NeWS (Network extensible Window System) was a windowing system
developed by Sun Microsystems in the mid-1980s. Originally known
as "SunDew", its primary authors were James Gosling and David S.
H. Rosenthal. The NeWS interpreter was based on PostScript (as
was the later Display PostScript, although the two projects were
otherwise unrelated) extending it to allow interaction and
multiple "contexts" to support windows. Like PostScript, NeWS
could be used as a complete programming language, but unlike
PostScript, NeWS could be used to make complete interactive
programs with mouse support and a GUI. NeWS started by
implementing a PostScript interpreter that runs in a cooperative
multitasking fashion, since, unlike PostScript in a printer,
NeWS would be displaying a number of PostScript programs at the
same time on one screen. It also added a complete view
hierarchy, based on viewports known as canvases, and a
synchronous event distribution system, supporting events,
interests, threads and monitors. Like the view s