NewWave

This article is about the graphical desktop environment. For other uses, see New Wave (disambiguation).
HP NewWave
Developer(s)Hewlett-Packard
Initial release1988; 36 years ago (1988)
Stable release
HP NewWave Office v4.5 / 18 July 1995; 29 years ago (18 July 1995)
Operating systemMicrosoft Windows
TypeDesktop environment
LicenseProprietary EULA

NewWave is a discontinued object-oriented graphical desktop environment and office productivity tool for PCs running early versions of Microsoft Windows (beginning with 2.0). It was developed by Hewlett-Packard and introduced commercially in 1988.[1] It was used on the HP Vectras and other IBM-compatible PCs running Windows.

From a user perspective NewWave ran on top of Windows and completely replaced the standard Windows Desktop and Program Manager user interface with its own object-oriented desktop interface.

HP promoted NewWave until the release of Windows 95, at which time further development of the product ceased due to incompatibility with the new operating system. The NewWave GUI (together with the contemporaneous NeXTSTEP GUI) introduced the shaded "3-D look and feel" that was later widely adopted.

HP encouraged independent software vendors to produce versions of applications which took advantage of NewWave functionality, allowing their data to be handled as objects instead of files. One early example was Samna Corporation (later acquired by Lotus) who produced an edition of their Microsoft Windows word processor Ami Pro entitled "Ami Pro for NewWave". On June 20, 1988 Microsoft Corporation and Hewlett-Packard issued a press release announcing the inclusion of NewWave support in an up-coming release Microsoft Excel.[2]

NewWave featured icons, scheduled scripts in the form of "agents", and "hot connects."[1]

HP incorporated NewWave into their multi-platform office automation offerings running under their proprietary MPE and HP-UX (UNIX) minicomputer operating systems. They developed NewWave versions of key email, database, document management, personal productivity, communications and network management tools and branded all related solutions under the “HP NewWave Office” banner. Prior to the integration of HP NewWave this solution set had been known as “Business System Plus”.[3][4] The “NewWave Office” term had been used previously to describe the main NewWave user desktop.[5]

  1. ^ a b Petrosky, Mary (16 November 1987). "HP's NewWave eases PC users' net access". Network World. IDG Communications: 6. ISSN 0887-7661. Retrieved 13 August 2011.
  2. ^ Crow, William M. (August 1989). "Encapsulation of Applications in the NewWave Environment" (PDF). Hewlett-Packard Journal. 40 (4). Hewlett-Packard Company: 57–64. 5953-8576. Retrieved 2015-08-21.
  3. ^ HP NewWave Office Sales Guide, Hewlett-Packard Company, November 1989, 5959-2544
  4. ^ Capture the Power of Information - NewWave Office, Hewlett-Packard Company, July 1990, 5952-0525
  5. ^ HP NewWave Technical Data, Hewlett-Packard Company, January 1990, 5952-1565