Path: alphanet.ch!imp.ch!news.uni-stuttgart.de!news.rhrz.uni-bonn.de!RRZ.Uni-Koeln.DE!news.dfn.de!prise.nz.dlr.de!zib-berlin.de!news.mathworks.com!panix!cmcl2!yale.edu!yale!laplace!nathan From: nathan@laplace.csb.yale.edu Newsgroups: comp.sys.next.announce Subject: NEXTSTEP-Intel-General-FAQ Followup-To: comp.sys.next.misc Date: 6 Mar 1995 08:39:07 GMT Organization: Yale University, Department of Computer Science, New Haven, CT Lines: 564 Approved: nathan@laplace.csb.yale.edu Expires: Fri, 7 Apr 1995 00:00:00 GMT Message-ID: <3jehnb$c4i@babyblue.cs.yale.edu> Reply-To: nathan@laplace.csb.yale.edu NNTP-Posting-Host: laplace.csb.yale.edu Summary: Frequently Asked Questions about NEXTSTEP and NeXT machines. Originator: nathan@laplace Archive-name: NEXTSTEP-Intel-General-FAQ Last-modified: Mon Mar 6 03:03:59 EST 1995 Version: 3.1 These FAQs are under significant construction, and may well change form and content over the next weeks. These FAQs focus on various aspects of OpenStep, NEXTSTEP, and NeXT machines. The FAQs are kept on-line at several ftp sites, including: cs.orst.edu sonata.cc.purdue.edu Many FAQs, including these, are available (www, ftp, email) on the archive site rtfm.mit.edu in the directory pub/usenet/news.answers. The name under which this FAQ is archived appears in the Archive-nameline above. Within each section each question will be preceded by a "Subject:" field, allowing news readers to break up the file into separate questions. Each question has its own unique number. Items that appear within sections are not in any particular order, and get added and removed over time. Questions marked with a "+" are new to this issue, and questions with changes since the last issue are marked by a "!". Submissions, corrections, comments, input, etc., should be directed to Nathan Janette . Some important NEXTSTEP & OpenStep Information WWW sites: NeXT, Inc. http://www.next.com/ NeXTanswers http://www.next.com/NeXTanswers/ Stepwise NEXTSTEP/OpenStep Information Server http://digifix.digifix.com/ TABLE OF CONTENTS: ------------------ C1. What is the current status of NEXTSTEP/Intel? C2. What references are available for NEXTSTEP/Intel? C3. How does NEXTSTEP/Intel differ from NEXTSTEP/m68k? C4. What about support for NeXT Computer specific hardware features such as the DSP? C5. Can I use NEXTSTEP/Intel systems with my existing NeXT Computers? C6. How do I use applications compiled for both NeXT Computers and NEXTSTEP/Intel on the same network? C7. Do Multi-Architecture Binaries take a lot of extra disk space? C8. How difficult is it to recompile existing NeXT applications over to NEXTSTEP/Intel? C9. When developing programs, are there any portability issues I should be aware of? C10. What is the difference between the NEXTSTEP/Intel User Environment and Developer Environment? C11. What are the general requirements to run NEXTSTEP/Intel on Intel-based Computers? C12. If a specific I/O card is not supported by NeXT, can 3rd parties write drivers for NEXTSTEP/Intel? C13. How is NEXTSTEP/Intel installed? C14. Will NEXTSTEP/Intel run on 386 machines? C15. Will NEXTSTEP/Intel run on the Cyrix 486SLC? C16. Will NEXTSTEP/Intel run on the future Intel Microprocessors in the x86 family? C17. Will NEXTSTEP/Intel run on portable computers? C18. Will NEXTSTEP/Intel be able to run Microsoft DOS and Windows programs? C19. Will DOS and Windows compatibility be included with NEXTSTEP/Intel? C20. How will my DOS and Windows applications perform under NEXTSTEP/Intel? C21. Is the window I use to run Microsoft Windows applications resizable? C22. Will this DOS/Windows compatibility system allow me to run several DOS programs at once? C23. Can I cut and paste between DOS/Windows sessions and NEXTSTEP applications? C24. Can I use both DOS and NEXTSTEP/Intel partitions on the same hard disk? C25. Can NEXTSTEP/Intel read, write, and format DOS and Mac floppies? ____________________________________________________________________________ Subject: C1. What is the current status of NEXTSTEP/Intel? NEXTSTEP/Intel 3.3 User has been released. The Developer system is at 3.2. ____________________________________________________________________________ Subject: C2. What references are available for NEXTSTEP/Intel? NeXT, Inc. now operates an automatic email responce system. Send email to "nextanswers@next.com" with the subject "ascii help index" to start. ____________________________________________________________________________ Subject: C3. How does NEXTSTEP/Intel