The big news coming out of the 2006 Worldwide Newton Conference is that the NewtonOS runs on Linux PDA’s! You read that right, we’re one step closer to having a Newton running on non-Apple hardware.
At the 2004 WWNC, Paul demoed Einstein, an emulator running on Mac OS X. He’s improved it over the past year, making the emulator seven times faster. On my Quad PowerMac G5, it has a speed rating of 9400 iterations/second when running Frank Gruendel’s NewtTest. A stock 2100 has a rating of 11,000. An accelerated Newton clocks in at 13,000. So, we’re not there yet, but we’re getting closer to matching and breaking the speed barrier. The Linux version of the emulator is much, much slower. I don’t doubt, however, Paul’s ability to get the speed up to an acceptable number.
Apple has shown us that the soul of the Macintosh lies not in the choice of processor but in the software and user experience. At the 2006 Worldwide Newton Conference, we demonstrated that the soul of the Newton is not trapped within aging hardware. It’s ready to burst out and transfer its elegance and functionality into a new line of devices. The next year and a half are going to be exciting!
The Linux PDA port of Einstein has a ways to go before it is ready for primetime. Nevertheless, it’s available today! If you have a Linux-based PDA with X11 support, you can run NewtonOS!
The second day of the conference will be tomorrow. I’ll have more updates as they come!
tow.com 
how wonderful to be able to look into the WWNC from here in Melbourne Australia. Thanks it is great to picture the souls who are NTLK.
Thanks for the pictures. Seeing that little Zaurus running that big OS makes me drool. New hardware, indeed. What a wonderful thing all of you are doing! Thank you for the conference and thank you for the update so quickly…
It is so encouraging to see that, yet again, the Newton community is so vibrant and full that it can support an international conference. Einstein is HUGE news.
Hi all,
ain’t that cool. Einstein running on a Zaurus. Congratulations, Paul.
I wish I was there. Well, maybe next time the WWNC will be in
Europe again :-)
Have fun, all!
Frank
I wish I could have been there with you guys. I think maybe it is time I group. I’ve been watching where and what you guys are up to. Hey two world conferences and all of the knowledge shared.
Matt
Wow!
I can see Apple coming over and knocking on Paul’s door, with a big wad of cash, any day now.
Hi there in San Fran!
Hope everything went fine with the conference…
I think I should try to find a Zaurus asap ;-)
Great pictures, Adam!
Christian (sad Christian)
Adam,
Apple are gonna release a new PDA. I can just sense it.
Keep up the cool work!
Sean
P.S – You made Slashdot!
Wow! The Newton has a future again!
And I have the final excuse for me buy a Zaurus!
Well done, Paul!
-Rob
Fantastic!!! I can’t wait to return to the glory of Newton!!! Woohoo…I want it.
-Khav
Beautiful, thank you for all the hard work and hair loss.
But, questions, details, information? I have a Zaurus, but did not know there was an X11 ROM that worked with the model 5500. What ROM is it? Are there install instructions? (yeah I know, maybe if I had attended wwnc . . .)
Allen
It may not be a full solution today, but it now looks to be achievable. I now have more motivation/inspiration to write some of those Newton applications I was holding off on because I didn’t know how long my Newton would be able to keep going.
Amazing!
Paul
That is awesome!! Thanks again for all your work……may you continue to be successful as you plan the future!!
now look at that :
http://www.dillernet.com/apple/
:)
I can see Apple coming over and knocking on Paul’s door, with a big wad of cash, any day now.
More like a summons for a lawsuit for violating DMCA or some insane crap like that….
Adam, Paul, Ronnie…and all the die hard Newton visionaries. My hat is off to you all. I first starting using a Newton Messagepad 100 back in 96 and have loved every minute of it. Now with the same MP100, , 2 MP2000’s and a MP2100, it is ever inspirational to see how the platform is way far from dead. Kudos to all the developers, users, and the like. I continually get excited reading about the WWNC progress and what I believe lies on the horizon for the Newton. Steve, if you happen to be reading this…you can make the Newton the iPod of all PDAs.
Best,
Doug
As a long time user (1994) of the MP I have to say that this rekindles the hope that one day I’ll be able to use the NOS on a small form factor device.
Tis a thing of beauty.
:-)
Wonderful!
As a daily MP2k user since 1996, I’m so glad to see the rebirth
of Newton “Soul” (soup) in a newer “body” (machine)!
Very excited!
Wow, great! We’re still here!
I owe my ability to attend college on the Newton os. I use it as adaptive technology for my learning disability. I had just about given up hope for my old 2000. Now its ROM will be reincarnated into a beautiful butterfly called the Zarus. Thanks to all who made this miracle happen. Now I just have to find one.
I was going to comment on how the unit gave me a chance to… but someone with a better story beat me to it. I haven’t seen any for lower resale value yet but after X-mas I am sure you can find one.
laura
Don Lapre Lover
http://www.lauraglydaband.com
laura@lauraglydaband.com
Any word on when we might see a Linux PDA port of Einstein that is ready for primetime?
Wonderful!
As a daily MP2k user since 1996, I’m so glad to see the rebirth
of Newton “Soul” (soup) in a newer “body” (machine)!
Very excited!
[…] a Albert Einstein, sino a Einstein, el emulador de Newton Os, que además de parecer funcionar bajo Mac os X también lo hace bajo Pda’s con linux, como por ejemplo la Zaurus de Sharp. Y aunque parece […]
[…] 別のページにはLinux Zaurus（日本国内では未発売のSL-5500）上で動作するNewton OSを見ることができる。 […]