The Newton OS (here just NOS) is a brilliant piece of software engineering. No, not just brilliant. Ingenious is a better word. I'll start with general stuff and then move to NOS 1.3, then 2.1. Search for the version in brackets (i.e. [2.1]) to snap to a section.

The Newton OS is an ingenious design that was 15 years ahead of its time. For those who don't know much about the inner workings of an iPhone-like device, I'll elaborate on why. Feel free to skip this next part if you already know. iOS is basically a mobile version of Mac OS X optimized for low power consumption and speed. It is designed so that data is not simply stored as a file in a given location but rather in one big collection. There are, for all intents and purposes, no folders, no documents, just one big pile of information that all apps can share to an extent. The iPhone does not try to be a desktop OS crammed into a phone like Windows CE (how did Windows CE, WinCE or just Wince make it through marketing?) but is actually a dedicated mobile platform loosely based on the Mac OS source code.

NOS, on the other hand, was the product of $100 million in R&D if I recall correctly. It is a unique OS built only for Newtons and half a dozen poor selling clones from Sharp and a few others. Like the iPhone, NOS doesn't have any folders at all, though in a more extreme sense. When you put a linear flash card or presumably a CF or SD with the right driver, the Newton turns the whole card into one big file. All applications, data, eBooks (yes, built in support for eBooks in 1993) and the rest all reside inside that one file. That means that there is a universal find button. If I were to tap find and write "IPLDx Striker," it would find exactly one result from the book I'm writing and present a list to pick from, then snap me to that location. A better example would be to search for "brimstone" with a Bible loaded for a few more results.

A pair of AAs in an original GameBoy Advance I once determined lasts 33 hours and 33 minutes with normal usage (the game had an hours played timer). My 2100 mAh rechargables in my 110 last about 40-ish hours before they need to be docked. That is mostly because of the power saving architecture of the NOS. It lasts forever on batteries.

[1.3]
NOS 1.3 was the first really usable release in my opinion. Handwriting recognition is good but not great and the 10,000 word dictionary is small by any standards (it has "initialization" but not "hi" or "yay," for instance), but as a book reader and general reference device, it is very hard to beat NOS 1.3. Even 2.1 isn't hugely better in this regard. The OS starts to the Notepad by default where you can draw or write things that fit within 4 KB or less space. By default, you get a calculator, a few fill-in-the-blanks mathematical formulas like metric conversions and loan payment calculators, an ancient form of email that is likely useless today and a time zone difference calculator (example: what time is it in Tokyo right now?).

NOS 1.3 is very simple and very lightweight. It takes up less than 400 KB of RAM and literally boots in five seconds. But you would only notice that if either you press the reset button in the battery compartment or your batteries die. Even as a Mac user, I find that I try to do things in a more complex manner than usual to the point where I look up the directions and frustrate myself with its simplicity. Now I know how converts from Windows feel sometimes. "It can't be that easy! But it works...."

[2.1]
NOS 2.1 is also amazingly simple, though much more complex. Before I continue, I need to clarify a definition. Complex is not equal to complicated. Complicated is more like "difficult to use" whereas complex means more like "composed of many different individual components that work together." Therefore, it is possible to be both simple and complex, though it is different.

Take a newer automatic transmission car with electronic keys for instance. You sit in the seat and push the button. You shift into reverse and pull out of your driveway, then put it into drive and continue using two more analog switches/pedals to go and stop. Complicated? No, not really. It takes two minutes to learn the process. Complex? Very. You have a lead-acid battery that ignites gasoline stored inside a small chamber inside the engine that causes the engine to start, injecting and detonating more and more gasoline at a controlled rate, not only powering the wheels, but also converting some electricity for the air conditioning, radio, cabin lights and headlights. The battery also passively powers a wireless transmiter that looks for the unique signiture generated by the keys for that car and the alarm, which is also a very complex system. Such a car is simple but complex. Not complicated to the user.

