kfl@hoxna.UUCP (Kenton Lee) (11/14/84)
xxx
I saw this article in the November 13 issue of "PC Week", a weekly
newspaper oriented toward the IBM PC. Typos are probably mine, all
other errors are theirs.
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"AT&T Readies UNIX Machine For Late January Roll-Out"
The AT&T PC7300, the forthcoming UNIX-based computer built by
Convergent Technologies of Santa Clara, CA, will be formally
announced at the end of January, a source close to AT&T said last
week.
Based on Motorola's 68010 microprocessor, the PC 7300 is said
to run a modified version of UNIX System V, the UNIX AT&T has spent
millions of dollars promoting as an industry standard. "Record-
and file-locking capabilities have been incorporated from [the]
Berkeley 4.2 [version of UNIX]," the source said.
"The company had hoped to get the machine out by Comdex, but
operating-system bugs are still cropping up, and in any case,
software development isn't as far along as the company had hoped,"
he added.
Sources who claim to have seen the machine said that the 7300
may not take immediate advantage of the multiuser, multitasking
aspects of UNIX.
It is unclear whether the PC 7300, to be priced between $5,000
and $6,000, will run PC-DOS applications. Another source told *PC
Week* that AT&T asked for bids on add-on boards to allow the 7300 to
run PC-DOS programs, but AT&T officials decided the cost would be
too high.
Sources concur, however, that the PC 7300 has 512K bytes of
memory (expandable to 4 megabytes); a 5.25-inch floppy-disk drive;
a 20-megabyte hard disk and a built-in, 1200-baud modem. It is
also said to have a 12-inch monochrome monitor with a mouse and a
bit-mapped graphics interface, including windows.
The 7300's communications interface reportedly allows users to
attach a telephone and integrate it with the PC 7300's optional
telephone-management software. A LAN using twisted-pair cabling
also can be attched to the 7300, sources said.
AT&T plans to offer IBM 3270 terminal emulation with the 7300.
In mid-1985, a source said, AT&T will bring 3274 cluster-controller
emulation to AT&T's 3B5 minicomputer. These features may increase
the appeal of AT&T computers in companies loyal to IBM.
The end.