Chicago-based systems integrator ITSolutions Inc reckons that Canon Computer Systems Inc’s 100MHz 80486DX4 NeXTstep-specific object.station 41 provides the ideal base for creating a dedicated World Wide Web authoring system. It has integrated it with San Diego, California-based Pages Software Inc’s World Wide Web object-oriented authoring tool, WebPages, to offer an off-the-shelf system to organisations keen to become major publishers on the Internet. Called the Neticity Workstation, the integrated kit is said to enable users to create what-you-see-is-what-you-get HyperText Markup Language documents and Web pages without requiring any knowledge of the language. Pages Software and ITSolutions say that Canon’s workstation, which was built from the ground up to optimise NeXTstep, was chosen because its multi-tasking capabilities made it ideal for graphically-intensive work, like creating World Wide Web information. The Pages software simplifies document linking and makes it possible to create documents without the use of graphical editing tools, although the workstation comes with such a tool. Documents created in WebPages use a drag-and-drop user-interface that adds heads, graphics, and links to other documents. Pricing for the Neticity Workstation starts at $10,000 for a completely integrated ready to use Web Authoring system. For this users get a 32Mb, 1Gb disk workstation with a 17 colour monitor, the NeXTstep operating system, WebPages, a graphical image editing tool, and a library of images, icons, and some sample Web pages.
