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Hub AI
QuickDraw GX AI simulator
(@QuickDraw GX_simulator)
Hub AI
QuickDraw GX AI simulator
(@QuickDraw GX_simulator)
QuickDraw GX
QuickDraw GX was a replacement for the QuickDraw (QD) 2D graphics engine and Printing Manager inside the classic Mac OS. Its underlying drawing platform was an object oriented, resolution-independent, retained mode system, making it much easier for programmers to perform common tasks (compared to the original QuickDraw). Additionally, GX added various curve-drawing commands that had been lacking from QD, as well as introducing TrueType as its basic font system.
While GX addressed many of the problems that QD had, by the time it was made available, most developers had already developed their own solutions to these problems. GX also suffered from causing a number of incompatibilities in existing programs, notably those that had developed their own QD extensions. This, coupled with opposition from an important fraction of the developer market, especially PostScript owner Adobe, and a lack of communication from Apple about the benefits of GX and why users should adopt it, led to the technology being sidelined.
QuickDraw GX saw little development after its initial release and was formally "killed" with the purchase of NeXT and the eventual adoption of the Quartz imaging model in Mac OS X. Many of its component features lived on and are now standard in the current Macintosh platform; TrueType GX in particular has become a broadly used modern standard in the form of OpenType Variable Fonts.
As the 80s wore on, QuickDraw's architectural limitations began to impose limits on Apple and third-party developers.
GX appears to have started in a roundabout fashion, originally as an outline font system that would be added to the Mac OS. Included in the font rendering engine were a number of generally useful extensions, notably a fixed point coordinate system and a variety of curve drawing commands. The system also included a system for "wrapping" existing PostScript Type 1 fonts into its own internal format, which added bitmap preview versions for quick on-screen rendering. This project later took on an expanded role when Apple and Microsoft agreed to work together to form an alternative to PostScript fonts, which were extremely expensive, creating the TrueType effort based on Apple's existing efforts.
Another project, apparently unrelated at first, attempted to address problems with the conversion from QuickDraw into various printer output formats. Whereas developers had earlier been forced to write their own code to convert their QuickDraw on-screen display to PostScript for printing, under the new printer architecture such conversions would be provided by the OS. Additionally the new system was deliberately engineered to be as flexible as possible, supporting not only QD and PS printers, but potentially other standards such as Hewlett-Packard's PCL as well. The system also supported "desktop printers" (printers that appeared as icons on the user's desktop), a long sought-after feature missing from QD, and added improved printing dialogs and controls.
It is not clear when the projects merged, but this was a common theme in Apple at the time. Middle-managers were involved in an intense turf war for much of the late 1980s and early 1990s, gathering projects together into "über-projects" that contained enough important code to make them "unkillable". Sadly, this often delayed the projects dramatically; one component running behind schedule forced the entire collection to be delayed so they could be released "complete". QuickDraw GX was one such victim, and delays and changes of direction in TrueType and other problems greatly delayed the introduction of GX.
Discussions of GX technology started appearing in various trade magazines around 1992, notably Apple's own develop. At the time it appeared release was imminent, perhaps late 1992 or early 1993.
QuickDraw GX
QuickDraw GX was a replacement for the QuickDraw (QD) 2D graphics engine and Printing Manager inside the classic Mac OS. Its underlying drawing platform was an object oriented, resolution-independent, retained mode system, making it much easier for programmers to perform common tasks (compared to the original QuickDraw). Additionally, GX added various curve-drawing commands that had been lacking from QD, as well as introducing TrueType as its basic font system.
While GX addressed many of the problems that QD had, by the time it was made available, most developers had already developed their own solutions to these problems. GX also suffered from causing a number of incompatibilities in existing programs, notably those that had developed their own QD extensions. This, coupled with opposition from an important fraction of the developer market, especially PostScript owner Adobe, and a lack of communication from Apple about the benefits of GX and why users should adopt it, led to the technology being sidelined.
QuickDraw GX saw little development after its initial release and was formally "killed" with the purchase of NeXT and the eventual adoption of the Quartz imaging model in Mac OS X. Many of its component features lived on and are now standard in the current Macintosh platform; TrueType GX in particular has become a broadly used modern standard in the form of OpenType Variable Fonts.
As the 80s wore on, QuickDraw's architectural limitations began to impose limits on Apple and third-party developers.
GX appears to have started in a roundabout fashion, originally as an outline font system that would be added to the Mac OS. Included in the font rendering engine were a number of generally useful extensions, notably a fixed point coordinate system and a variety of curve drawing commands. The system also included a system for "wrapping" existing PostScript Type 1 fonts into its own internal format, which added bitmap preview versions for quick on-screen rendering. This project later took on an expanded role when Apple and Microsoft agreed to work together to form an alternative to PostScript fonts, which were extremely expensive, creating the TrueType effort based on Apple's existing efforts.
Another project, apparently unrelated at first, attempted to address problems with the conversion from QuickDraw into various printer output formats. Whereas developers had earlier been forced to write their own code to convert their QuickDraw on-screen display to PostScript for printing, under the new printer architecture such conversions would be provided by the OS. Additionally the new system was deliberately engineered to be as flexible as possible, supporting not only QD and PS printers, but potentially other standards such as Hewlett-Packard's PCL as well. The system also supported "desktop printers" (printers that appeared as icons on the user's desktop), a long sought-after feature missing from QD, and added improved printing dialogs and controls.
It is not clear when the projects merged, but this was a common theme in Apple at the time. Middle-managers were involved in an intense turf war for much of the late 1980s and early 1990s, gathering projects together into "über-projects" that contained enough important code to make them "unkillable". Sadly, this often delayed the projects dramatically; one component running behind schedule forced the entire collection to be delayed so they could be released "complete". QuickDraw GX was one such victim, and delays and changes of direction in TrueType and other problems greatly delayed the introduction of GX.
Discussions of GX technology started appearing in various trade magazines around 1992, notably Apple's own develop. At the time it appeared release was imminent, perhaps late 1992 or early 1993.