HFISCHER@USC-ECLB.ARPA (08/15/84)
From: Herm Fischer <HFISCHER@USC-ECLB.ARPA>
IBM has announced, yesterday, enough products to set its
competition back a while and steal the PC show from the com-
patible makers. I am suffering from partial technical over-
load in pawing my way through half an inch of product
announcement notices, so if I missed some important points,
please forgive me.
To me (preparing for use of desktop computers for Ada
software development), the order of interest in announce-
ments is as follows:
1. Two new computers based on 6 MHz 286 CPUs, available
September 14:
a. PC/AT mdl 68, with a 1.2Mb 1/2-height floppy and
1/4 MB motherboard RAM ($3995)
b. PC/AT mdl 99, with a 1.2Mb 1/2-height floppy,
one 20Mb 40 ms full-height hard disk, 1/2 Mb of
motherboard RAM, and a serial/parallel card
($5795)
The box accomodates up to three drives (floppy plus
hard) total, and shares one controller card for both
kinds of disks. It is a little wider and higher than
the current PC. Its 192 watt world-wide power supply
should please all picky users, because its fan speed
is "thermostatically controlled". Max RAM is 3 Mbyte.
2. An "honest" Local Area Network, 2 MBit/sec CSMA/CD
coaxial cabled, broadband system ($595 plus $695 per
PC plus cables, etc). Works on PCs, XTs, and ATs, but
not JRs.
3. PC DOS 3.0, an upward compatible enhancement to 2.1,
for the PCs, XT, JR, and AT ($65). Includes "file
sharing" and block level locking of shared files.
Also available as PC DOS 3.1 with network support
($65).
4. TopView, a multitasking mouse-driven windowing PC DOS
package. Uses quarterplaning (scrolled) windows,
popup menus, and interwindow copy/paste. Sounds like
the Digital Research Concurrent-PC DOS which was exhi-
bited at the NCC, because it will support "old" appli-
cations which directly write into the screen display
buffer (e.g., most editors, Lotus), along with new
windowed applications. A Programmer's ToolKit pro-
vides interface routines for IBM's languages. ($149
for TopView plus $395 for ToolKit)
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5. A new PC/IX version, later this year, to support PC/AT
I/O structure in the 8086 compatibility mode. Still
small model only. Said to be two to three times faster
than PC/IX on the XT. Still to be sold as "single
user" (but will work as multiuser). (expected price
about $1K)
6. Xenix for the 286, supporting large model up to 3 Mb,
with multiuser license. Available early next year.
Cheap ($395, plus $455 for C, SCCS, and make, plus
$145 for vi, ed, mm, and nroff).
7. Macro Assembler 2.0, including 286 support, a large
linker, library manager, structured assembler prepro-
cessor, and "maintenance and restriction removals".
($175 or trade-up price of $75).
8. Professional "Resident" Debug tool, including a
hardware card with a reset button which plugs into a
card slot. Includes a disk repair program. ($150)
9. Application Display Management System, apparently a
screen forms designer. ($150)
10. Data encoder (DES encryption algorithm). ($100)
11. Rocky's Boots, for your kids (supposedly one of the
best kid's educational programs). ($50)
12. PC Network Program, providing file servers, message
transfers, and print servers for the new network
hardware. ($75)
13. PC SNA Emulation Program ($375)
14. New manual update policy, for tech manuals and
hardware maintenance manuals -- update pages come free
through mid '85.
15. A PC Keylock to control rip-off and data browsing
($49.95).
16. 3270 enhancements too numerous to list.
17. DisplayWrite enhancements.
PC/AT Particulars
The PC/AT has eight expansion slots:
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a. Two support current "8-bit" cards.
b. Six support either new-style "16-bit" cards or the
current 8-bit cards.
A card slot is used up by the disk/diskette adapter card,
which handles floppies and hard disks.
Discussion of CRT interfaces is noticibly absent from the
announcement. I surmise that IBM hoped to have a new set of
CRT graphics controllers ready, and didn't make it. The
only comment I could find in this regard is that the PC/AT
"requires a video display adapter and device for display
output." I guess the old video display cards will work in
the new box, because I could find no statement to the con-
trary.
Memory expansion cards, 512Kb, 16-bit style, are $1125.
Memory chips are needed to upgrade the smaller machine from
256 to 512K. Since 18 "modules" make up 256K ($495 for the
18), I surmise that either a module has two 4164 chips on
it, or somebody is making 128K chips now. That should be
good business for the aftermarket suppliers.
Hard disks (20MB) are $1595. That should leave lots of room
for the Hamilton's and Qubie's to support turning the
smaller machine into the bigger one.
The 1.2 Mbyte floppies will read all old-format floppies,
but if one tries to write on the old-format floppies, they
become unreadable on all except the hi-density drives.
Half-height floppies can be added of either the hi-capacity
variety, or the regular double sided variety (IBM's steep
prices are $650 and $425, respectively). The hi-capacity
floppy drives need the more expensive 96tpi floppy media.
Math chips (287 variety) are available ($375).
Serial/Parallel adapter cards are available ($100 for both
ports on one card). Works in either 8 or 16-bit card slots.
(One card is included in the model 99 price.)
Software compatibility
The following software runs on the new PC/AT: Accounting
packages by Peachtree, Adventure, Adventures in Serenia,
Animal Creation, APL, Application display management system,
Arithmetic Games (sets 1 and 2), Asynchronous Communications
Support, BASIC Compiler, Basic Programming and Development
System, BiSync 3270 Enulation, Bumble Games, Bumble Plot,
Casino Games, Cluster Program, COBOL, Diskette Librarian,
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Dow Jones Reporter, Easy Writer, File Command, Fixed Disk
Organizer, FORTRAN, Gertrude's Puzzles and Secrets, Home
Budget, IBM's Filing, Graphing, Reporting, and Writing
Assistants, Juggles Butterfly, LOGO, Macro Assembler, Mail-
ing List Manager, Multiplan, Pascal Compiler, PC Writer,
Personal Editor, pfs:(File and Report), Private Tutor, Pro-
fessional Debug Facility, Professional Editor, Rocky's
Boots, SCRIPT/PC, SNA/3270 Emulation and RJE Support, Sort,
Strategy Games, Teacher's Quiz Designer, VisiCalc, Word
Proof, and 3101 Emulator.
Compatible with the new floppies but not hard disks are
Peach Text and Personal Communications Manager.
Some of the DisplayComm and DisplayWrite software has spe-
cial floppy or hard disk configuration requirements.
The following programs do NOT work on the PC/AT (at least in
their latest version): BPI Accounting, Decathlon, Fact
Track, HomeWord, Insurance Agency System, King's Quest,
PlannerCalc, Time Manager, Typing Tutor, UCSD-P System, or
101 Monochrome Mazes.
The following old hardware and adapter cards are NOT sup-
ported: Expansion units, 5181 printer, old memory cards,
old keyboard, prototype adapter, BiSync and SDLC adapters,
old hard and floppy disks, old printer adapter.
Warranty Improvements
The new warranty is one year. Maintenance costs thereafter
are $350/225 (small unit), $488/325 (big unit), plus
$138/100 per additional hard disk (representing respectively
IOR and CCR maintenance plans).
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