Newton OS
Encyclopedia
Newton OS was the operating system
for the Apple Newton
PDAs produced by Apple from 1993-1997. Newton OS was written entirely in C++
and trimmed to be low power consuming and use the available memory efficiently. Similar to the original Apple Macintosh, many applications were written in the ROM
of the Newton to save DRAM
and flash
space for user applications.
, along with Newton's Hand Writing Recognition (which is implemented as Inkwell
in Mac OS X).
Many features of the Newton are best appreciated in the context of the history of Pen computing
, which is quite extensive.
release in 1993, developers were not paying much attention to the new Newton OS API and were still more interested in developing for the Macintosh and Windows platforms. It was not until two years later that developers saw a potential market available to them in creating software for Newton OS. Several programs were made by third-party developers, including software to enhance Newton's initially disappointing (in OS 1.x) hand writing recognition technology.
The basic software that came with Newton OS:
engine developed by ParaGraph International Inc, led by former Soviet
scientist Stepan Pachikov
The earliest versions had weaknesses that resulted in bad publicity and reviews. However, with the release of Newton PDAs
based upon version 2.0 of the OS, the handwriting recognition had substantially improved, partially being a product of ParaGraph and an Apple-created recognizer pair: Apple's Rosetta and Mondello. Newton's handwriting recognition, particularly the print recognizer, has been considered by many reviewers, testers, and users to be the best in the industry, even 10 years after it was introduced.
The Newton could recognize hand-printed text, cursive
, or a mix of the two, and could also accept free-hand "Sketches", "Shapes", and "ink text". Text could also be entered by tapping with the stylus on a small on-screen pop-up QWERTY
keyboard. With "Shapes", Newton could recognize that the user was attempting to draw a circle, a line, a polygon
, etc., and it would clean them up into "perfect" vector
representations (with modifiable control points and defined vertices
) of what the user was attempting to draw. "Shapes" and "Sketches" could be scaled
or deformed once drawn. "Ink text" captured the user's free-hand writing but allowed it to be treated somewhat like recognized text
when manipulating for later editing purposes ("ink text" supported word wrap
, could be formatted to be bold, italic, etc.). At any time a user could also direct the Newton to recognize selected "ink text" and turn it into recognized text
(deferred recognition). A Newton Note document (or the notes attached to each contact in Names and each calendar event) could contain any mix of interleaved text, ink text, Shapes, and Sketches.
. These applications are stored in packages
.
Operating system
An operating system is a set of programs that manage computer hardware resources and provide common services for application software. The operating system is the most important type of system software in a computer system...
for the Apple Newton
Apple Newton
The MessagePad was the first series of personal digital assistant devices developed by Apple for the Newton platform in 1993. Some electronic engineering and the manufacture of Apple's MessagePad devices was done in Japan by the Sharp Corporation...
PDAs produced by Apple from 1993-1997. Newton OS was written entirely in C++
C++
C++ is a statically typed, free-form, multi-paradigm, compiled, general-purpose programming language. It is regarded as an intermediate-level language, as it comprises a combination of both high-level and low-level language features. It was developed by Bjarne Stroustrup starting in 1979 at Bell...
and trimmed to be low power consuming and use the available memory efficiently. Similar to the original Apple Macintosh, many applications were written in the ROM
Read-only memory
Read-only memory is a class of storage medium used in computers and other electronic devices. Data stored in ROM cannot be modified, or can be modified only slowly or with difficulty, so it is mainly used to distribute firmware .In its strictest sense, ROM refers only...
of the Newton to save DRAM
Dynamic random access memory
Dynamic random-access memory is a type of random-access memory that stores each bit of data in a separate capacitor within an integrated circuit. The capacitor can be either charged or discharged; these two states are taken to represent the two values of a bit, conventionally called 0 and 1...
and flash
Flash memory
Flash memory is a non-volatile computer storage chip that can be electrically erased and reprogrammed. It was developed from EEPROM and must be erased in fairly large blocks before these can be rewritten with new data...
space for user applications.
Features
Newton OS featured many interface elements that even Mac OS didn't have at the time, such as drawers and the "poof" animation. These features were used in Mac OS XMac OS X
Mac OS X is a series of Unix-based operating systems and graphical user interfaces developed, marketed, and sold by Apple Inc. Since 2002, has been included with all new Macintosh computer systems...
