Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!cs.utexas.edu!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!ucbvax!decwrl!wsl.dec.com!klee From: klee@wsl.dec.com (Ken Lee) Newsgroups: comp.windows.misc Subject: Re: OSF/Motif vs. NeWS vs. SUN/Open Windows vs. ? Message-ID: <2716@bacchus.dec.com> Date: 9 Feb 90 19:36:36 GMT References: <76870@tut.cis.ohio-state.edu> <15521@well.UUCP> <1504@ole.UUCP> <130335@sun.Eng.Sun.COM> <1990Jan17.033134.4139@uncecs.edu> <1752@hjuxa.UUCP> Sender: news@decwrl.dec.com Reply-To: klee@decwrl.dec.com Organization: DEC Western Software Laboratory Lines: 37 There has probably been megabytes of arguments on X vs. NeWS and Motif vs. OpenLook. I think the technical concensus is that there is little practical difference between Motif and Open Look. Also there is little technical difference between X and NeWS, except for very small machines (where X probably wins because of its less complex server) and very unusual machines (where NeWS probably wins because of its high-level-only graphics model). My metric in both cases is efficiency (human time) of typical end users and application programmers. The real reason for choosing, in most sites, will be applications. If you're a software developer, you should choose what your customers are using. If you're a customer, you have to choose from what your vendors are selling. I know that's kind of circular, but that's how capitalism works. Each side can influence the other, though (user groups and advertising). X is winning the window system war because customers require it for interoperability and all vendors ship it. The OpenLook vs. Motif war is still raging, but this is less important. If you use X, applications (other than window managers) using OpenLook and Motif can generally exist simultaneously and interoperate properly. The look & feel will be slightly different, though. Eventually (possibly soon), there will be enough applications on the market so that users can make look & feel one of their purchasing decisions. Some user surveys do indicate that Motif is more popular, but this market is relatively new and subject to change. You may ask, why aren't their standards in this area? The answer is there will be soon. The accredited standards organizations (ANSI, NIST, IEEE, X/OPEN, ISO) are all basing their window system standards on the X Window System. All but ANSI are also requiring the X Toolkit. IEEE is considering the OpenLook vs. Motif issue, but has not made much progress yet. Ken Lee DEC Western Software Laboratory, Palo Alto, Calif. Internet: klee@wsl.dec.com uucp: uunet!decwrl!klee