{"slug": "nextstep", "name": "NeXTSTEP", "category": "os", "category_name": "Operating systems and desktop", "description": "", "recommenders": 4, "commenters": 4, "warners": 0, "score": 3.756, "rising": 1.35, "first": "2026-02-05", "latest": "2026-10-26", "why": "Take a look at what was possible in the late 1980s with 8 MB of RAM", "why_is_quote": true, "has_verdict": false, "sentiment": {"recommend": 4, "neutral": 0, "compare": 0, "warn": 0}, "spark": [0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 1, 1], "listed": true, "loved": [], "caveat": "", "short_quote": "Take a look at what was possible in the late 1980s with 8 MB of RAM", "icon": true, "domain": "infinitemac.org", "github_repo": null, "official_url": "https://infinitemac.org", "pricing": "", "aliases": ["NeXTSTEP"], "verdict": null, "praise": [{"label": "", "summary": "", "quotes": [{"id": 803825584, "item_id": 50239099, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50239099", "by": "felixding", "date": "2026-10-26", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I've always liked NeXTSTEP's distinctive user interface.", "excerpt": "I've always liked NeXTSTEP's distinctive user interface. I wish we had a version that ran on modern hardware, similar to what https://github.com/trunkmaster/nextspace is trying to achieve. Also, Steve Jobs in Exile, the most recent book about NeXT, is highly recommended.", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Behind the scenes at the NeXT Computer office"}, {"id": 797261488, "item_id": 49828843, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49828843", "by": "shrubble", "date": "2026-09-24", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "it was the most integrated and best GUI I\u2019ve ever used", "excerpt": "Simply implementing the NeXTStep v3.3 look and feel would immediately solve most problems, I think. I used an actual NeXT workstation for 8 months as my only desktop in the mid 1990s and it was the most integrated and best GUI I\u2019ve ever used.", "context": "used a NeXT workstation in the mid 1990s", "use_case": "desktop GUI", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ideas on modernizing the open-source desktop"}, {"id": 784357713, "item_id": 49022357, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49022357", "by": "DonHopkins", "date": "2026-07-23", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "NeXT was world-class software, but malleability for the user was exactly what Jobs was proud of not offering.", "excerpt": "I had an argument with Steve Jobs about pie menus at the Educom conference in Washington DC, October 26 1988 -- right after he finally shipped NeXTSTEP (people had been teasing it as vaporware with \"NeVRSTEP\" t-shirts). I was demonstrating the work I'd done at the UMD Human Computer Interaction Lab on a color Sun 3/60 that Sun lent me to use at their booth, which happened to be right across from the NeXT booth. Ben S", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Malleable Computing, Emacs, and You"}, {"id": 750390624, "item_id": 46899414, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46899414", "by": "lateforwork", "date": "2026-02-05", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Take a look at what was possible in the late 1980s with 8 MB of RAM", "excerpt": "Take a look at what was possible in the late 1980s with 8 MB of RAM: https://infinitemac.org/1989/NeXTStep%201.0 You can run NeXTStep in your browser by clicking above link. A couple of weeks ago you could run Framemaker as well. I was blown away by what Framemaker of the late 1980s could do. Today's Microsoft Word can't hold a candle to Framemaker of the late 1980s! Edit: screenshot of Framemaker can be seen here: h", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Wirth's Revenge"}]}], "caveats": [], "who": [{"by": "shrubble", "context": "used a NeXT workstation in the mid 1990s", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49828843", "date": "2026-09-24"}], "tags": [], "use_cases": ["desktop gui"], "compared": [], "makers": [], "threads": [{"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50238763", "title": "Behind the scenes at the NeXT Computer office", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49825642", "title": "Ideas on modernizing the open-source desktop", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49013538", "title": "Malleable Computing, Emacs, and You", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46895381", "title": "Wirth's Revenge", "mentions": 1}], "sentiment_by_month": {"2025-11": {}, "2025-12": {}, "2026-01": {}, "2026-02": {"recommend": 1}, "2026-03": {}, "2026-04": {}, "2026-05": {}, "2026-06": {}, "2026-07": {"recommend": 1}, "2026-08": {}, "2026-09": {"recommend": 1}, "2026-10": {"recommend": 1}}, "quotes": [{"id": 803825584, "item_id": 50239099, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50239099", "by": "felixding", "date": "2026-10-26", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I've always liked NeXTSTEP's distinctive user interface.", "excerpt": "I've always liked NeXTSTEP's distinctive user interface. I wish we had a version that ran on modern hardware, similar to what https://github.com/trunkmaster/nextspace is trying to achieve. Also, Steve Jobs in Exile, the most recent book about NeXT, is highly recommended.", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Behind the scenes at the NeXT Computer office"}, {"id": 797261488, "item_id": 49828843, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49828843", "by": "shrubble", "date": "2026-09-24", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "it was the most integrated and best GUI I\u2019ve ever used", "excerpt": "Simply implementing the NeXTStep v3.3 look and feel would immediately solve most problems, I think. I used an actual NeXT workstation for 8 months as my only desktop in the mid 1990s and it was the most integrated and best GUI I\u2019ve ever used.", "context": "used a NeXT workstation in the mid 1990s", "use_case": "desktop GUI", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ideas on modernizing the open-source desktop"}, {"id": 784357713, "item_id": 49022357, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49022357", "by": "DonHopkins", "date": "2026-07-23", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "NeXT was world-class software, but malleability for the user was exactly what Jobs was proud of not offering.", "excerpt": "I had an argument with Steve Jobs about pie menus at the Educom conference in Washington DC, October 26 1988 -- right after he finally shipped NeXTSTEP (people had been teasing it as vaporware with \"NeVRSTEP\" t-shirts). I was demonstrating the work I'd done at the UMD Human Computer Interaction Lab on a color Sun 3/60 that Sun lent me to use at their booth, which happened to be right across from the NeXT booth. Ben S", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Malleable Computing, Emacs, and You"}, {"id": 750390624, "item_id": 46899414, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46899414", "by": "lateforwork", "date": "2026-02-05", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Take a look at what was possible in the late 1980s with 8 MB of RAM", "excerpt": "Take a look at what was possible in the late 1980s with 8 MB of RAM: https://infinitemac.org/1989/NeXTStep%201.0 You can run NeXTStep in your browser by clicking above link. A couple of weeks ago you could run Framemaker as well. I was blown away by what Framemaker of the late 1980s could do. Today's Microsoft Word can't hold a candle to Framemaker of the late 1980s! Edit: screenshot of Framemaker can be seen here: h", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Wirth's Revenge"}]}