December 20, 1996: Apple Announces NeXT Acquisition

by Chris Seibold Dec 20, 2007

It was no secret that Apple was in need of a new OS and it was also no secret that the project wasn't going to be completed in house. All sorts of options were considered, including Sun's Solaris, Windows NT, and BeOS.

BeOS was considered the strong front runner, so strong that the December issues of both MacUser and MacWorld ran lengthy features about BeOS. Behind the scenes, things were different. Gassee was trying to squeeze Apple for every dime possible and Steve Jobs was pushing for NeXT.

In a shock to the Mac community, Apple chose NeXT. The decision was made public on December 20, 1996.

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Comments

  • Well it was the right choice.  They got a decent operating system for a fair price, and Steve Jobs for free… A bargain I would say!

    Australia sydneystephen had this to say on Dec 20, 2006 Posts: 124

  • We don’t appreciate Gil Amelio’s contributions enough. He got two decisons right and they saved the company: killing Copland, and choosing NeXT.

    Imagine if Apple had muddle forward on its own or gone with Be…

    United States yet another steve had this to say on Dec 20, 2006 Posts: 1
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