Einstein

It was said that it couldn’t be done. Well boys and girls, it’s here! Actually, Einstein has been around publicly for over a month, and I didn’t even realize it!

The Einstein Emulator (DR2) emulates an Apple Newton MessagePad 2×00 or an eMate 300 on Mac OS X (with X11 support). Once you supply the emulator with a ROM file from a Newton, you’re good to go! Install your favorite packages, turn on the virtual backlight, and see for yourself what the whole Newton hoopla is all about!

The emulator is running faster than when Paul demoed it at the first Worldwide Newton Conference in Paris last year. Even on my pokey three and a half year old Quicksilver PowerMac, it runs better than I would have expected. No doubt it will get faster with each subsequent release.

Just for fun, I installed my AlarmClock package and was able to hear its famous piercing 2200Hz sound! Sound overall on Einstein is a little choppy, but that like the speed will also improve over time.

The emulator is just one part of the Einstein Project. From the project web site, there are three main goals:

• Write a Newton emulator and understand all the hardware bindings of the operating system
• Port this emulator on a POSIX compatible kernel for PDAs, preferably with a compatible processor
• Extend the NewtonOS system to take advantage of POSIX kernel features

Once again, Paul Guyot proves that he is Da Man when it come to the Newton. Big congratulations on getting this release out.

If you are running Mac OS X and want to see the Newton experience for yourself, check out Einstein!