Robert Carr, Dan Shafer
The Power of PenPoint
Addison-Wesley, 1991
342 pages
ISBN: 0-2015-7763-1

This book quickly goes into technical details for programmers, but first gives us a fascinating overview of the ill-fated PenPoint NUI (Notebook User Interface), unique in many ways. The first two chapters – reproduced on this site – are of special interest, explaining in detail the goals and rationales of PenPoint, as well as the new or revisited interface concepts.

The following paragraphs are quoted verbatim from the back cover:

“This book contains important information on PenPoint, an extraordinary new operating system. It is a must-read for anyone interested in operating systems, applications development, or the future of computer software.” – Dan Bricklin, Vice President, Slate Corporation’s Boston Area Development Center

“PenPoint is the most state-of-the-art operating system in the industry today. Anyone who wants to understand personal computers should be familiar with what Robert Carr has accomplished” – Stewart Alsop II, Editor and Publisher, P.C. LETTER

“PenPoint from GO Corporation captures the essence of pen-based computing and object-oriented technology... [It] is going to be a great success in the marketplace." – Bill Joy, Vice President of Research and Development, Sun Microsystems, Inc.

“Just as ‘Mac-like’ was a word that assumed its meaning only as people used and explored the system and discovered a gestalt for it, so will ‘GO-like’ (or ‘PenPoint-like’) find its meaning over time.’ – Esther Dyson, Editor and Publisher, Release 1.0

In these pages you will discover the inside information on the remarkable new pen-based operating system from GO Corporation – PenPointt. As the principal architect and designer of the PenPoint system, Robert Carr is uniquely qualified to reveal its innovative and truly impressive features. Here you will find a first look at what programming for PenPoint is like, as well as a guide to making the best use of the software development kit from GO Corporation.

The Power of PenPoint contains the original source information of the architecture, design, and philosophy behind PenPoint and looks at the powerful class library that makes up the world’s first commercial object-oriented operating system. The book begins with an overview of PenPoint and then delves into each element of the operating system in detail. Topics include:

	windowing classes
	the user interface toolkit
	the file and output systems
	the graphics and imaging system
	notebook-related and text-editing classes
	networking

and much more.

The Power of PenPoint will reveal everything you need to understand the most significant breakthrough in computing today.

Robert Carr is the architect of the PenPoint operating system and cofounder and Vice President of Software Development at GO Corporation.

Dan Shafer is a well-known and prolific author of computer books.