differ from NEXTSTEP/m68k? It doesn't. NEXTSTEP/Intel is a complete port of the NEXTSTEP 3.1 software environment to Intel-based Computers. NEXTSTEP/Intel has the same User Interface, Development Environment, Applications, Networking (NFS, Novell, Appleshare), State of the Art Color, Mach UNIX, Display Postscript, 3D Renderman etc, etc. ____________________________________________________________________________ Subject: C4. What about support for NeXT Computer specific hardware features such as the DSP? NeXT computers offer additional hardware support not commonly available for Intel systems. This includes the DSP. The DSP in a NeXT Computer is used for a variety of functions including ISDN support and real-time audio compression/de-compression. ISDN support for NEXTSTEP/Intel will be provided via an add-on PC card and ISDN adapter. Real-time audio compression/de-compression support is currently under investigation. ____________________________________________________________________________ Subject: C5. Can I use NEXTSTEP/Intel systems with my existing NeXT Computers? Yes. NEXTSTEP/Intel is design to plug and play with existing NeXT installations. NeXT has addressed interoperability between NEXTSTEP systems in the following ways: * NEXTSTEP systems share identical networking capabilities. * NEXTSTEP systems share the same Distributed Objects. * NEXTSTEP systems use the same system and network administration services. * NEXTSTEP systems use the same mass storage format. Yes, you can take a external SCSI drive, removable media (ie Bernoulli etc) or floppy disk and use it interchangeably between NeXT Computers and NEXTSTEP/Intel systems. ____________________________________________________________________________ Subject: C6. How do I use applications compiled for both NeXT Computers and NEXTSTEP/Intel on the same network? Simply. NEXTSTEP 3.1 introduced a feature called Multi-Architecture Binaries (so called "Fat" binaries). This capability allows developers to compile NEXTSTEP applications on multiple system architectures, and combine them into a single package. When an application is run, NEXTSTEP will extract the appropriate instructions for the local system, and run the application. This operation is completely transparent to the user, it just works! Most of the NEXTSTEP applications in the future will be delivered as Multi-Architecture Binaries. Tools are also provided to "Slim" binaries for use in a one architecture environment. ____________________________________________________________________________ Subject: C7. Do Multi-Architecture Binaries take a lot of extra disk space? No. Most applications consist of one or more executable programs (with architecture dependent machine instructions) and a lot of text and data. This machine independent data is typically data files used by the application, help files, examples, internationalization etc. Since only the actual machine dependent portion of the application is duplicated, a two architecture application typically takes only about 20%-30% more disk space than a single architecture application. If disk space is tight, tools are provided to "Slim" binaries for use in a single architecture environment. ____________________________________________________________________________ Subject: C8. How difficult is it to recompile existing NeXT applications over to NEXTSTEP/Intel? Very easy. Most programs will simply recompile and run, or require few changes. We believe that any application that uses the standard development environment and Object kits provided by NeXT should simply compile and run. Only applications that use architecture specific features or data formats, will require additional time to port. Several developers have already ported applications to NEXTSTEP/Intel. Appsoft Draw simply recompiled and ran, Lighthouse Concurrence took 3 hours, other programs took 1/2 a day to 2 days, and this was all on a very early release of NEXTSTEP/Intel 3.1! ____________________________________________________________________________ Subject: C9. When developing programs, are there any portability issues I should be aware of? Yes. As stated above, any applications that use the standard tools provided by the NEXTSTEP development environment, should just recompile and work. To make sure developers are aware of portability issues, NeXT is producing a guide to address source code portability between different architectures running NEXTSTEP. This guide should be available in