After failing to create their next-generation Mac OS from scratch, Apple bought NeXT in late 1996 in order to use their platform as the basis of the new Mac OS. They introduced Rhapsody, a project to bring much of NeXT on to Mac hardware, but it required developers to rewrite a lot of their applications, so Apple went back to the drawing board. Mac OS X is built on the foundation that NeXTstep OS was built on, with a lot of revisions, updates and new technology thrown in, plus a much easier upgrade process for devlopers (Carbon API, based on the old Mac OS toolbox).
To put it very simply, if you're using OS X, you are not running MacOS, in the tradition of System 1 through OS 9, but a hybrid of MacOS and NeXTStep OS.
Actually, Apple didn't exactly fail to create the next generation Mac OS (the plan is still here and they haven't implement it). They just choose to replaced the Mac OS with the NeXT OS (Free BSD).
It's a weird move, to suddenly change the primary OS into another OS (especially one bought from another company), personally, the whole thing is quite political.
I personally think that ?they? intentionally put Apple in a bad situation in 1995, just so that Apple had an excuse to bought NeXT and accquired Steve Jobs.
<strong>Apple didn't exactly fail to create the next generation Mac OS (the plan is still here and they haven't implement it).</strong><hr></blockquote>Huh? Please don't tell me you're referring to the long-dead Copland project! [quote]<strong>I personally think that ?they? intentionally put Apple in a bad situation</strong><hr></blockquote>Again, huh? "They" who? I hope I'm not about to hear a wildly contrived conspiracy theory...
I doubt you could run NeXTStep on an old mac anymore than you could run System 7 on an old NeXT Cube. Both computers probably had proprietary ROMs, and different architectures around the CPU.
You can, however, run later versions of NeXTStep, called OpenStep, on a PC. There are also various linux and bsd window managers that copy NeXTStep, such as GNUStep. NeXTStep was very highly regarded by geeks in its time, and even now. It was just way too expensive to run (the hardware prices was astronomical, just like Apple!)
I just hope that in 5 years people won't be running GNU-OS-X to emulate that cool but dead OS from Apple <img src="graemlins/bugeye.gif" border="0" alt="[Skeptical]" />
Comments
It's a Good Thing.
-robo
It's a weird move, to suddenly change the primary OS into another OS (especially one bought from another company), personally, the whole thing is quite political.
I personally think that ?they? intentionally put Apple in a bad situation in 1995, just so that Apple had an excuse to bought NeXT and accquired Steve Jobs.
<strong>Apple didn't exactly fail to create the next generation Mac OS (the plan is still here and they haven't implement it).</strong><hr></blockquote>Huh? Please don't tell me you're referring to the long-dead Copland project! [quote]<strong>I personally think that ?they? intentionally put Apple in a bad situation</strong><hr></blockquote>Again, huh? "They" who? I hope I'm not about to hear a wildly contrived conspiracy theory...
If so where would I get a copy? I'd like to find a use for my old LC
You can, however, run later versions of NeXTStep, called OpenStep, on a PC. There are also various linux and bsd window managers that copy NeXTStep, such as GNUStep. NeXTStep was very highly regarded by geeks in its time, and even now. It was just way too expensive to run (the hardware prices was astronomical, just like Apple!)
I just hope that in 5 years people won't be running GNU-OS-X to emulate that cool but dead OS from Apple <img src="graemlins/bugeye.gif" border="0" alt="[Skeptical]" />
-robo