Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!mit-eddie!uw-beaver!ubc-cs!fornax!laughlin From: laughlin@fornax.UUCP (Bob Laughlin) Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga Subject: Re: WANTED: objective info. on NeXT vs. Amiga Message-ID: <1567@fornax.UUCP> Date: 10 Nov 90 10:09:23 GMT References: <90313.054820DLV101@psuvm.psu.edu> <1990Nov10.045915.4226@nntp-server.caltech.edu> Reply-To: laughlin@lccr.UUCP (Bob Laughlin) Organization: School of Computing Science, Simon Fraser University Lines: 72 The choice between a NeXT and an Amiga is an interesting one. I've had an Amiga for 4 years (first a 1000 then a 2000) and have been working on a NeXT for the last 4 months (sound synthesis). They both have definite and generally non-overlapping pros and cons. The 030 NeXT I've been using is slow at times (not always). I've NEVER waited 5 seconds for an icon to hilight on the Amiga (even a 68000) but you tend to run more things at once on the NeXT, and even if you don't there will be more things running anyway. Waiting 20 seconds for an application to open is tiresome on a fast harddrive (330 meg) equipped computer. A 68000 Amiga loads the 300K of Dpaint3 off my Quantum in less than 2 seconds. Speed is being fixed with 040 NeXTs which will bring it up to a hopefully acceptable level. Even 2.0 on an 030 really speeds up the screen display. The NeXT is driving a lot of software and it shows. Theres also all that swapping going on with virtual memory. The NeXT display is elegant and well thought out. Workbench 1.3 is truly embarrassing. I never use it. The NeXT is a pleasure to use for its GUI and 2.0 is a big improvement. The Amiga has its own 2.0 and from what I've seen its terrific. The 1kx1k pixels on the NeXT make multitasking a lot easier. I don't miss color at all when I'm being productive but I love DigiViewing in 4096+ colors on the Amiga. I think you'd eventually want color on the NeXT but you can't upgrade the grayscale NeXTStation. A 105 meg harddrive NeXTStation would be virtually useless as a stand-alone unit. You need an Ethernet connection or a bigger harddrive, or an optical :< A really good example of whats good about the Amiga is DigiView. $400 for a real blast and a truly useful tool. Amiga SW (and in this case HW) is cheaper for sure, but NeXT has got the big software companies involved (and probably fascinated) right from the start. Its no surprise to me that major players like Lotus would develop for an installed base of 15,000 NeXT's versus the half million U.S. Amigas. The game machine syndrome, the cheesy TV ads, the legendary Commodore management ineptitude <==> versus the professional street-smarts of Steve Jobs AND a truly innovative machine. The Amiga enthusiasts (and obviously the Commodore guys that frequent the net are in that category) are what made the Amiga whatever success it is; not commercially (the games did that) but as a serious machine. Arexx is a good example. IPC on the NeXT is simple and always available. The NeXT guys didn't have to grow into the hardware. The system software is just as elegant and innovative, if not more. The strongest point for the NeXT IMHO is the development environment. Its a dream. I love Objective-C and Interface Builder (for quick prototyping mostly). I've also written large programs for the Amiga. Intuition and the graphics library arn't bad and from what I've heard much better than Macs and IBM equivalents. How the Mac got all that gorgeous software is a mystery to some people. And 2.0 is supposed to make gadget fiddling easier on the Amiga. All NeXTs have a DSP, one of many ways that its on the cutting edge. Amigoids should be proud to be considered competition for the NeXT. The NeXT marketing-persons' idea of competition is no-doubt Macs and Suns (at least the NeXT should get Sun to focus on decent interfaces and more elegant software, and Apple to re-assess the strategy of charging too much for machines that run terrific idiot-proof software). For some of us though the real competition for the NeXT is the Amiga. I greatly admire Steve Jobs for doing so many innovative things with the NeXT. I wish the optical had worked out. I considered getting a NeXT recently but got a GVP 33mHz 030 with 4 megs instead for my aging 68000 2000---it screams. I took into consideration all the SW/HW I'd acquired with the Amiga, and cost---030 was much cheaper. If I had to make the choice of a NeXT or Amiga without already owning one I'd probably get a NeXT. But you'd have to be a gambler (I was when I got the Amiga). It could fail and you'll wait and wait for new software. But if you just wanted terrific software irregardless of anything else you'd get a Mac anyway. In many ways the NeXT is like the Amiga was in '85 only a lot better. But thats to be expected. -- Bob Laughlin laughlin@cs.sfu.ca