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From: knrgroup@garnet.berkeley.edu (Raymond group)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.misc
Subject: Re: Not another NeXT defector???!!!
Message-ID: <1990Nov6.212848.10254@agate.berkeley.edu>
Date: 6 Nov 90 21:28:48 GMT
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jas@ISI.EDU (Jeff Sullivan) writes about Unix and the NeXT:
>Why would people *want* a UNIX operating system for their HOME or
>OFFICE COMPUTER?  In a programming/technical field, sure, but UNIX
>is just too goddmaned much work for someone who wants to use his or
>her computer rather than maintain it.

Never used a NeXT, eh?  NeXT hides Unix under a GUI that, IMHO, is even
easier to use than a Mac's.  A Unix expert would be hard pressed to 
figure out that Unix was actually running under all the pretty windows
on a NeXT. If you need to do something on a NeXT that you could do on a
Mac, it is as easy or easier to do as on a Mac (with some minor exceptions:
I still prefer the horizontal menu bars on the Mac over the vertical main
menus on the NeXT).  

What Unix does give you is the added functionality that you don't have on
a Mac as of yet: i.e., virtual memory, protected memory, true multi-
tasking, interapplication messaging, etc.  What do all these fancy terms
mean for the average user?  It means that he can get more things done 
in a shorter period of time.  The average user does not have to know what
any of the Unix advantages mean; he/she can just reap their many benefits
in blissful ignorance.

>Maybe most of the NeXTers out there are just programmers who don't
>actually DO anything with their computers but program them, but most
>people who use computers as a tool, rather than an end

As I said, the NeXT is a delightfully easy machine to use.  You would swear
that it was a Mac with a prettier interface.  Remember, creators of the Mac
created the NeXT.  

Already, much of the software on the NeXT outclass their Mac counterparts in
both power and ease-of-use.  Check out the review of Lotus's revolutionary
spreadsheet Improv in the October issue of Byte.  

>Not that there isn't a piece of software to do anything standard, like
>word processing or spreadsheet, but that there's only ONE program to do it.
>What other WP packages are there for neXT besides WriteNow?  What are the
>database options?  Graphics?  Animation?

You want wordprocessing, you have WriteNow, WordPerfect, TeX, FrameMaker,
and Quark Xpress is in the works.  You also have a laser printer at 400
DPI (i.e., 75% denser resolution than a 300 DPI printer) for a fraction of
the price that you'll find for Mac laser printers.  The NeXT laser printer
LIST price is $1700-1800 by the way.

You want database.  You get relational databases like Sybase, Ingres, and 
Oracle (Oracle is in Beta, I think).  You also get Informix and several
different brands of flat-file databases.  The Mac is NOT capable of running
such high-powered databases as Ingres and Oracle effectively.  
There is absolutely no comparison between the NeXT and the Mac in terms of
databases.  The NeXT is an great database machine.  The Mac just doesn't
cut it in this area.  No reputable programmer, database expert, or blue-
suited MIS manager will tell you otherwise.

As for grapics and animation, the NeXT has better hardware for both.  The
NeXT comes standard with a 17-inch one-million pixel monitor and has a 
faster processor.  It also has PostScript for both screen and printing.
There are several drawing programs available, and there will be more as the
new color machines gain popularity.  The NeXTDimension has unmatched 
video processing for its price.  You can do on a NeXTDimension what you can
do on a Silicon Graphics Iris workstation with video for half the price.
A Mac equipped to do similar things would run about $20,000.
An Amiga does video, but is not capable of doing it with the quality or
power that the NeXTDimension provides.

There are legitimate reasons for not buying a NeXT:  such as a large 
investment in other hardware.  However, Unix, wordprocessing, database, and
graphics are big reasons FOR buying a NeXT.