Back to the article, which has an issue date of July 1985, I'm wondering if Larry Tesler worked on the Big Mac project (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Mac_(computer)), the planned successor to the original Macintosh that not only had beefier hardware, but also ran Unix but had a Macintosh interface and can run Macintosh software. Of course, the Big Mac wasn't to be; Steve Jobs left Apple in September 1985 when he lost a power struggle against John Sculley and formed NeXT, which in many ways resembles a Big Mac, but instead of having a Macintosh interface and running Macintosh software, it has a different interface, and while it has Unix underpinnings via 4.2BSD and the Mach microkernel, its user interface software is implemented in Objective-C, which was heavily influenced by Smalltalk. Apple would later create A/UX (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A/UX), which seems to meet the objectives of the Big Mac's operating system plans. Of course, as we all know, Apple would end up buying NeXT in December 1996, and since 2001 the Mac's operating system uses a Macintosh interface with Unix underpinnings via NeXT's technologies.
It makes me wonder, though. Suppose Steve Jobs didn't leave Apple in 1985 and the Big Mac continued. I wonder if it would've been similar to A/UX, or if it would've been closer to NeXT except with a Macintosh interface all along (I assume the reason NeXTstep has a different interface is to avoid copying the Macintosh interface for legal and business reasons).
Ever since I was in high school in the early 2000s, I've been fascinated with Apple's history and, by extension, spinoff companies like NeXT, Be, Claris, Taligent, and General Magic. While my enthusiasm for Apple has waned since Steve Jobs' passing, I'm still quite impressed with Apple's history and its founders Woz and Jobs, and how Apple was able to employ so many talented people who have contributed much to computing, including (but definitely not limited to) Alan Kay, Larry Tesler, Don Norman, Bruce Tognazzini, Susan Kare, Bill Atkinson, Jean-Louis Gassée, and many more. Apple from its founding through Steve Jobs' second period at Apple was a passionate champion of personal computing.
Back to the article, which has an issue date of July 1985, I'm wondering if Larry Tesler worked on the Big Mac project (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Mac_(computer)), the planned successor to the original Macintosh that not only had beefier hardware, but also ran Unix but had a Macintosh interface and can run Macintosh software. Of course, the Big Mac wasn't to be; Steve Jobs left Apple in September 1985 when he lost a power struggle against John Sculley and formed NeXT, which in many ways resembles a Big Mac, but instead of having a Macintosh interface and running Macintosh software, it has a different interface, and while it has Unix underpinnings via 4.2BSD and the Mach microkernel, its user interface software is implemented in Objective-C, which was heavily influenced by Smalltalk. Apple would later create A/UX (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A/UX), which seems to meet the objectives of the Big Mac's operating system plans. Of course, as we all know, Apple would end up buying NeXT in December 1996, and since 2001 the Mac's operating system uses a Macintosh interface with Unix underpinnings via NeXT's technologies.
It makes me wonder, though. Suppose Steve Jobs didn't leave Apple in 1985 and the Big Mac continued. I wonder if it would've been similar to A/UX, or if it would've been closer to NeXT except with a Macintosh interface all along (I assume the reason NeXTstep has a different interface is to avoid copying the Macintosh interface for legal and business reasons).
(1985)