Interesting Observation...

Even with the recent OS X v10.0.1 upgrade, we're at a rather early point in the life of OS X. We can expect a bit of additional speed with each minor upgrade Apple releases, I'd wager. But I was surprised to note that, in working with my NeXTSTATION Turbo Color workstation (68040 @ 33Mz, 32MB RAM, running NeXTSTEP v3.3) this weekend, NeXT applications and the OS in general do indeed feel significantly snappier on this machine than OS X and its apps do on my b&w G3 400 (256MB RAM, UltraWide SCSI). This is especially interesting to me given that I've recently been working with a PowerMac 6100 (PowerPC 601 @ 66MHz, 32MB RAM, 1MB L2 cache, running MacOS 8.6) which just feels super-sluggish. And it's CPU is much faster than a 33Mz 68040, and OS 8.6 is far less complex than NeXTSTEP--one would think individual apps would feel faster, but they do not.


OS X has its sluggish Aqua, NeXTSTEP has it's sluggish Display PostScript. They both run a Mach-based BSD implementation. Lots of interesting angles here. Perhaps in relative terms, the NeXT hardware was more on-target.


What do you think about that?

Popular Stories

Apple Creator Studio

Apple Introduces New 'Creator Studio' Bundle of Apps for $129 Per Year

Tuesday January 13, 2026 6:11 am PST by
Apple today introduced a new Apple Creator Studio bundle that offers access to six creative apps, as well as exclusive AI features and content, as part of a single subscription. In the U.S., pricing is set at $12.99 per month or $129 per year. Here are the six apps included with an Apple Creator Studio subscription:Final Cut Pro on the Mac and iPad Logic Pro on the Mac and iPad Pixelmator...
Verizon New

Verizon is Down: iPhones Show 'SOS' Mode Due to Network Outage [Resolved]

Wednesday January 14, 2026 10:18 am PST by
Verizon is experiencing a major outage across the U.S. today, with hundreds of thousands of customers reporting issues with the network on the website Downdetector. There are also complaints across Reddit and other social media platforms. iPhone users and others with Verizon service are generally unable to make phone calls, send text messages, or use data over 5G or LTE due to the outage....
iPhone Top Left Hole Punch Face ID Feature Purple

New Leak Reveals iPhone 18 Pro Display Sizes, Under-Screen Face ID, and More

Wednesday January 14, 2026 7:09 am PST by
While the iPhone 18 Pro models are still around eight months away, a leaker has shared some alleged details about the devices. In a post on Chinese social media platform Weibo this week, the account Digital Chat Station said the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max will have the same 6.3-inch and 6.9-inch display sizes as the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max. Consistent with previous...
iOS 26

Here's What's New in iOS 26.3 So Far

Monday January 12, 2026 1:15 pm PST by
Apple today seeded the second beta of iOS 26.3, nearly a month after the first beta. So far, the update includes a couple of new features for iPhones. iOS 15.3 through iOS 18.3 were all released in late January over the years, so it is thereby likely that iOS 26.3 will be released towards the end of this month as well. The update is compatible with the iPhone 11 series and newer. Below,...
airpods pro 3 design

Apple Releases New AirPods Pro 3 Firmware Update

Tuesday January 13, 2026 11:29 am PST by
Apple today released a firmware update for the AirPods Pro 3. The latest firmware has a version number of 8B34, up from the previous version 8B30. Apple has a support document for AirPods firmware updates, and it indicates that the 8B34 update contains unspecified "bug fixes and other improvements." No other AirPods models received firmware updates today. How to install AirPods Pro...