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Apple, NeXT build new OS
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January 7, 1997: 6:51 p.m. ET
NeXT VP talks about integrating two technologies into a new system
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - When Apple Computer announced plans to buy NeXT Software for $400 million in December, many analysts saw it as a desperate move to revive the struggling computer maker.
The success or failure of the deal depends on how well Apple can integrate its current operating system with NeXT's technology to create a more robust OS.
Speaking on CNNfn's Digital Jam, Avie Trevanian, vice president of engineering at NeXT Software, said Apple just didn't have the technology within its company to stay competitive.
"Apple really needed to get to market quickly with a new operating system that would put them back into a position of leadership," he said. "They discovered that the NeXT technology was the best fit."
Trevanian said consumers will benefit from an integrated operating system because it will be better, yet still similar to using the current MacOS and compatible to much of the existing Mac software.
He added that combining the two technologies will define a new type of platform, allowing developers to create new types of applications.
"It will make computers useful in ways we never thought of before," Trevanian said.
NeXT's operating system includes something called object-oriented technology, which, when combined with Apple's system, will spur developers to a new level of productivity, Trevanian said. The new system will free up application programmers from a lot of the base-level work that needs to be done on other platforms, such as Windows.
"They can now focus on adding their own value, taking their creative ideas, putting them into products, and really doing new types of applications that can't be done today otherwise," he said.
Apple chief executive Gilbert Amelio is expected to announce the release date of the operating system, which will be developed alongside the original MacOS, in his keynote address at MacWorld Tuesday.
But Trevanian said integrating two different technologies into one robust system is a hefty challenge.
"What we have to watch out for," he said, "is when we integrate things together, we don't want to break things along the way."
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