November. ____________________________________________________________________________ Subject: C10. What is the difference between the NEXTSTEP/Intel User Environment and Developer Environment? The NEXTSTEP/Intel User Environment consists of the entire NEXTSTEP 3.1 environment, minus the developer tools. The Developer Environment includes the developer tools such Interface builder, Project Builder, C compilers, Object Kits, example source code and developer documentation. ____________________________________________________________________________ Subject: C11. What are the general requirements to run NEXTSTEP/Intel on Intel-based Computers? A specific NEXTSTEP/Intel Hardware Compatibility Guide is available from the NeXTanswers service. [Eric Hermanson <24gdbq$8hb@senator-bedfellow.MIT.EDU>] I am posting this to clear up the confusion surrounding NEXTSTEP hardware requirements. There have been many incorrect postings as to the requirements for NEXTSTEP. There have also been many people inquiring about the requirements. These are the correct numbers, source: NEXTSTEP CD-ROM. THIS IS A SUMMARY OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR NEXTSTEP 3.1 (Intel and Motorola) NEXTSTEP *Requires* 8 MB Memory for 2-bit Greyscale NEXTSTEP *Requires* 12 MB Memory for 8-bit Greyscale NEXTSTEP *Requires* 16 MB Memory for 16-bit Color NeXT *Recommends* 12 MB Memory for 2-bit Greyscale NeXT *Recommends* 16 MB Memory for 8-bit Greyscale NeXT *Recommends* 24 MB Memory for 16-bit Color *SUMMARY* of NEXTSTEP Hard Drive Space *Requirements*: NEXTSTEP *Requires* 120 MB for User Environment NEXTSTEP *Requires* 330 MB for User Environment + Developer Tools NeXT *Recommends* 200 MB For User Environment (full install) NeXT *Recommends* 400 MB For User Environment + Developer Tools (full install) Full User Environment: 136 MB (NeXT *Recommends* 200 MB for User) Compressed User Environment: 109 MB Bare User Environment: 50 MB All Developer Tools: 100 MB (These numbers are the dev TOOLS only) Compressed Dev. Tools: 78 MB Bare Developer Tools: 66 MB FULL USER + DEVELOPER: **236 MB (NeXT *Recommends* 400 MB for User+Dev) Compressed USER + DEV: 187 MB Bare USER + DEVELOPER: 116 MB THE ENTIRE USER+DEVELOPER RELEASE OF NEXTSTEP TAKES UP APPROXIMATELY 236 MB. *Detailed* Hard Drive Requirements: NEXTSTEP consists of a number of independent packages, some of which can be optionally installed. USER ENVIRONMENT: ** INDICATES OPTIONAL PACKAGE NEXTSTEP Essentials This is the required software, including user environment, UNIX, Renderman, NeXT Software (network stuff, NeXT Mail, etc), root & me accounts. Installed Size 47.1 MB Languages Users can install up to six languages on the system, each one takes up 3 MB English, Italian, Sweedish, German, French, Spanish **DigitalWebster.pkg This package contains the Digital Webster application, the electronic edition of Webster's Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary. InstalledSize 18.8 MB CompressedSize 16.3 MB **Literature.pkg This package contains the complete works of Shakespeare, the Oxford Dictionary of Quotations, and the pictures for Digital Webster. InstalledSize 40.7 MB CompressedSize 29.9 MB **Documentation.pkg This package contains the NEXTSTEP Network and System Administration manual and the UNIX manual pages. It also contains the complete set of PostScript Printer Description (PPD) files. InstalledSize 18 MB CompressedSize 8 MB **NeXTTeX.pkg This is a full implementation of TeX (LaTeX) and METAFONT. InstalledSize 8.1 MB CompressedSize 4.5 MB ============================================================================= TOTAL USER ENVIRONMENT: 136 MB Full Install 109 MB Compressed Optional Stuff 50 MB No Optional Software Installed DEVELOPER TOOLS: ** INDICATES OPTIONAL PACKAGE DeveloperTools.pkg This package contains applications and files you need for NEXTSTEP development. InstalledSize 36.4 MB CompressedSize 18.6 MB DeveloperLibs.pkg This package contains software libraries you need to develop NEXTSTEP software. InstalledSize 30 MB CompressedSize 14.5 MB **DeveloperDoc.pkg This package contains the on-line edition of the NEXTSTEP Developer's Library. InstalledSize 30 MB CompressedSize 10 MB **Demonstrations.pkg This package contains demonstration applications and images. InstalledSize 3 MB CompressedSize 2 MB ============================================================================= TOTAL DEVELOPER TOOLS: 100 MB Size of All Developer Tools 78 MB Size with Optional Stuff Compressed 66 MB Size with no Optional