 | |
 NeXTSTEPgraphical user interface | |
| Developer | NeXT |
|---|---|
| Written in | C,Objective-C |
| OS family | Unix (4.3BSD-Tahoe) |
| Working state | Historic as original code base forDarwin, which was the base formacOS, which in turn was the base ofiOS,iPadOS,watchOS andtvOS |
| Source model | Closed source with someopen-source components |
| Initial release | September 18, 1989; 35 years ago (1989-09-18) |
| Final release | 3.3 / 1995 (1995) |
| Final preview | 4.2 Pre-release 2 / September 1997 |
| Marketing target | Enterprise,academia |
| Package manager | Installer.app |
| Platforms | Motorola 68030/68040,IA-32,SPARC,PA-RISC |
| Kernel type | Hybrid (Mach,BSD) |
| Userland | BSD |
| Default user interface | Graphical |
| License | ProprietaryEULA |
| Succeeded by | OpenStep,Darwin,macOS,iOS,iPadOS,watchOS,tvOS,GNUstep |
NeXTSTEP is a discontinuedobject-oriented,multitaskingoperating system based on theMach kernel and theUNIX-derivedBSD. It was developed byNeXT Computer, founded bySteve Jobs, in the late 1980s and early 1990s and was initially used for its range of proprietaryworkstation computers such as the cube shaped,NeXT Computer. It was later ported to several othercomputer architectures.
Although relatively unsuccessful at the time, it attracted interest from computer scientists and researchers. It hosted the original development of the Electronic AppWrapper,[1] the first commercial electronic software distribution catalog to collectively manage encryption and provide digital rights forapplication software anddigital media, a forerunner of the modern "app store" concept. It is the platform on whichTim Berners-Lee created the firstweb browser, and on whichid Software developed the video gamesDoom andQuake.[2][3]
In 1996,Apple Computer acquired NeXT. Apple needed a successor to theclassic Mac OS, and merged NeXTSTEP andOpenStep with the Macintosh user environment to create Mac OS X. All of Apple's subsequent platforms sinceiPhone OS 1 were then based on Mac OS X (later renamedmacOS).
NeXTSTEP (also stylized asNeXTstep,NeXTStep, andNEXTSTEP[4][5]) is a combination of several parts:
NeXTSTEP is a preeminent implementation of the last three items. The toolkits are the canonical development system for all of the software on the system.
It introduced the idea of theDock (carried throughOpenStep and intomacOS) and theShelf. NeXTSTEP originated or innovated a large number of otherGUI concepts which became common in other operating systems: 3D chiseled widgets, large full-coloricons, system-wide drag and drop of a wide range of objects beyond file icons, system-wide pipedservices, real-time scrolling and window dragging, properties dialog boxes called "inspectors", and window modification notices (such as the saved status of a file). The system is among the first general-purpose user interfaces to handle publishing color standards, transparency, sophisticated sound and music processing (through aMotorola 56000DSP), advancedgraphics primitives, internationalization, and moderntypography, in a consistent manner across all applications.
Additional kits were added to the product line. These include Portable Distributed Objects (PDO), which allow easyremote invocation, andEnterprise Objects Framework, anobject-relationaldatabase system. The kits made the system particularly interesting to custom application programmers, and NeXTSTEP had a long history in the financial programming community.[4]
NeXTSTEP was built upon Mach and BSD, initially4.3BSD-Tahoe. A preview release of NeXTSTEP (version 0.8) was shown with the launch of theNeXT Computer on October 12, 1988. The first full release, NeXTSTEP 1.0, shipped on September 18, 1989.[6] It was updated to4.3BSD-Reno in NeXTSTEP 3.0. The last version, 3.3, was released in early 1995, for theMotorola68000 family based NeXT computers,Intelx86,SunSPARC, andHP PA-RISC-based systems.
NeXT separated the underlying operating system from the application frameworks, producingOpenStep. OpenStep and its applications can run on multiple underlying operating systems, including OPENSTEP,Windows NT, andSolaris. In 1997, it was updated to4.4BSD while assimilated into Apple's development ofRhapsody for x86 and PowerPC. NeXTSTEP's direct descendant is Apple'smacOS, which then yieldediPhone OS 1,iOS,iPadOS,watchOS, andtvOS.
The firstweb browser,WorldWideWeb, and the firstapp store[7] were all invented on the NeXTSTEP platform.
1990 CERN: A Joint proposal for a hypertext system is presented to the management. Mike Sendall buys a NeXT cube for evaluation, and gives it toTim Berners-Lee. Tim's prototype implementation on NeXTSTEP is made in the space of a few months, thanks to the qualities of the NeXTSTEP software development system. This prototype offers WYSIWYG browsing/authoring! Current Web browsers used in "surfing the Internet" are mere passive windows, depriving the user of the possibility to contribute. During some sessions in the CERN cafeteria, Tim and I try to find a catching name for the system. I was determined that the name should not yet again be taken from Greek mythology. Tim proposes "World-Wide Web". I like this very much, except that it is difficult to pronounce in French...
