The futuristic NextStep is a lovable mutt: a Carnegie-Mellon Mach kernel, BSD commands and libraries atop that, and a proprietary GUI that broke new ground at the time of its introduction. NextStep still has a unique look that's best summed up in one word:
gorgeous
. It's handily the most visually appealing OS for Intel-based PCs, thanks partly to the big, artistic icons. Unfortunately, NextStep hurts its appeal with limited device support and a decidedly proprietary approach. NextStep's fans hail mostly from those shops that can afford to create and maintain their own applications.
Like Solaris, NextStep has a built-in PostScript interpreter. It also includes other goodies like a lightning-quick 3-D rendering engine that you have to need to appreciate. Given a suite of custom applications, NextStep is an operating
system you could sit in front of all day without going bug-eyed. X Window can't quite make that claim, but it is a standard.
Flexible C++
Matthew Wilson
My approach to software engineering is far more pragmatic than it
is
theoretical--and no language better exemplifies this than C++.
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NextStep: Pretty, Limited
