Star Trek project
Encyclopedia
Star Trek was the code name given to a prototype
project at Apple Computer
and Novell
during 1992 and 1993. The project was named after the Star Trek
science fiction franchise with the slogan "To boldly go where no Mac has gone before
."
Star Trek was to be a version of the Macintosh
operating system
running as a GUI on Intel-compatible x86 personal computer
s on top of Novell's next in-development version of the DR DOS operating system in a similar fashion as Microsoft Windows 3.x would run on top of DOS (including DR DOS). (At that time, the Mac OS
ran only on Apple's own computers based on the Motorola 68000
architecture.)
The system was based on the successor of Digital Research
's DR DOS 6.0 (BDOS level 6.7 and 7.1) and NetWare PalmDOS 1.0 (code named "Merlin", BDOS level 7.0), Novell's DR DOS "Panther" (coincidentally at BDOS level 7.0/7.1 at this time - and not to be mixed up with Apple's much later "Panther" project) as a fully PC DOS compatible 16-bit disk operating system (with genuinely DOS compatible internal data structures) for bootstrapping, media access, device drivers and filesystem support. The system would utilize DR DOS' new "Vladivar" Extended DOS component with flat memory support, which had been under development at least since 1991. "Vladivar" (DEVICE=KRNL386.SYS aka DEVICE=EMM386.EXE /MULTI + TASKMGR) was a dynamically loadable 32-bit Protected Mode system core for advanced memory management, hardware virtualization, scheduling and domain management for pre-emptive multithreading within applications as well as multitasking of independent applications running in different virtual DOS machines (comparable to Windows 386 Enhanced Mode but without a GUI). Thereby, the previously loaded DOS environment including all its device drivers became part of the system domain under the multitasker and unless specific Protected Mode virtual device drivers were loaded, hardware access got tunneled through this 16-bit sub-system by default. For maximum speed at minimum resource footprint the DR DOS BIOS, BDOS kernel, device drivers, memory managers and the multitasker were written in pure x86 assembler. Apple's port of System 7.1 would run on top of this high-performance yet light-weight hybrid 32-bit/16-bit Protected Mode multitasking environment as a graphical system and shell in user space.
The developers eventually reached a point where they could boot an Intel 486 PC (with very specific hardware) into System 7.1
, and on-screen it was indistinguishable from a Mac. However, every program needed to be ported to the new x86 architecture in order to run. Supposedly programs could be ported with little effort because Apple developed equivalent headers for x86.
The project was a joint development with Novell
(although Apple provided the majority of engineers). Novell at the time was one of the leaders of cross-platform file-servers, and the plan was that Novell would market the resulting OS as a challenge to Microsoft Windows
. However, the project was cancelled in mid-1993 because of political infighting, personnel issues, and the questionable marketability of such a project.
, ViewMAX/2 & 3
and PC/GEOS / New Deal are known to utilize this interface, when run on Novell DOS 7 (or its successors OpenDOS 7.01 or DR-DOS 7.02 and higher), and "Star Trek" would have been yet another one. In fact, some additional hooks had been implemented specifically for the "Star Trek" GUI for frame buffer access. These hooks have never been stripped out of EMM386 but just left undocumented.
Although a direct x86 port of Mac OS was never released to the public, one could run the classic Mac OS on non-Mac computers through emulation
and the development of these was spurred by the failure of the Star Trek project. Two of the more popular Macintosh emulators are vMac
and Basilisk II
, both written by third parties.
Ten years after Project Star Trek, it became possible to natively run Darwin
, the Unix
-based core of Mac OS X
, on the x86 platform by virtue of its NeXTstep
foundation. This port was widely available because Darwin was open source
under the Apple Public Source License
. However, the OS X graphical user interface
, named Aqua, was proprietary. It was not included with Darwin, which depended on other window managers running on X11 for graphical interfaces.
Apple ran a similar project to Star Trek for Mac OS X, called Marklar
. This project was to keep Mac OS X and all supporting applications (including iLife
and Xcode
) running on the x86 architecture as well as that of the PowerPC. Marklar was revealed by Apple's CEO Steve Jobs in June 2005, when he announced the Macintosh transition to Intel processors starting in 2006.
Prototype
A prototype is an early sample or model built to test a concept or process or to act as a thing to be replicated or learned from.The word prototype derives from the Greek πρωτότυπον , "primitive form", neutral of πρωτότυπος , "original, primitive", from πρῶτος , "first" and τύπος ,...
project at Apple Computer
Apple Computer
Apple Inc. is an American multinational corporation that designs and markets consumer electronics, computer software, and personal computers. The company's best-known hardware products include the Macintosh line of computers, the iPod, the iPhone and the iPad...
and Novell
Novell
Novell, Inc. is a multinational software and services company. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of The Attachmate Group. It specializes in network operating systems, such as Novell NetWare; systems management solutions, such as Novell ZENworks; and collaboration solutions, such as Novell Groupwise...
during 1992 and 1993. The project was named after the Star Trek
Star Trek
Star Trek is an American science fiction entertainment franchise created by Gene Roddenberry. The core of Star Trek is its six television series: The Original Series, The Animated Series, The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, and Enterprise...
science fiction franchise with the slogan "To boldly go where no Mac has gone before
Where no man has gone before
"Where no man has gone before" is a phrase originally made popular through its use in the title sequence of most episodes of the original Star Trek science fiction television series. It refers to the mission of the original starship Enterprise...