— Robert Cailliau, 2 November 1995[8]
Some features andkeyboard shortcuts now common to web browsers originated in NeXTSTEP conventions. The basic layout options ofHTML 1.0 and 2.0 are attributable to those features of NeXT's Text class.[9]
Lighthouse Design Ltd. developedDiagram!, a drawing tool, originally called BLT (for Box-and-Line Tool) in which objects (boxes) are connected together using "smart links" (lines) to construct diagrams such aflow charts. This basic design can be enhanced by the simple addition of new links and new documents, located anywhere in the local area network, that foreshadowed Tim Berners-Lee's initial prototype that was written on NeXTSTEP in October–December 1990.[citation needed]
In the 1990s, the pioneering PC gamesDoom,Doom II,Quake, and their respective level editors weredeveloped byid Software on NeXT machines. Other games based on theDoom engine such asHeretic and its sequelHexen byRaven Software, andStrife byRogue Entertainment were developed on NeXT hardware using id's tools.[10]
Altsys made the NeXTSTEP application Virtuoso, version 2 of which was ported to Mac OS and Windows to becomeMacromedia FreeHand version 4. The modern "Notebook" interface forMathematica, and the advanced spreadsheetLotus Improv, were developed using NeXTSTEP. The software that controlledMCI's Friends and Family calling plan program was developed using NeXTSTEP.[11][12]
About the time of the release of NeXTSTEP 3.2, NeXT partnered withSun Microsystems to developOpenStep. It is the product of an effort to separate the underlying operating system from the higher-level object libraries to create a cross-platform object-oriented API standard derived from NeXTSTEP.OpenStep was released for Sun'sSolaris,Windows NT, and NeXT'sMach kernel-based operating system. NeXT's implementation is called "OPENSTEP for Mach" and its first release (4.0) superseded NeXTSTEP 3.3 on NeXT, Sun, and IntelIA-32 systems.
Following an announcement on December 20, 1996,[13]Apple Computer acquired NeXT on February 4, 1997, for $429 million. Based upon the "OPENSTEP for Mach" operating system, and developing the OpenStep API to becomeCocoa, Apple created the basis ofMac OS X,[14] and eventually ofiOS,iPadOS,watchOS, andtvOS.
GNUstep is afree software implementation of the OpenStep standard.[15]
| Version | Date | Distribution medium | Architecture | Basis | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0.8 | October 12, 1988 | MO disc | m68k | 4.3BSD-Tahoe | NeXTStepDigital Webster,Complete Works of William Shakespeare,netboot,NFS |
| 0.8a | 1988 | MO disc | m68k | ||
| 0.9 | 1988 | MO disc | m68k | NeXT 0.9/1.0 Release Description | |
| 1.0 | 1989 | MO disc | m68k | ||
| 1.0a | 1989 | MO disc | m68k | Photo of NeXTSTEP 1.0a MO disc | |
| 2.0 | September 18, 1990 | MO disc, CD-ROM | m68k | Support for theNeXTstation,NeXTcube (68040). Support forfloppy disk,CD-ROM,Fax modems, andcolor graphics. Workspace Manager now has the Shelf, copies performed in background, black hole is replaced by recycler icon. Terminal.app. Dynamic loading of drivers.[16][17] | |
| 2.1 | March 25, 1991 | MO disc, CD-ROM | m68k | Support for theNeXTdimension board.TeX, internationalization improvements. New machines with 2.1 includeLotus Improv.[16] | |
| 2.1a | MO disc, CD-ROM | m68k | |||
| 2.2 | CD-ROM | m68k | Support for theNeXTstation Turbo | ||
| 3.0 | September 8, 1992[18] | CD-ROM | m68k | 4.3BSD-Reno | Project Builder,3D support withInteractive RenderMan,Pantone colors,PostScript Level 2,Object Linking and Embedding,Distributed Objects,Database Kit,Phone Kit,Indexing Kit,precompiled headers,HFS,AppleTalk, andNovell NetWare. |
| 3.1 | May 25, 1993 | CD-ROM | m68k, i386 | First release for thei386 architecture, introducingfat binaries. | |
| 3.2 | October 1993 | CD-ROM | m68k, i386 | ||
| 3.3 | February 1995 | CD-ROM | m68k, i386, SPARC, PA-RISC | Support for thePA-RISC andSPARC architectures added, introducing Quad-fat Binaries. Last and most popular version released under the name NEXTSTEP. Referred to as NEXTSTEP/m68k, NEXTSTEP/Intel, NEXTSTEP/SPARC. NEXTSTEP/PA-RISC Delivered on 2 CDs: NeXTSTEPCISC and NeXTSTEPRISC. The Developer CD includes libraries for allarchitectures, so that programs can becross-compiled on any architecture for all architectures. | |
| 4.0 beta | 1996 | CD-ROM | m68k, i386, SPARC, PA-RISC | Very different user interface.[19][20] Notable as being a precursor of many ideas later introduced in themacOS Dock. Allegedly dropped due to complaints of having to re-teach users but not for technical reasons (the new UI worked well in the beta). | |
| 4.0 | July 1996 | CD-ROM | m68k, i386, SPARC | Support for thePA-RISC architecture dropped. Support form68k,i486, andSPARC architectures. Initial Release ofOpenStep forWindows. | |
| 4.1 | January 1997 | CD-ROM | m68k, i386, SPARC | Support for m68k, i486, and SPARC architectures, and OpenStep for Windows, under OPENSTEP Enterprise (NT only). | |
| 4.2 Pre-release 2 | September 1997 | CD-ROM | m68k, i386, SPARC | Pre-release 2 circulated to limited number of developers beforeOpenStep and Apple acquisition. | |
| Rhapsody | August 31, 1997 – October 27, 2000 | CD-ROM | i386, PowerPC | 4.4BSD | Released after theApple acquisition, these are arguably closer to NeXTSTEP and OPENSTEP than toMac OS X. For example, they can still be used as remote display via NXHost.[21] |
Versions up to 4.1 are general releases. OPENSTEP 4.2 pre-release 2 is a bug-fix release published by Apple and supported for five years after its September 1997 release.
MCI used NeXT software to power its revolutionary Friends and Family networking referral campaign, which other rivals couldn't match for years.
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