Newton OS
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Screenshot of Newton OS 2.0
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| Developer | Apple Inc. |
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| Written in | C++ |
| Working state | Historic |
| Source model | Closed source |
| Initial release | August 3, 1993 |
| Final release | 2.1 / 21 March 1997 |
| Platforms | Apple Newton |
| Kernel type | Microkernel |
| Default user interface | GUI |
| License | Proprietary EULA |
Newton OS is the discontinued 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. Many applications were pre-installed in the ROM of the Newton (making for quick start-up) and to save on RAM and flash memory storage for user applications.
Its use of ParaGraph's handwriting recognition engine has been noted as a pioneering implementation.
Newton OS featured many interface elements that even Mac OS didn't have at the time, such as drawers and the "poof" animation. An animation similar to this is found in Mac OS X, and parts of the Newton's handwriting recognition system have been implemented as Inkwell in Mac OS X.
Many features of the Newton are best appreciated in the context of the history of Pen computing.
Shortly after the Newton PDA's 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 the disappointing hand writing recognition technology of Newton OS 1.x.
The basic software that came with Newton OS:
The Newton used the CalliGrapher word-based handwriting recognition 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. It was developed by Apple's Advanced Technology Group, and was described in 2012 as "the world's first genuinely usable handwriting recognition system".
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