."
Star Trek was to be a version of the Macintosh
Mac OS
Mac OS is a series of graphical user interface-based operating systems developed by Apple Inc. for their Macintosh line of computer systems. The Macintosh user experience is credited with popularizing the graphical user interface...
operating system
Operating system
An operating system is a set of programs that manage computer hardware resources and provide common services for application software. The operating system is the most important type of system software in a computer system...
running as a GUI on Intel-compatible x86 personal computer
Personal computer
A personal computer is any general-purpose computer whose size, capabilities, and original sales price make it useful for individuals, and which is intended to be operated directly by an end-user with no intervening computer operator...
s on top of Novell's next in-development version of the DR DOS operating system in a similar fashion as Microsoft Windows 3.x would run on top of DOS (including DR DOS). (At that time, the Mac OS
Mac OS
Mac OS is a series of graphical user interface-based operating systems developed by Apple Inc. for their Macintosh line of computer systems. The Macintosh user experience is credited with popularizing the graphical user interface...
ran only on Apple's own computers based on the Motorola 68000
Motorola 68000
The Motorola 68000 is a 16/32-bit CISC microprocessor core designed and marketed by Freescale Semiconductor...
architecture.)
The system was based on the successor of Digital Research
Digital Research
Digital Research, Inc. was the company created by Dr. Gary Kildall to market and develop his CP/M operating system and related products. It was the first large software company in the microcomputer world...
's DR DOS 6.0 (BDOS level 6.7 and 7.1) and NetWare PalmDOS 1.0 (code named "Merlin", BDOS level 7.0), Novell's DR DOS "Panther" (coincidentally at BDOS level 7.0/7.1 at this time - and not to be mixed up with Apple's much later "Panther" project) as a fully PC DOS compatible 16-bit disk operating system (with genuinely DOS compatible internal data structures) for bootstrapping, media access, device drivers and filesystem support. The system would utilize DR DOS' new "Vladivar" Extended DOS component with flat memory support, which had been under development at least since 1991. "Vladivar" (DEVICE=KRNL386.SYS aka DEVICE=EMM386.EXE /MULTI + TASKMGR) was a dynamically loadable 32-bit Protected Mode system core for advanced memory management, hardware virtualization, scheduling and domain management for pre-emptive multithreading within applications as well as multitasking of independent applications running in different virtual DOS machines (comparable to Windows 386 Enhanced Mode but without a GUI). Thereby, the previously loaded DOS environment including all its device drivers became part of the system domain under the multitasker and unless specific Protected Mode virtual device drivers were loaded, hardware access got tunneled through this 16-bit sub-system by default. For maximum speed at minimum resource footprint the DR DOS BIOS, BDOS kernel, device drivers, memory managers and the multitasker were written in pure x86 assembler. Apple's port of System 7.1 would run on top of this high-performance yet light-weight hybrid 32-bit/16-bit Protected Mode multitasking environment as a graphical system and shell in user space.
The developers eventually reached a point where they could boot an Intel 486 PC (with very specific hardware) into System 7.1
System 7 (Macintosh)
System 7 is a single-user graphical user interface-based operating system for Macintosh computers. It was introduced on May 13, 1991 by Apple Computer. It succeeded System 6, and was the main Macintosh operating system until it was succeeded by Mac OS 8 in 1997...
, and on-screen it was indistinguishable from a Mac. However, every program needed to be ported to the new x86 architecture in order to run. Supposedly programs could be ported with little effort because Apple developed equivalent headers for x86.
The project was a joint development with Novell
Novell
Novell, Inc. is a multinational software and services company. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of The Attachmate Group. It specializes in network operating systems, such as Novell NetWare; systems management solutions, such as Novell ZENworks; and collaboration solutions, such as Novell Groupwise...
(although Apple provided the majority of engineers). Novell at the time was one of the leaders of cross-platform file-servers, and the plan was that Novell would market the resulting OS as a challenge to Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
. However, the project was cancelled in mid-1993 because of political infighting, personnel issues, and the questionable marketability of such a project.