, along with Newton's Hand Writing Recognition (which is implemented as Inkwell
Inkwell (Macintosh)
Inkwell, or simply Ink, is the name of the handwriting recognition technology developed by Apple Inc. and built into the Mac OS X operating system. Introduced in an update to Mac OS X v10.2 "Jaguar", Inkwell can translate English, French, and German writing...
in Mac OS X).
- Sound responsive — Clicking menus and icons makes a sound, this feature was later introduced in Mac OS 8Mac OS 8Mac OS 8 is an operating system that was released by Apple Computer on July 26, 1997. It represented the largest overhaul of the Mac OS since the release of System 7, some six years previously. It puts more emphasis on color than previous operating systems...
. - Icons - Similar to the Macintosh Desktop Metaphor, Newton OS uses icons to open applications.
- Tabbed documents — Similar to tabbed browsing in today's browsers and Apple's AtEase Interface, documents titles appear in a small tab at the top right hand of the screen.
- Rotate the screen — In Newton 2.0, the screen could be rotated to be used for drawing or word processing.
- File documents — Notes and Drawings can be categorized. E.g. Fun, Business, Personal, etc.
- Print documents — Documents on the Newton can be printed
- Send documents — Documents can be sent to another Newton via Infrared technology or sent using the Internet by E-Mail, or faxed.
- Menus — Similar to menus seen in Mac OS, but the menu titles are instead presented at the bottom of the screen, in small rectangles making them look like buttons.
Many features of the Newton are best appreciated in the context of the history of Pen computing
Pen computing
Pen computing refers to a computer user-interface using a pen and tablet, rather than devices such as a keyboard, joysticks or a mouse....
, which is quite extensive.
Software
Shortly after the Newton PDA'sApple Newton
The MessagePad was the first series of personal digital assistant devices developed by Apple for the Newton platform in 1993. Some electronic engineering and the manufacture of Apple's MessagePad devices was done in Japan by the Sharp Corporation...
release in 1993, developers were not paying much attention to the new Newton OS API and were still more interested in developing for the Macintosh and Windows platforms. It was not until two years later that developers saw a potential market available to them in creating software for Newton OS. Several programs were made by third-party developers, including software to enhance Newton's initially disappointing (in OS 1.x) hand writing recognition technology.
The basic software that came with Newton OS:
- Works — A program for drawing and word processing, with typical capabilities such as: rulers, margins, page breaks, formatting, printing, spell checking and find & replace tools.
- Notes — Used for checklists, as well as both drawing and writing in the same program either with a newton keyboard or a stylus pen.
- Dates — Calendar program where you can schedule appointments and other special events.
- Names — Program for storing extensive contacts information in a flexible format.
- Formulas — Program that offers metric conversions, currency conversions, loan and mortgage calculatorMortgage CalculatorMortgage calculators are used to help a current or potential real estate owner determine how much they can afford to borrow on a piece of real estate...
s, etc. - Calculator — A basic calculator with square root, percentage, MR, M+ and M- functions additional to the basic functions found on a calculator.
- Clock — A small floating window type application, known as a desktop accessory on the Macintosh. The Newton clock also included features for an alarm, minute timer and the date.
Version history
| Date released | OS version |
|---|---|
| August 3, 1993 | 1.0 |
| October 30, 1993 | 1.1 |
| ? | 1.2 |
| March 4, 1994 | 1.3 |
| March 14, 1996 | 2.0 |
| March 21, 1997 | 2.1 |
Handwriting recognition
The Newton used the CalliGrapher word-based handwriting recognitionHandwriting recognition
Handwriting recognition is the ability of a computer to receive and interpret intelligible handwritten input from sources such as paper documents, photographs, touch-screens and other devices. The image of the written text may be sensed "off line" from a piece of paper by optical scanning or...
engine developed by ParaGraph International Inc, led by former Soviet
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
scientist Stepan Pachikov
Stepan Pachikov
Stepan Alexandrovich Pachikov is the co-founder of ParaGraph Intl., Parascript, Evernote Corp...
