Expanded driver technology in NEXTSTEP 3.2 is opening a new world of system configurations and peripheral-card support from major PC vendors.
· NEC is pursuing a three-pronged strategy that will eventually result in NEXTSTEP being "hot-loaded" on laptop, tower, and desktop models, according to Rob Markowich, senior major-account specialist.
Initially, NEXTSTEP will be deployed on desktop models. NEC is offering two systems, one configured for users and one for developers, both built around the company's Image 3 series.
Although NEXTSTEP was seen at NeXTWORLD Expo running on NEC's Express 4/66, Image 2, and Versa notebook computers, even Markowich called the implementations a "kludge." The systems "worked but they weren't performance dazzlers," he said. In contrast, the Image 3 series has been designed to differentiate NEC from the competition by including features that are specifically designed to exploit NEXTSTEP.
"We've done a lot of things with I/O and bus performance. We've enhanced video performance through local bus. Combine those two features with high-performance IDE drives, and you've got a very high-performance machine," said Markowich.
The developer configuration consists of an Image 4/66 with a 256KB cache, 32MB RAM, 1MB VRAM, a 540MB IDE drive, and a CDR triple-spin CD-ROM drive. The user configuration has 16MB RAM and a 420MB IDE drive but is otherwise identical. Both systems are EnergyStar compliant and are offered with the ProAudio 16 sound card. The systems are still limited to 1024-by-768 16-bit resolution.
· Dell has been working closely with NeXT on selecting graphics cards that support new drivers. "When you get into the Intel arena, the question becomes what works with what," said Tom Hartsell, business solutions manager for advanced systems at Dell.
NEXTSTEP 3.2 includes a driver for the #9 GXE local-bus video card incorporated into the Dell Dimension XPS, a machine Hartsell refers to as Dell's "Gateway buster." The card can deliver 24-bit color at 1024-by-768 resolution. Because Dell builds every machine to order, exact configurations were not available, but Hartsell said the company will offer customers standard configurations based on NeXT's recommendations. Besides preinstalling NEXTSTEP, Dell will offer systems that include additional software.
· A driver for Compaq's business-audio sound card will let purchasers of Compaq's Deskpro M family of '486 and Pentium machines take advantage of CD-quality sound, according to Brian Chladny, integration manager at Compaq. At press time, it was unclear whether 3.2 would include a driver for the Adaptec 6260 SCSI chip, which is the basis of Compaq's optional SCSI card.