Software Installed ____________________________________________________________________________ Subject: C12. If a specific I/O card is not supported by NeXT, can 3rd parties write drivers for NEXTSTEP/Intel? Yes. NEXTSTEP/Intel uses a newly developed object-oriented driver architecture that brings the benefits of object-orientation all the way down to the I/O card driver level. Complete documentation for this new "Driver Kit" architecture will be available later this year. ____________________________________________________________________________ Subject: C13. How is NEXTSTEP/Intel installed? NEXTSTEP/Intel will come with a boot floppy and a CDROM. To install NEXTSTEP/Intel, the system boots from the floppy, and then installs the minimum NEXTSTEP environment from the CDROM (SCSI CDROM drive). The user may then chose from several optional packages depending on the available disk space and user requirements. ____________________________________________________________________________ Subject: C14. Will NEXTSTEP/Intel run on 386 machines? No. NEXTSTEP/Intel uses several 486 specific features that enhance the performance of NEXTSTEP. NEXTSTEP/Intel will support any true 486. ____________________________________________________________________________ Subject: C15. Will NEXTSTEP/Intel run on the Cyrix 486SLC? [NeXT states:] No. The Cyrix chip not a true 486. [several other users state:] Yes. Slow performance, though. ____________________________________________________________________________ Subject: C16. Will NEXTSTEP/Intel run on the future Intel Microprocessors in the x86 family? Yes. NEXTSTEP/Intel will not only support them, but will take advantage of any performance enhancements available with future Intel CPU's, just as NeXT has taken advantage of the 486. ____________________________________________________________________________ Subject: C17. Will NEXTSTEP/Intel run on portable computers? Yes. Many portables and notebooks with 486 CPU's and sufficient system resources (8+MB RAM and 120+MB hard disk space) are available. Since NEXTSTEP/Intel will support 640x480 VGA displays in grayscale, NEXTSTEP 486 can run on these systems. Do be aware that NEXTSTEP's user interface and applications were not designed for low-resolution screens, and consequently will impose limitations on the use of some applications. Also, typical battery management systems do not work with multi-tasking operating systems. Future versions of NEXTSTEP/Intel will provide driver support for portable-oriented peripherals such as pocket Ethernet, SCSI and Sound adapters and PC/MCIA cards. We expect additional device drivers for portable peripherals to be available in Q3-Q4 1993. Until drivers are available for portable SCSI adapters, NEXTSTEP/Intel can be installed on portables by using a docking station with SCSI adapter and CDROM. The docking station can then be used for a local area network card. NeXT is investigating future Intel microprocessors that may provide battery management support for advanced operating systems such as NEXTSTEP. ____________________________________________________________________________ Subject: C18. Will NEXTSTEP/Intel be able to run Microsoft DOS and Windows programs? Yes. NEXTSTEP/Intel will support a DOS and Windows compatibility package. This software will allow DOS 5.0 and Windows 3.1 programs to run within a NEXTSTEP window. Support will include DOS "Protected" mode and Windows 3.1 "Standard" mode (Win-16). Support for Win-32 applications is planned for the second half of 1993. ____________________________________________________________________________ Subject: C19. Will DOS and Windows compatibility be included with NEXTSTEP/Intel? A demo of SoftPC is included with NEXTSTEP/Intel. ____________________________________________________________________________ Subject: C20. How will my DOS and Windows applications perform under NEXTSTEP/Intel? The DOS/Windows compatibility package for NEXTSTEP/Intel takes full advantage of the 486 microprocessor. Depending on system hardware configuration and type of DOS/Windows application, performance should vary between 386 and 486 native DOS/Windows performance. In addition, to enhance the performance of Windows applications, a MS Windows specific Graphics Device Interface (GDI) driver which maps Microsoft Windows calls directly to the NEXTSTEP window server will be part of the system. ____________________________________________________________________________ Subject: C21. Is the window