Newton OS - Features

Features

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.

  • Sound responsive — Clicking menus and icons makes a sound; this feature was later introduced in Mac OS 8.
  • Icons - Similar to the Macintosh Desktop metaphor, Newton OS uses icons to open applications.
  • Tabbed documents — Similar to tabbed browsing in today's browsers and Apple's AtEase interface, documents titles appear in a small tab at the top right hand of the screen.
  • Screen rotation — In Newton 2.0, the screen could be rotated to be used for drawing or word processing.
  • File documents — Notes and Drawings can be categorized. E.g. Fun, Business, Personal, etc.
  • Print documents — Documents on the Newton can be printed
  • Send documents — Documents can be sent to another Newton via Infrared technology or sent using the Internet by E-Mail, or faxed.
  • Menus — Similar to menus seen in Mac OS, but menu titles are instead presented at the bottom of the screen in small rectangles, making them similar to buttons with attached "pop-up" menus.

Many features of the Newton are best appreciated in the context of the history of Pen computing.

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