The
NeXT Computer (also called the
NeXT Computer System) is a
workstation computer developed, marketed, and sold by
NeXT Inc., a company founded by
Steve Jobs and several other veterans of the
Macintosh and
Lisa teams, from 1986 until 1997 when NeXT merged with
Apple. It runs the
Mach- and
BSD-derived,
Unix-based
NeXTSTEP operating system, with a proprietary GUI using a
Display PostScript-based back end. The motherboard is square and fits into one of four identical slots in the enclosure. The NeXT Computer enclosure consists of a 1-foot (305 mm)
die-cast magnesium cube-shaped, black case, which led to the machine being informally referred to as "The Cube". It was launched in 1988 at .