HEIMBIG@WSUVM1.BITNET (Bruce Heimbigner) (03/31/88)
. . for the line eater . .
Thanks for the direct reports from the Hannover show, but it looks like
you missed something. In the March 28, 1988 info world news section was
a story about an Atari 68030 Un*x Workstation that was supossedly
'revealed' at Hannover. Briefly the configuation was: 68030, 5 VME slots,
4 Mb RAM, 1-mbps Starlan port, 2 serial ports, one SCSI port, and a 60 Meg
internal hard disc (this sounds more like a wish list, I'm only reporting
what I read). Shiraz Shivji was reported as saying an optional graphics
card with CGA EGA VGA was to go along with a 1280 by 960 monitor (under
development). Cost: 'less than $5,000' and operate 50% faster than a
80386 with both running Un*x System V, Version 3.1.
According to the article 50 developers already have them and are
to be for sale in Europe by end of 1988.
Any comments? from Germany? from Atari?
Anybody actually see this?
Bye
Bruce Heimbigner
Email: Snail mail:
HEIMBIG@WSUVM1.bitnet N.W. 324 True Street
OR Pullman WA 99163-3347 (USA)
BIX:bheimbigner (but I don't get on here very often)
----"It's all very well in practice,
but in theory it just doesn't work."good@atari.UUCP (Roy Good) (04/04/88)
In article <8803300934.AA11609@ucbvax.berkeley.edu>, HEIMBIG@WSUVM1.BITNET (Bruce Heimbigner) writes: > > Thanks for the direct reports from the Hannover show, ...... > According to the article 50 developers already have them and are > to be for sale in Europe by end of 1988. > Any comments? from Germany? from Atari? The reports on the '030, vis-a-vis configurations, are close enough. As I said, others may give their own views, but I prefer the conservative approach of not making definitive statements until I have actually checked out a Beta level product. This applies to all product development, software and hardware, and not just to the '030. However, the report about there being 50 of 'em out there is somewhat premature and was, I believe, in the context of the UK-managed "ABAQ" developer systems, rather than the '030. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Roy J. Good Product Development, Atari Corporation Views expressed are my own. Atari may agree or disagree; they have the right. -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
john1233@csd4.milw.wisc.edu (Thomas M Johnson) (04/05/88)
Ok, I guess my question is: Why is Atari producing a 68030 machine that runs UNIX (or a clone) when the ABAQ will also run UNIX (or a clone)? Aren't both machines aimed at the same market? And from everything For what I've read on this group so far, the ABAQ is superior. Or is the 030 computer targeted for current ST users? Any speculations? Anyone at Atari? Tom Johnson john1233@csd4.milw.wisc.edu
good@atari.UUCP (Roy Good) (04/07/88)
In article <5504@uwmcsd1.UUCP>, john1233@csd4.milw.wisc.edu (Thomas M Johnson) writes: > Ok, I guess my question is: > Why is Atari producing a 68030 machine that runs UNIX (or a clone) > when the ABAQ will also run UNIX (or a clone)? > The "ABAQ" (a temporary name, due to a Belgian trademark conflict - I kind of like "ATAQ"), is a high-performance graphics beast, using the Mega as an I/O channel. It has the Helios OS, which is a UN*X-clone but not SVID compatible, having several extensions for the multiprocessing Transputers. Thus it will not conform to federal/government requirements which blandly state SVID or X/OPEN compliance, to simplify their qualification procedures amongst other reasons. My personal opinion is that the "ABAQ" will find its niche in markets totally different to the '030. The '030 is specified for X/OPEN and SVID compliance, and follows standards all the way, including X Windows and VME. Thus it is a somewhat generic platform at a very low cost considering its performance, and can be used to address federal, EEC and similar tenders, as well as being attractive to VARs and major accounts. The '030 will make use of a lot of the technology for high-performance video which is found in the "ABAQ", and I suppose it is quite possible that the two might converge at a later date. But in order to bring clean products to market, the two will continue their development paths independently, and will, I suspect, be marketed as outlined above. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Roy J. Good Product Development, Atari Corporation Views expressed are my own. Atari may agree or disagree; they have the right. -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
hase@netmbx.UUCP (Hartmut Semken) (04/12/88)
In article <5504@uwmcsd1.UUCP> john1233@csd4.milw.wisc.edu (Thomas M Johnson) writes: >Why is Atari producing a 68030 machine that runs UNIX (or a clone) >when the ABAQ will also run UNIX (or a clone)? I got a statement of a guy of Perihelion at the Hannover faire: The Abaq will run Helios, an operating system defenitly *new* and not U*IX. There will be an enviroment with C compiler/make/shell/etc looking like Unix (compareble to MT C Shell for the ST). It should be possible to port Unix-applications to the Abaq; perihelion doesn't want to pay for the complete Unix. >Aren't both machines aimed at the same market? And from everything >For what I've read on this group so far, the ABAQ is superior. It is. Of course. I've seen a couple of demos of Transputers running at the CeBIT (Hannover). They are FAST. Unbelieveble fast. >Or is the 030 computer targeted for current ST users? I don't think so. It will be a little more expensive (if it will be at all... 8-) hase -- Hartmut Semken, Lupsteiner Weg 67, 1000 Berlin 37 (auf der Karte: links) hase@netmbx.UUCP I think, you may be right in what I think you're thinking. (Douglas Adams)
steenkl@diku.dk (Steen Koefoed Larsen) (04/21/88)
A lot of people seemes to be confused about the ABAQ and UNIX.
After a chat with Perihelion at the Hannover faire i realised that
1) The ABAQ has NO MMU. (i.e. no protected memory and no UNIX)
2) The filesystem on the Helios operating systems looks like
the UNIX filesystem. BUT....
3) The process environment in Helios i different from UNIX.
4) Helios is developed in C -not OCCAM.
5) The 1k x 1k graphics board has a palette with 4 million
colours. The "colour blitterchip" in the board can draw
50 million pixels pr. second. This board is also used in
the Atari 68030 UNIX box.
The ABAQ is an experimental machine that gives a speedy system
with great potential for parallel programming and graphics.
The UNIX box is (going to be) a cheap UNIX workstation for the guy
who whants a standard (UNIX & Xwindows) system with MMU security.
Two very different products !
Kind regards
Steen Koefoed Larsen, steenkl@diku.denet.UUCP
[If you read this: There is no line eater !!]