Comments on: Mac OS X: 11 Years Ago

By: Henrik Tornberg

Henrik Tornberg — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 16:50:12 +0000

I’m writing this almost two years after your post was done. We still have Mac OS X! Does this mean we have no innovation in Apple, anymore.
Well.. Yesterday the released the iPhone world wide. I guess most of the innovation will come in those types of new products these days, and not in desktop computers..

By: Rodolfo Castrezana

Rodolfo Castrezana — Tue, 24 Oct 2006 02:41:09 +0000

WOW! Great video.

I’ll ask too: Whereâ€™s the innovation since NeXTSTEP, Apple? Time Machine? Spaces? Oh my.

By: g0rdo

g0rdo — Tue, 24 Oct 2006 01:00:43 +0000

You’ve been dugg!

By: Jim

Jim — Mon, 23 Oct 2006 22:16:11 +0000

i loved next step - it’s so tiger/leopard, or, rather, they are so next

By: Bill Shirley

Bill Shirley — Mon, 23 Oct 2006 00:31:06 +0000

(I bought a NeXT Cube in 1990. I started NextStep programming for a living in 1992, and contined as an OpenStep developer until 1997.)

OS X *IS* NeXTSTEP (or however we should capitalize it).

One of the main UI changes was the main menu. They kept the Mac take-over-screen-real-estate version, or I should say they changed NS to include it. It was considered necessary to keep the Mac OS 9 die hards from freaking out too much.

I have always wanted an option of using the NS style menus, which were very versitile (it would take a whole post to explain them). I’ve always wanted there to be a setting to use the old UI, and I will continue to.

They also removed the dock. Only later to retrieve it, and we all know and use it today.

They also transitioned from 68000 to i86 (and Sparc) architectures, developing the “fat” architectures, which we call “Universal” today. (And put those modifications back into the GNU C Compiler a decade ago). It took years to engineer those changes. The recent ones were MUCH easier for those previous efforts.

By: Robert

Robert — Sun, 22 Oct 2006 22:28:02 +0000

Jason: You can pick them up on ebay, but they’ve still got a pricetag on them.

By: Jason

Jason — Sun, 22 Oct 2006 21:47:01 +0000

Where can I buy this Next machine? No really, I was amazed at some of the functionality and features it had - that we still don’t. I’d say the gui is much better in os x, though.

By: Danny Greg

Danny Greg — Sun, 22 Oct 2006 18:32:19 +0000

Its really funny how Jobs actually persuaded me that NextStep was all i needed!! And yes there are so many similarities, Id probably even choose it over XP!!

By: Bruce

Bruce — Sun, 22 Oct 2006 16:38:06 +0000

Wow! Great find. I always new that OS X was built from NeXT but I had no idea how much of OS X is just a port of NeXT. Wow!

It does make me think, “If this is how things have been since 1993, then where is the innovation?” Sure, most have not experienced OS X, so it’s new to them, but man. I guess it just goes to show that the newest and greatest ideas don’t always get out to the public as fast as we’d like.

Considering how much OS X and NeXT have in common it’s amazing (and a bit concerning) that it has taekn so long for su to get things like multiple desktops. It makes me think that Steve is just holding back features from NeXT so they can incrementally be integrated into OS X. It would be so much better if all the features were included and we could move further ahead of NeXT instead of just pillaging it’s coffin.

By: Robert

Robert — Sun, 22 Oct 2006 12:42:49 +0000

don’t forget the price of this beast though! NeXT computers were EXPENSIVE!

By: Mike

Mike — Sun, 22 Oct 2006 00:07:02 +0000

I don’t feel gipped when watching the video. I just feel (yet again) very grateful for Jobs’ return to Apple (and the acquisition that made it possible).

By: NitRam Den Gale

NitRam Den Gale — Sat, 21 Oct 2006 22:26:28 +0000

Seen this one before while browsing YouTube… Some of the features are actually better in the NextOS than in the current OS X version…

By: Steve

Steve — Sat, 21 Oct 2006 20:18:41 +0000

I had only seen pictures of the NEXT OS. This video is amazing. Great find!

-Steve

By: Cormac

Cormac — Sat, 21 Oct 2006 08:12:18 +0000

I think its actually 1991 or 92 that the demo was filmed and not 1995.

There is a UNIX/Linux window manager called Windowmaker (www.windowmaker.info) that emulates the look and feel of NextStep very accurately, suporting the widget sets and dock and clip concepts. I’ve been using it for years as my preferred work and home environments.. It might even be available to run under X in OSX.

When we bought our first mac (a mini) for the wife.. I was amazed at how many of the concepts had been imported.. albeit multiple desktops were missing.. but of course thats coming soon!

By: aplardi

aplardi — Sat, 21 Oct 2006 03:42:57 +0000

Fantastic video, anyone who hasn’t seen it before has to check this out.

Not only does it show the amazing progress of OS X, but also how fast Steve’s hair is falling out. (sorry, couldn’t resist)

By: jrsh92

jrsh92 — Sat, 21 Oct 2006 01:56:20 +0000

It’s better than old Macs, I guess. It looks like OS X to me.

By: Jacob

Jacob — Sat, 21 Oct 2006 01:52:18 +0000

I see Finder, Pages, the Dock, Excel, the Services menu, Network, the Sidebar, Spotlight, Dictionary…. and that’s only in the first 13 minutes!

By: Josh

Josh — Fri, 20 Oct 2006 23:52:21 +0000

It’s hilarious to hear Steve Jobs saying that anything is better than a Mac.