The book presents a general overview of release 0.9 of the NeXT computer system. It is divided into three parts. Part 1, which discusses the hardware components of the NeXT system, starts with the main computer unit, the cube. The cube is described in detail from the outside to its contents. The motherboard is then described in terms of its function on the NeXT system with enough background information provided to help nontechnical readers place it in perspective.
The NeXT CPU, a Motorola 68030 chip, is carefully described and compared to processor chips of other computer systems. Other common accessories of the CPU, like the Motorola 68882 floating point unit chip and the Motorola DSP56001 digital signal processor chip also are covered. The display unit, the keyboard, and the mouse are discussed together in one chapter. The resolution of the display is explained and the connectors are discussed in terms of the signals that they carry (power, video, and audio). The 83-key keyboard is described and the functions of the special keys explained. The author covers the system control keys, the arrow keys, and the numeric keypad and gives their functions. He also physically and functionally describes the mouse and explains its use.
The NeXT computer system uses a laser printer as the standard hardcopy output device, and the author has used a whole chapter to describe this standard laser printer in terms of its physical and functional characteristics. The internal and external ports for interconnecting the NeXT computer system to other computing devices are treated in a separate chapter. For each connector, Webster gives the pins and their associated signals with illustrations and explanations of the signals.
The two word processors on the NeXT system are WriteNow and Edit. WriteNow, a WYSIWYG word processor, is for document preparation, and Edit, which is more of a text processor, is for entering programs or creating data files devoid of extraneous formatting codes. The NeXT system provides three online reference applications: Digital Webster, Quotation, and Digital Librarian. Digital Webster enables the NeXT user to access an online version of Webster’s ninth new collegiate dictionary.Each entry for a given item is the same as would be found in the printed edition of the dictionary, including illustrations. Quotation allows the user to search the 1988 digital edition of the Oxford dictionary of quotations. The different search options are all presented with an illustration. Digital Librarian provides access to all the documentation that comes with NeXT and UNIX. For any given command, it gives the manual page and all references to the command or topic.
The NeXT system also comes with a symbolic mathematical environment called Mathematica. Mathematica can act as a sophisticated calculator, can be used as a programming language, and can be used to plot two- and three-dimensional graphs of functions and expressions. Other applications described include the NeXT SQL database server, which does not come with release 0.9, but is expected with release 1.0, and Allegro CL, a Common Lisp environment that can be run from within the Terminal application. Other utilities bundled with the NeXT system include Preferences, Mail, BuildDisk, Printer, Clock, Terminal, and Shell. The functions and use of these utilities are described in the book.
The chapter on the NeXT user interface describes how applications are presented to the user. The two software units that compose the NeXT user interface, NextStep and Display PostScript, are discussed in terms of their functionality and how they may be employed to build applications. A separate chapter is also dedicated to the multitasking, virtual-memory, UNIX-compatible Mach operating system. The Mach kernel is described and the compatibililty with the BSD 4.3 release of UNIX is explained.
Part 3 of the book is essentially of a tutorial on how to use the NeXT system. It consists of four chapters (chapters 9 through 12). Chapter 9 teaches the reader how to use Workspace Manager, the NeXT user interface. It covers powering up the system, logging in to the system, interacting with systems and applications packages, logging out of the system, and powering it down. The following chapter presents the reader with step-by-step instructions on how to perform such basic tasks as personalizing the system configuration, creating and printing documents, using the online reference libraries, and using the electronic mail. Chapter 11 teaches the use of the UNIX shell to obtain help, how to set up and use directories and files, and how to run programs on the system. The final chapter walks the reader through the use of Interface Builder and Objective C to write an application program.
The book is complete with two appendices, a glossary of terms, an annotated bibliography, and an index. The first appendix discusses software and hardware products for the NeXT system, including third-party–developed products and products expected for release 1.0. The second appendix covers system administration.
The book is very well illustrated and the writing is aimed at nontechnical users of computer systems. As such, all technical terms and concepts have been carefully explained. In some cases, Webster compares the NeXT with other computer systems; in others he provides background to further clarify the hardware or software component. He has provided an excellent reference manual for nontechnical and beginning users of the NeXT computer system. Technical personnel who abhor reading hardware and software manuals have found an alternative in those of the NeXT computer system.
