Einstein, the NewtonOS Emulator

[retr01]

So, I learned from @Androda that there is a NewtonOs Emulator called Einstein:

GitHub - pguyot/Einstein: NewtonOS running on other operating systems

NewtonOS running on other operating systems. Contribute to pguyot/Einstein development by creating an account on GitHub.

github.com

Has anyone used it? Any thoughts and impressions? Was it challenging to install since there is no installer?

 

[splorp]

Has anyone used it?

I’ve played with it since it was first demonstration at the Worldwide Newton Conference in 2006.

https://flic.kr/p/8LAHz

Was it challenging to install since there is no installer?

It doesn’t require an installer, as the current release has precompiled binaries for Windows, macOS, and Linux.

https://github.com/pguyot/Einstein/wiki

Matthias Melcher, one of the developers on the project, has posted quite a bit of additional information on his own site regarding the set up and use of Einstein.

http://messagepad.org/

 

[chuma]

@splorp That Windows download binary link looks very very suspicious and NOT official! I think someone with commit access got hacked ....

Matthias has proper download links on his site: http://messagepad.org/Newton_Installs.html

 

[chuma]

Anyways, yes, I've used and contributed to Einstein, mostly just to fix bugs in the Linux version (since that's my OS of choice) and to trace through the NewtonOS boot process for ... reasons.

For actually using NewtonOS on a desktop though, I find myself missing the stylus after a few short minutes.

Your photo reminded me Grant, I need to get my dad's old Zaurus SL-5500 out of his basement.

 

[retr01]

That's cool, @splorp1

Hey, @chuma, downloading from Matthias' site is safer, right?

 

[chuma]

For sure , go to messagepad.org

 

[JDW]

I’ve played with it since it was first demonstration at the Worldwide Newton Conference in 2006.

Speaking of 2006, my Newton 2100 was in the car with me when our family had our first major car accident here in Japan. The Newton was in a bag next to me in the back seat. A nut ran a stop sign, slammed into us on the driver's door side (perpendicular to us) where my wife was driving, forcing our car to hit a steel guard rail head on. The car almost flipped over, front-end first! Indeed, the bad driver's car somehow ended up underneath our back two wheels.

Despite being strapped in, I flew from the back seat, broke off the rear view mirror with my head and crash into the front dash. My bag containing the Newton flew forward with me. Our infant son, also strapped into his car seat and seated to my left was somehow rocketed out of his seat and ended up on my back, where I believe the bag containing the Newton was also found. I was knocked out cold and ended up with the most bruises on my body, but miraculously no broken bones. Our entire family made it through, despite the fact the police commented they were surprised anyone in our car survived.


I took a photo of that same Newton 2100 (an upgraded 2000) a couple years later in 2008, mostly unscathed.

 

[retr01]

Aside from the Newtons, I know from experience that RIM two-way pagers and Blackberrys are just as tough. Then, when iPhone and Androids started, they were not as tough. Now they are much better, yet the predecessors before smartphones were already durable and built to take a beating.

I remember reading that the Newton eMate 300 was designed to be tough and withstand drops and whatever teachers and school kids do with them. Yet, most of them are still working to this day. I thought there was a bag for it, and I discovered no one made it for the eMate.

Of course, if the screen were impacted in a certain way, it would still break. Nowadays, with gorilla glass and similar, that is much better.

 

[Drake]

Speaking of 2006, my Newton 2100 was in the car with me when our family had our first major car accident here in Japan. The Newton was in a bag next to me in the back seat. A nut ran a stop sign, slammed into us on the driver's door side (perpendicular to us) where my wife was driving, forcing our car to hit a steel guard rail head on. The car almost flipped over, front-end first! Indeed, the bad driver's car somehow ended up underneath our back two wheels.

Despite being strapped in, I flew from the back seat, broke off the rear view mirror with my head and crash into the front dash. My bag containing the Newton flew forward with me. Our infant son, also strapped into his car seat and seated to my left was somehow rocketed out of his seat and ended up on my back, where I believe the bag containing the Newton was also found. I was knocked out cold and ended up with the most bruises on my body, but miraculously no broken bones. Our entire family made it through, despite the fact the police commented they were surprised anyone in our car survived.
View attachment 9086

I took a photo of that same Newton 2100 (an upgraded 2000) a couple years later in 2008, mostly unscathed.

View attachment 9087

Scary story James! Glad you and your family made it out. I've responded to many incidents over the years and one thing ALWAYS rings true, folks almost immediately are concerned about items in the car rather than personal health.
I can guarantee I would be reassuring anyone that their Apple devices were safe and sound before pointing out their tragic incident.

 

[splorp]

That Windows download binary link looks very very suspicious and NOT official!

Hey, @chuma, downloading from Matthias' site is safer, right?

Over the past couple of months, we’ve been fighting with a bunch of renegade edits to the Einstein wiki. I thought that the current version of the page was cleaned up, but I should’ve checked those links prior to copying and pasting.

The wiki page has been fixed and I updated the links in my previous post.

 

[chuma]

I remember reading that the Newton eMate 300 was designed to be tough and withstand drops and whatever teachers and school kids do with them. Yet, most of them are still working to this day. I thought there was a bag for it, and I discovered no one made it for the eMate.

Who needs a bag when your computer has its own handle?

For years I've always thought that the eMate 300 was so durable, you could run it over with a vehicle and it would survive... not that I've tried though!

As for the screen... all of the eMates in my care came from classroom settings, owned by a very dedicated teacher who kept them after they were discarded by school boards, and they were used by young children in her classroom for years after the Newton was cancelled.

Over about 40 eMates, only one of them has a physically damaged screen. I'd guess that the damage was caused by someone leaving a small, hard object on top of the keyboard, and then slammed the screen down hard. The damage appears as a small dark spot visible all the time, but the top glass layer is intact. So one of the inner layers broke.