Two of the leading NEXTSTEP OEMs made strides last month, as Epson America shipped a new system "built from the ground up for NEXTSTEP" while NEC Technologies showed off a black-painted Pentium "fantasy" machine.
The new Epson NX, featuring Wingine graphics at native NeXT resolution, replaces the Epson Progression as the company's preferred NEXTSTEP offering. It is available in configurations for users (20MB RAM, 240MB disk, $4199) and developers (36MB RAM, 525MB disk, $5799). The ISA-bus system includes Ethernet, SCSI, and sound and comes pre-loaded with NEXTSTEP.
A special video driver supplied with the system produces 16-bit color at 1182-by-832 resolution. Previously, only Dell's JAWS graphics subsystem could display NEXTSTEP resolution.
"We designed the system to look and feel as much as possible like NeXT's black box," said Steve Huey, vice president of product management. The Epson NX began shipping to customers in July.
Meanwhile, NEC featured NEXTSTEP in its first showing of its Express/II Pentium ST at PC Expo in June. The unit, which included a PCI graphics subsystem and black finish, is not a shipping product. It was showcased in order to gain market feedback, according to Paul Reed, manager of product marketing.
He said that users responded warmly to the design. The paint job was an attention getter, but not necessarily a selling point for corporate buyers, Reed added.
Rather than market a special product for NEXTSTEP, NEC's strategy is to make all its Express/ II models NEXTSTEP capable, Reed said. NEC's shipping Express/II line features a 256KB CPU cache, local-bus graphics, and integrated SCSI controller on the motherboard.