000B) - ADB compatible keyboard connector - 3 pounds lighter (13 pounds lighter than the "original") - Higher reliability - New footprint 17" MegaPixel Color Display - Fimi (N4001F) - Compatible with the new ADB keyboard and mouse Products Introduced September 1, 1992 17" MegaPixel Color Display - Trinitron (N4006) - Compatible with the new ADB keyboard and mouse - Higher contrast - Flatter display - Universal power supply - Industry leading focus and convergence - 72Hz for rock solid image (compatible at 68Hz with small adjustment) - Fully compliant with NPR-2 regulations for ELF and VLF emissions Starting Point Kit 3.0A (N8504-4996) - For use with all systems - Includes new ADB Keyboard/Mouse - Release 3.0 documentation Sound Box 2 (N4004A) - Re-designed audio board with ADB style keyboard connector ____________________________________________________________________ XI. NeXTSTEP Wins Another Award! You will be pleased to hear NeXT has won "The Industrial Design Award" for NeXTSTEP 3.0 at SMAU, the largest annual Italian computer fair. end