With all the fuss over Java, we’ve been wondering what happens to all those Neo and OpenStep tools and services that are supposed to form the basis of SunSoft Inc’s object product strategy. Although it says it will continue to develop, sell and support all of the promised Neo object technologies derived from the NeXT Software Inc OpenStep/NeXTstep environment for now, Java’s impact on the market will direct its strategy long-term. Java will be its primary target for Internet client-server offerings. It says all other mechanisms should be considered transitional. All new users of Sun object offerings will be steered towards Java, not OpenStep. Most of the Neo development tools will now be housed alongside Java and C++ in the recently introduced Internet Workshop suite (CI No 2,881), rather than as stand-alone environments. They include the WorkShop Neo Objective C-based OpenStep developer due by mid-year; the NeoWorks Interface Definition Language compiler and graphical application builder and NeoShare network development framework. NeoDesktop, the NeXTstep/OpenStep-based graphical user interface is still in beta test. The OpenStep run-time environment, Neo Network, Neo ORB and Neo services are included in the Solaris Neo release of Sun’s Unix extended to support Neo applications. SunSoft’s object request broker story is now a three-headed beast with Joe’s Java broker, Java Interface Definition Language communications module and compiler for tying Java applets to Solaris Neo; the NeoNet object broker, which connects OpenStep environments to Solaris Neo servers; and Iona Technologies Ltd’s Orbix, which provides the client-side support for Object Linking & Embedding. SunSoft says it will upgrade the Neo-specific object request broker protocol it is currently using to employ the Object Management Group’s Internet Inter-ORB Protocol by the summer, providing interoperability with objects residing in other Corba 2- compatible environments.