Again, NOS 2.1 is complex. It has a new feature known as the backdrop application in which an application can replace the Notepad as the app that everything draws on top of. There is also a package included with 2.1 devices (the 2000, 2100 and eMate) called NewtWorks (NewtonWorks?) by Apple, which is essentially just an expandable office suite for the Newton. Many plug-ins were made, especially one that enables handwriting recognition (HWR). I know that might sound silly, but NW was designed for the MessagePad keyboard and the eMate's rapid data entry. I recommend that you use the more advanced HWR of Notepad and just copy data into a Works file instead. There are also more advanced apps that do just about anything plus several easter eggs.

Back to the OS: an interesting feature is the ability to rotate the display in any one of four directions, including upside down. Handy for IR communications with a PowerBook. Landscape mode makes a great writing surface because of the "handles" on the left and right cushioning your hand. If you get too into your writing, for instance when note taking, you can delay text recognition and retain just the shape your letters made cleverly moved into the line of text (hard to describe, I'll upload a pic [editme]). The page also auto rotates when you reach the end, saving a second and a half. On the 2100, page draws are extremely fast. To the point where you can keep on writing without even pausing and it will pick it up right.

NOS 2.1's handwriting recognition with its 93000 word dictionary is insane. My teachers request that I type all of my essays because my cursive is so bad that they can't read it at all. I think once I had to read part of an essay to a teacher because they couldn't read it. My Newton can. Handwriting accuracy is well over 95% as long as I remember to do my lowercase p's the right way instead of my way. And it learns. I tell it I meant to say (random hypothetical example because I can't think of a real one) edit instead of edits and it is about 50% more likely to get it right the next time. You can also specify what type of letters you use to minimize confusion. For instance, I always print my capital F's stem first, then top line, then second line, so I can turn off all the cursive ones and most printed variants to minimize confusion with T.

One other feature is the button bar, basically a permanantly visible place for page up and down, overview mode and a few features. This bar is customizable, eerily similar to Mac OS X's Dock. I mean eerily. In landscape mode, you can even move it left or right, default is right. Most Mac users are familiar with Stacks introduced with Mac OS 10.5. If you aren't, basically, you click an icon of a folder on the dock and it will list the contents of the folder in an overlay though not quite a window, complete with icons. When you open an application, the overlay disappears. NOS had this feature in 1997, ten years before Leopard. You open the Extras drawer and it lists all the applications on your Newton. The icons can be rearranged in an eerily similar manner to iOS. Hold down the stylus over the icon until it selects it. Then drag it where you want it and it stays. Want to delete it? Tap the "routing icon," a.k.a. little envelope in a box and tap delete. If you do decide to open one of those apps, the Extras drawer slides away. Dock and Stacks meet iOS. This in 1997 and less than a 4 MB RAM footprint. Ahead of its time.

A wise man who, like me, also wears blue jeans and a black sweater daily, once said "But there is one more thing." There are AirPort and Bluetooth drivers available for NOS 2.1. It is perfectly possible to get online with a MessagePad 2000, 2100 or eMate and it should be possible to use a Bluetooth keyboard, though I haven't tried. Using the Courier text browser, it is reasonably fast. Certainly no slower than my PowerBook 1400c/117. You can also use Mail V to check IMAP email accounts. There are Telnet clients available and an early beta of SSH which also, by extension, enables SSL encryption for secure web pages and Gmail. Now if only I could get this infernal battery working, I could leave all other computers behind except for video editing and heavier graphics work.

If the rumored 5.6" iPads come with styli, we might have a worthy successor. Until then, I frankly think that NOS is still superior to iOS, even after having had over ten years to age. The users support the device for over a decade after its discontinuation and has survived the iPhone revolution.. It's been through the Y2k+10 bug and survived. Patch 711000, generated by users reverse engineering Apple's patch system fixed that entirely. Newton doesn't die.

Newton just gets new batteries.