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Item 1646160 93/06/16 14:39
From: CGEIGER@NEXT.COM@INET# Internet Gateway
Subject: NEXTSTEP vs. NT - Computerworld Article (June 14, 1993)
Hello,
Here is more great NEXTSTEP press. This is the ComputerWorld article from
this week.
Conrad Geiger International NEXTSTEP User Group Program
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
NextStep 3.1 for Intel: Users say it sizzles on 486 machines and is the best
OOP Platform
Computerworld's Firing Line is an evaluation based on interview the major
users at corporate and educational installation. The product under evaluation
is being used in live application environments.
By research manager Michael L. Sullivan-Trainor June 14, 1993 Computerworld
Magazine "The CW Guide to Object-Oriented Programming" page 121
Next, Inc.'s NextStep for Intel
Evaluators said Next, Inc's NextStep for Intel is a robust implementation of
the operating system and development environment. They were surprised that
performance on the Intel platform exceeded that of Next's proprietary
hardware.
The relative shortfall of commercial applications for NextStep is of
continuing concern. But the evaluators claimed the NextStep development
environment outweighs this issue.
It was more than three years ago that Apple Computer, Inc. co-founder Steve
Jobs started his second Silicon Valley venture.
But the company, Next, in Redwood City, Calif. has not approached the raging
success of Apple. After burning through an estimated $200 million in venture
capital, the company's proprietary hardware and operating environment had
achieve little more than niche status at most user sites.
That may have changed last month. With a blizzard of announcements, Next said
it has abandoned its proprietary hardware to become a software-only company.
The first fruit of that realignment is NextStep 3.1 for Intel, a version of
the Unix operating system and NextStep designed to run on Intel Corp.'s i486
and Pentium processors. Like its predecessor, NextStep for Intel includes the
multithreaded, multitasking Mach operating system kernel and (in the developer
version of the environment) a variety of object-oriented programming tools,
such as the NextStep Interface Builder, for rapid application development.
The evaluators participating in this survey were all beta-test users of
NextStep for Intel. They also used NextStep on Next's proprietary hardware,
some since the Next "Cube" first became available in 1990.
Despite their enthusiasm of NextStep for Intel, the evaluators were concerned
about Next's longevity. They cited the relative shortage of commercial
applications for NextStep -- an estimated 600 vs. more than 50,000 for
Microsoft Corp.'s Windows environment. They were also concerned that Next
would be unable to make NextStep a commercially viable alternative to upcoming
operating systems from Microsoft and other vendors.
Reliability
Based on a variant of the Unix operating system called Mach, NextStep is a
stable and reliable platform, the evaluators said.
The telecommunications firm, which is developing customer service applications
demanding high-speed transaction processing, experienced some programming
difficulties. The evaluators also said NextStep provides a file recovery
mechanism at least equal in capability to other Unix implementations.
Telecom firm: "I've never experienced a failure on NextStep, mostly because
it's a Unix operating system."
Integrator: "We're doing things with NextStep that it doesn't normally
support by extending the development environment."
Performance
If nothing else, NextStep for Intel revealed the performance deficiencies of
Next's now-defunct hardware. Using a variety of name-brand and clone PCs, the
evaluators said NextStep ran considerably faster on the 486 machines than on
the NextStation. None of the evaluators had yet tested NextStep on Intel's
Pentium processor.
Developer: "I was shocked to see how fast it ran, especially on cheap
hardware."
Telecom firm: "We gave it a rigorous performance evaluation...We got a 67%
performance increase compared to the NextStation.
(Second headline, p. 122) USERS WERE CONCERNED ABOUT NEXT'S LONGEVITY BUT GAVE
NEXTSTEP FOR INTEL HIGH RATINGS
Technical Support Next's technical support was difficult to measure, given
that the evaluators had very little need to contact the company. In the few
cases where technical support was required, the evaluators were dealing with
arcane programming issues that had yet to be resolved in the beta-test version
of the operating system.
Documentation was viewed by the evaluators as merely "adequate."
Ease of installation Information systems managers and users know that t
operating system upgrades and installations can be arduous. Many companies,
such a Microsoft with Windows NT and IBM with OS/2 2.1, have now begun to
deliver their operating systems on CD-ROM, a method pioneered by Next more
than three years ago.
Once the physical installation has been completed, NextStep includes a wealth
of utilities for networking and hardware configuration that vastly reduce
installation time. Utilities to connect to Novell Inc.'s NetWare and Apple's
Appleshare can be operated by novice users, evaluators said.
Developer: "I was surprised at how seamlessly everything cam together."
Telecom firm: "It's plug and play. You load it and it goes."
Integrator: "We were able to turn out a new [NextStep-ready] system in an
hour."
Ease of programming
Despite fourth-generation languages, end-user programming tools and the object-
oriented resolution, NextStep still holds sway with these evaluators.
With a wealth programming tools, browsers and an integrated development
environment, NextStep has always garnered rave reviews from developers.
The evaluators said the same of NextStep for Intel. They unanimously agreed
that the object-oriented NextStep development environment reduced programming
efforts by anywhere from three to 100 times those of other platforms and
languages.
Developer: "NextStep is giving us a 100-to-1 magnification over conventional
programming environments."
Telecom firm: It is "the best environment known to mankind for object-
oriented software development. It's not worth talking about because no one
will believe you."
Ease of conversion
The evaluators had all ported applications from NextStep 3.0 (for Next's
proprietary hardware) to NextStep for Intel. All agreed that the porting
effort requires no more work than a simple recompilation.