I use to run Microsoft Windows applications resizable? Yes. You can set the Windows session to any size you wish up to the maximum screen size available to the NEXTSTEP/Intel system you are using. ____________________________________________________________________________ Subject: C22. Will this DOS/Windows compatibility system allow me to run several DOS programs at once? Yes. Since NEXTSTEP/Intel is a multi-tasking, virtual memory operating environment, several DOS/Windows sessions can be run at once. ____________________________________________________________________________ Subject: C23. Can I cut and paste between DOS/Windows sessions and NEXTSTEP applications? Yes. You can cut and paste text and graphics between DOS/Windows and NEXTSTEP applications. ____________________________________________________________________________ Subject: C24. Can I use both DOS and NEXTSTEP/Intel partitions on the same hard disk? Yes. NEXTSTEP/Intel will support multiple operating systems on the same local hard disk. When the system boots, the user can chose to boot another operating system (such as DOS) or NEXTSTEP. If the local partition contains DOS, NEXTSTEP/Intel will be able to access the local DOS partition and read/write files to it. [From: caro@mv.us.adobe.com] Executive Summary: It is possible to install DOS, Windows NT with NTFS, and NEXTSTEP/FIP on the same disk, and select which partition is booted at boot time. I spent some time experimenting with a 200MB SCSI disk. I wanted to see if the following configuration would be possible: Partition 1 Primary DOS Partition 2 Extended DOS Partition 3 Windows NT NTFS Partition 4 NS/FIP 3.2 Since Windows NT requires at least 70MB for installation, and NS/FIP requires at least 120MB, there wasn't much room for DOS! Ultimately, I only tested a three partition system (DOS, NTFS, NS/FIP), but I have no reason to believe that the extended DOS wouldn't also work. The recipe is as follows: * Preparation. You need a bootable DOS floppy that has FORMAT.COM on it. You need another (blank) floppy for installing NT. * Start with the NS/FIP installation. When it asks you how you want to configure your disk, it gives you three choices, which are basically 1) erase the whole disk and use it all for NS/FIP, 2) save some room for DOS, 3) advanced. Choose the advanced option, which places you in NS/FIP fdisk (not to be confused with DOS FDISK.EXE). * Create three partitions in this order: 1) Primary DOS (if more than 32MB desired, use the "large" FAT option) 2) HPFS (this is a placeholder for NT, and can be any non-DOS format) 3) NEXTSTEP * Proceed with the rest of the NEXTSTEP installation. * When NEXTSTEP is safely installed and tested out, boot DOS from your bootable DOS floppy. * FORMAT the DOS partition (which should be Drive C if you made it the first partition). You want to FORMAT C:/S, to install the boot code to make the DOS partition bootable. * Once DOS is safely formated and tested out, insert the NT installation floppy and reboot. * Proceed with the NT installation. Tell Setup to install NT in the second partition (which shows up as "Unformatted"). You can select NTFS for FAT format. * Insert the blank floppy when asked. Don't bother to format it, NT unconditionally formats it. * If you select NTFS, there is a scary part of the installation that makes it seem like NT can't reboot. In fact, it is converting the installed files from FAT to NTFS in place. Just let it keep rebooting until it finishes, don't interrupt it like I did. * Finish setting up NT and test it out. It should be able to see the DOS partition in FileManager. * Likewise, there should be a DOS filesystem in / on NS/FIP. If you configured NT for FAT instead of NTFS, there should be two DOS filesystems in /. That's it. When you boot, you see the familiar NS/FIP multibooter. If you select DOS, it boots NT, which in turn offers you a chance to boot DOS or NT (not NS/FIP, of course). Kinda weird that you have this two tiered boot, but it's probably because the bootsector has been modified by NT. I haven't tried setting the active partition to DOS -- that might avoid the two tiers. ____________________________________________________________________________ Subject: C25. Can NEXTSTEP/Intel read, write, and format DOS and Mac floppies? Yes. ____________________________________________________________________________ Editor: nathan@laplace.csb.yale.edu -- Nathan Janette Systems Manager, Axel T. Brönger Lab Internet: nathan@laplace.csb.yale.edu