The earliest versions had weaknesses that resulted in bad publicity and reviews. However, with the release of Newton PDAs
Apple Newton
The MessagePad was the first series of personal digital assistant devices developed by Apple for the Newton platform in 1993. Some electronic engineering and the manufacture of Apple's MessagePad devices was done in Japan by the Sharp Corporation...
based upon version 2.0 of the OS, the handwriting recognition had substantially improved, partially being a product of ParaGraph and an Apple-created recognizer pair: Apple's Rosetta and Mondello. Newton's handwriting recognition, particularly the print recognizer, has been considered by many reviewers, testers, and users to be the best in the industry, even 10 years after it was introduced.
The Newton could recognize hand-printed text, cursive
Cursive
Cursive, also known as joined-up writing, joint writing, or running writing, is any style of handwriting in which the symbols of the language are written in a simplified and/or flowing manner, generally for the purpose of making writing easier or faster...
, or a mix of the two, and could also accept free-hand "Sketches", "Shapes", and "ink text". Text could also be entered by tapping with the stylus on a small on-screen pop-up QWERTY
QWERTY
QWERTY is the most common modern-day keyboard layout. The name comes from the first six letters appearing in the topleft letter row of the keyboard, read left to right: Q-W-E-R-T-Y. The QWERTY design is based on a layout created for the Sholes and Glidden typewriter and sold to Remington in the...
keyboard. With "Shapes", Newton could recognize that the user was attempting to draw a circle, a line, a polygon
Polygon
In geometry a polygon is a flat shape consisting of straight lines that are joined to form a closed chain orcircuit.A polygon is traditionally a plane figure that is bounded by a closed path, composed of a finite sequence of straight line segments...
, etc., and it would clean them up into "perfect" vector
Vector graphics
Vector graphics is the use of geometrical primitives such as points, lines, curves, and shapes or polygon, which are all based on mathematical expressions, to represent images in computer graphics...
representations (with modifiable control points and defined vertices
Vertex (geometry)
In geometry, a vertex is a special kind of point that describes the corners or intersections of geometric shapes.-Of an angle:...
) of what the user was attempting to draw. "Shapes" and "Sketches" could be scaled
Image scaling
In computer graphics, image scaling is the process of resizing a digital image. Scaling is a non-trivial process that involves a trade-off between efficiency, smoothness and sharpness. As the size of an image is increased, so the pixels which comprise the image become increasingly visible, making...
or deformed once drawn. "Ink text" captured the user's free-hand writing but allowed it to be treated somewhat like recognized text
Handwriting recognition
Handwriting recognition is the ability of a computer to receive and interpret intelligible handwritten input from sources such as paper documents, photographs, touch-screens and other devices. The image of the written text may be sensed "off line" from a piece of paper by optical scanning or...
when manipulating for later editing purposes ("ink text" supported word wrap
Word wrap
In text display, line wrap is the feature of continuing on a new line when a line is full, such that each line fits in the viewable window, allowing text to be read from top to bottom without any horizontal scrolling....
, could be formatted to be bold, italic, etc.). At any time a user could also direct the Newton to recognize selected "ink text" and turn it into recognized text
Handwriting recognition
Handwriting recognition is the ability of a computer to receive and interpret intelligible handwritten input from sources such as paper documents, photographs, touch-screens and other devices. The image of the written text may be sensed "off line" from a piece of paper by optical scanning or...
(deferred recognition). A Newton Note document (or the notes attached to each contact in Names and each calendar event) could contain any mix of interleaved text, ink text, Shapes, and Sketches.
NewtonScript
Newton OS ran applications written in C++, along with an interpreted, user-friendly language called NewtonScriptNewtonScript
NewtonScript is a prototype based programming language created to write programs for the Newton platform. It is heavily influenced by the Self computer language, but modified to be more suited to needs of mobile and embedded devices.- History :...
. These applications are stored in packages
Software package (installation)
In package management systems, which are commonly used with Linux-based operating systems, a package is a specific piece of software which the system can install and uninstall....
.
Additional resources & information
- NewtonTalk discussion email list
- Einstein: a Newton emulator
- CalliGrapher handwriting recognition software
- Annotated bibliography of references to handwriting recognition and pen computing