The developer said he lengthened his porting effort by making unnecessary
changes to his application code. When he ported the code a second time
without changing any code, the conversion to NextStep for Intel went
flawlessly, he said.
Developer: "It was better than [Next] told me it would be. It was a dream."
Integrator: "It was fun to watch developers saying, "I don't believe it. I
[ported an application] in two hours."
Ease of use
The evaluators generally compare the NextStep user interface to the Apple
Macintosh, and they agreed that the Macintosh has a slight edge in usability.
They also said operations such as transferring date a among NextStep
applications were far easier than in Macintosh or Windows applications.
Developer: "Compared to the Macintosh, there are some things that I miss."
Telecom firm: "For end users, it's on par with the Apple Macintosh."
Integrator: "I've put it on the desks of executives who refuse to touch a DOS
or Macintosh system."
Range of services
From a developer perspective, the evaluators said NextStep for Intel has no
peer. Starting with the complement of developer tools such as Interface
Builder and extending to the enhanced and simplified Unix utility programs,
NextStep has few rivals as an operating environment, the evaluators said.
Developer: "Everything a person could think of is in Unix, and Next has
packaged those [Unix] commands into good user interface objects."
GRAPHICS INCLUDED IN ARTICLE:
RATINGS (Bar Chart) Ratings are based on user expectations on a 1-to-5 scale,
where 1 is below expectations and 5 is above expectations. Ratings are
presented in order of importance to users. Microsoft's Windows NT ratings are
based on a separate user evaluation conducted Feb. 22, 1993.
Overall rating NextStep 4.3 Windows NT 3.6
Reliability NextStep 4.3 Windows NT 4.0
Performance NextStep 4.5 Windows NT 3.5
Technical support NextStep 4.3 Windows NT 3.3
Ease of installation NextStep 5.0 Windows NT 2.8
Ease of programming NextStep 5.0 Windows NT 3.3
Ease of conversion NextStep 4.8 Windows NT 3.0
Ease of use NextStep 4.5 Windows NT 4.3
Range of services NextStep 4.8 Windows NT 3.5
FEATURES
NextStep 3.1 for Intel features:
- Runs on Intel i486 or Pentium platforms with a minimum of 8M bytes of RAM
and a 120M-byte hard disk.
- Available in $795 user version or $1,995 developer version
- Supports Ethernet and Token Ring network adapters; PostScript printers;
Microsoft and Logitech mice; and VGA video as 2-bit gray scale.
NEXT RESPONDS
The following are Next's responses to issues raised in this evaluation:
- Availability of commercial software: Next has more productivity and
business applications to serve its customers than any other Unix or
workstation vendor. With SoftPC from Insignia Solutions, Inc., NextStep will
support DOS and Windows applications, providing our customers with access to
that application base. NextStep for Intel will significantly expand the
market for commercial software developers, resulting in many new NextStep
applications during the next few months.
- NextStep and industry standards: Next was the first Unix vendor to
integrate NetWare client software. We have announced that we will support the
Open Software Foundations' (OSF) Distributed Management Environment, the
Object Management Group's Common Object Request Broker Architecture and the
OSF's Distributed Computing Environment standards. Our philosophy is to work
with customers and strategic partners to adopt and seamlessly integrate
industry standards that promote interoperability.
- Challenges: The greatest challenge is getting the word out about NextStep
as broadly as possible and letting customers know how many customers are re-
engineering and automating business processes using NextStep. A first step is
having developers experience the benefits of NextStep. We are offering that
through our $299 evaluation kit.
- Viability in enterprise computing: Our primary market is the corporate
desktop. We offer a combination of strengths that no other operating system
vendor has, including the ability to build client/server applications five to
10 times faster than traditional methods; the ability to deploy extremely
robust, enterprise wide applications; and the ability to make enterprise
computing as easy for the user as stand-alone computing is today.
- Third-party tools: NextStep is open to support tools and languages from
third parties. We currently have third-party support for Fortran, Cobol,
Smalltalk, LISP and a variety of fourth-generation languages.
COMPUTERWORLD Product Evaluation Council
Alamo Rent-A-Car, Inc. Alliant Techsystems, Inc. Amerada Hess Corp. America
West Airlines American Greetings Corp. American Industries, Inc. American
President Cos. AT&T Avon Products, Inc. Barnett Banks, Inc. C.R. Bard, Inc.
Bell Atlantic Corp. Bergen Brunswig Corp Borg Warner Corp. Bradley University
Carolina Freight Carriers Corp. Carolina Power & Light Co. The Chase
Manhattan Bank NA Cigna Corp. Clark Equipment Co. Colonial Williamsburg
Commonwealth Edison Co. Consolidated Freightways Inc. Corestates Financial
Corp. Dresser Industries, Inc. Dr. Pepper Co./The Seven-Up Co. Electronic Data
Systems Corp. Federal Express Corp First National Bank of Chicago FMC Corp.
Federal Reserve Bank Freeport McMoRan, Inc. Fuller Co. Grumman Corp. Guilford
Mills, Inc. Harsco Corp. International Paper Co. Kmart Corp. Lever Brothers
Co. Long Island Lighting Co. Miles, Inc. Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance
Co. MCI Communications Corp. Mellon Bank Corp. Metropolitan Life Insurance Co.
New Mexico State University Northeast Utilities People's Bank PNC Financial
Corp. Preston Corp. Primerica Corp. Prodata, Inc. Public Service Electric &
Gas Co. Ryder System Inc. SCM Office Supplies Group Sprint Corp. Tribune
Broadcasting Unum Life Insurance Co. Witan Industries Worldcorp
=END=