Legacies
While the joint effort failed, Novell published the long awaited "DR DOS 7.0" as Novell DOS 7 (BDOS 7.2) in 1994. Besides many other additions in the areas of advanced memory and disk management and networking, Novell DOS 7 provided all of Novell's underlying "STDOS" components of the DR DOS "Panther" and "Vladivar" projects except for the graphical "Star Trek" component itself, which had been jointly developed by Apple and Novell. Instead, TASKMGR provided a text mode interface to the underlying multitasker in EMM386, but the system also provided an API to allow 3rd party GUIs to take over control. Microsoft WindowsMicrosoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
, ViewMAX/2 & 3
ViewMAX
ViewMAX is the file manager supplied with DR DOS versions 5.0 and 6.0. It is based on a cut-down version of the GEM GUI.-Versions:ViewMAX/1 was distributed with DR DOS 5.0. It had a very similar appearance to previous GEM desktops – two fixed-size windows...
and PC/GEOS / New Deal are known to utilize this interface, when run on Novell DOS 7 (or its successors OpenDOS 7.01 or DR-DOS 7.02 and higher), and "Star Trek" would have been yet another one. In fact, some additional hooks had been implemented specifically for the "Star Trek" GUI for frame buffer access. These hooks have never been stripped out of EMM386 but just left undocumented.
Although a direct x86 port of Mac OS was never released to the public, one could run the classic Mac OS on non-Mac computers through emulation
Emulator
In computing, an emulator is hardware or software or both that duplicates the functions of a first computer system in a different second computer system, so that the behavior of the second system closely resembles the behavior of the first system...
and the development of these was spurred by the failure of the Star Trek project. Two of the more popular Macintosh emulators are vMac
VMac
vMac was an open source emulator for Mac OS, Windows, MS-DOS, OS/2, NeXTSTEP, Linux / Unix, and other platforms. Although vMac has been abandoned, Mini vMac, an improved spinoff of vMac, is currently developed. vMac and Mini vMac emulate a Macintosh Plus and can run Apple Macintosh System versions...
and Basilisk II
Basilisk II
Basilisk II is an open source software emulator which emulates the 680x0-based Apple Macintosh computer on a variety of operating systems, including BeOS, Linux, AmigaOS, Windows NT, Mac OS X and even on the Sony PSP....
, both written by third parties.
Ten years after Project Star Trek, it became possible to natively run Darwin
Darwin (operating system)
Darwin is an open source POSIX-compliant computer operating system released by Apple Inc. in 2000. It is composed of code developed by Apple, as well as code derived from NeXTSTEP, BSD, and other free software projects....
, the Unix
Unix
Unix is a multitasking, multi-user computer operating system originally developed in 1969 by a group of AT&T employees at Bell Labs, including Ken Thompson, Dennis Ritchie, Brian Kernighan, Douglas McIlroy, and Joe Ossanna...
-based core of Mac OS X
Mac OS X
Mac OS X is a series of Unix-based operating systems and graphical user interfaces developed, marketed, and sold by Apple Inc. Since 2002, has been included with all new Macintosh computer systems...
, on the x86 platform by virtue of its NeXTstep
NEXTSTEP
NeXTSTEP was the object-oriented, multitasking operating system developed by NeXT Computer to run on its range of proprietary workstation computers, such as the NeXTcube...
foundation. This port was widely available because Darwin was open source
Open source
The term open source describes practices in production and development that promote access to the end product's source materials. Some consider open source a philosophy, others consider it a pragmatic methodology...
under the Apple Public Source License
Apple Public Source License
The Apple Public Source License is the open source and free software license under which Apple's Darwin operating system was released. A free software and open source license was voluntarily adopted to further involve the community from which much of Darwin originated.The first version of the Apple...
. However, the OS X graphical user interface
Graphical user interface
In computing, a graphical user interface is a type of user interface that allows users to interact with electronic devices with images rather than text commands. GUIs can be used in computers, hand-held devices such as MP3 players, portable media players or gaming devices, household appliances and...
, named Aqua, was proprietary. It was not included with Darwin, which depended on other window managers running on X11 for graphical interfaces.
Apple ran a similar project to Star Trek for Mac OS X, called Marklar
Mac OS X
Mac OS X is a series of Unix-based operating systems and graphical user interfaces developed, marketed, and sold by Apple Inc. Since 2002, has been included with all new Macintosh computer systems...
. This project was to keep Mac OS X and all supporting applications (including iLife
ILife
iLife is a suite of software applications developed by Apple for organizing, editing, and publishing photos, movies, and music. The suite comprises five applications: iPhoto, iMovie, iDVD, GarageBand, and iWeb, all of which run on the Mac OS X operating system....
and Xcode
Xcode
Xcode is a suite of tools, developed by Apple, for developing software for Mac OS X and iOS. Xcode 4.2, the latest major version, is available on the Mac App Store for free for Mac OS X 10.7 , and on the Apple Developer Connection website for free to registered developers Xcode is a suite of tools,...
) running on the x86 architecture as well as that of the PowerPC. Marklar was revealed by Apple's CEO Steve Jobs in June 2005, when he announced the Macintosh transition to Intel processors starting in 2006.
External links
- Quest for the Operating System Star Trek from Kernelthread
- Star Trek: Apple's First Mac OS on Intel Project from Low End Mac