Sun Shines On Ne Xt

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SUN SHINES ON NeXT

Steve Jobs pulled another rabbit out of his hat. Rival Sun Microsystems announced on Nov. 23 that it will invest $10 million in NeXT, which has run through most of the $200 million invested by Jobs, Canon, IBM, and Ross Perot. NeXT won't say who's selling stock to Sun, or how much equity that company will receive. Sun will get access to some of NeXT's "object-oriented" software to use in its own operating system. That could give Sun as much as a year's head start over competitors on next-generation software.EDITED BY KEITH H. HAMMONDS