Where can I get NextStep?

[phreakout13]

I wanna get it to try on my Bondi iMac. Also, can I still keep OS9 on my computer, because if I don't like NextStep, I need a backup.

[windowsblowsass]

next step doesn run on ppc there were plans o make a version that did but they never did

[phreakout13]

could it work on an old Mac performa? Do they make one that will work on my eMac? Thanks:)

[FattyMembrane]

nextstep only runs on next hardware. osx is the evolution of nextstep so running it for anything other than entertainment purposes would be fruitless. i think there was a version of openstep that ran on top of solaris, and there's a free x86 version of solaris, but i think openstep requires the sparc version. if you did manage to find a machine to run it (even old next hardware is still pretty expensive) you'd still have to buy next/openstep, as it was never released for free.

[Sun Baked]

If you can find a copy of Rhapsody (aka Mac OS X Server v. 1.0) you'd get the only real public copy of the NeXT OS running on Macs.

[phillymjs]

nextstep only runs on next hardware.

Not entirely true. Versions of NeXTStep ran on Intel hardware, though the list of supported hardware was not a long one. I have a NeXT slab running NeXTStep 3.3, and the install CD for NS3.3 has the stuff for Intel on it.

It is apparently possible to run it under Virtual PC, according to this page. (http://www.nleymann.de/Nextstep/VirtualPC.htm)

As for where to get it, I got my black hardware and the NeXTStep 3.3 package separately on eBay back in 1999. There was a copy of NS 3.3 up for auction (http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=4193&item=4133880393&rd=1&ssPageName=WDVW) until earlier today.

~Philly