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- Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.system
- Path: sparky!uunet!usc!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!rpi!batcomputer!lynx.msc.cornell.edu!esther.msc.cornell.edu!maynard
- From: maynard@esther.msc.cornell.edu (Maynard J. Handley)
- Subject: Windows NT (Not a flame.)
- Message-ID: <1992Jul21.124631.8584@msc.cornell.edu>
- Sender: news@msc.cornell.edu
- Organization: Cornell-Materials-Science-Center
- Date: Tue, 21 Jul 1992 12:46:31 GMT
- Lines: 37
-
- I've just read the latest Microsoft Systems Journal which contains two
- articles on Windows NT. Man, this is beautiful technology. As a "classic"
- OS, they seem to have learned from the mistakes of practically all their
- predecessors. The article did not discuss networking support, but given the
- artchitecture, it would seem no problem to get that right.
-
- The standard MS problems remain- I don't see much evidence that the
- toolbox/user interface part of NT are up to par with the MacOS yet.
- However, and this seemed vey interesting, given the way the OS is designed,
- I can't see why it couldn't run on an RS6000 or 68K CPU and have a Mac API
- support subsystem, like the Win32, DOS and POSIX API support subsystems.
- Thus we would have the advantage of a decent OS, along with a decent UI.
-
- MS is pushing this thing for all its worth, and they don't seem to have
- screwed up yet- $69 beta SDKs were clearly a very good idea. Given the way
- this degree in which NT will look and feel like Win 3 successors, I see
- this taking over not only the dOS market, but also the UNIX market- I saw
- lots in NT I can't get from UNIX, and nothing UNIX gives me that I want,
- and which isn't in NT.
-
- Questions: (This is not a flame about look and feel. If you don't know the
- difference between an OS and a UI, please keep your ignorance to yourself.
- Sorry to be harsh, bu we all know how these things turn out.)
- How does Apple plan to compete? Is the micro-kernel MacOS a reality? Will
- AUX4/AIX offer the MP, multi-threading and security of WinNT, AND be the OS
- for every Mac to use? We hear about how great object-orientation is (and I
- agree completely- I now shudder at the thought of coding in anything but
- C++) but what does object-orientation for OS get you, that a decent C++ API
- to a traditional OS does not? Ie, what will be in Taligent to make it have
- a hope in hell of competing against two years moment of WinNT?
-
- Will Apple have to face the inevitable, and become a sort of high level
- utility provider company, selling modules for the WinNT kernel that give it
- a decent user interface with all the Mac customizability and ease of use we
- expect?
-
- Maynard Handley
-