RBBS in a Box Volume 1 #3.1/RBBSIABOX31.cdr/pcpo/pcat_sum.dcc

Text File | 1984-08-18 | 15KB | 333 lines

IBM ANNOUNCES THE PC/AT                           August 16, 1984

As  expected, IBM yesterday announced an 80286 version of the IBM
Personal Computer. They call it  the "AT", for Advanced Technolo-
gy. This is the long-awaited "Popcorn". The basic model is:

16/24-bit Intel 80286 (6 Mhz)
64 KB of ROM
256 KB of RAM (expandable to 3 MB)
Clock/calendar w/battery backup
1.2 MB 5" floppy
Eight slots (one taken with a combo floppy/fixed disk controller)
192 Watt power supply (with temperature-dependent variable-speed fan).
DOS 3.00

The power supply is significantly better than the old 130  Watter
in  the  XT  and  can  be set for for 110 or 230 volts input. The
optional fixed disk is 20  MB,  expandable to 40 MB. The keyboard
finally has LEDs on Num lock, Scroll lock and Caps lock. And  the
Shift and Enter keys have been "enlarged"! (Looks like the Selec-
tric KB now). The eight slots are not all the same. Two are 8-bit
slots  with  only  the old-style 62-pin connectors. The other six
slots have  an  additional  36-pin  connector  for  16-bit memory
transfers.

Shipments have already begun to retail stores. The official first
customer ship date is September 14th, 1984. The  5170  mode1  68,
the  base model described above, has a list price of $3,995 (plus
$65 for DOS  3.0  plus  the  usual  options of monochrome, serial
ports, printers, 80287, etc).

PC/AT LIST PRICES. (All prices are in US dollars in the US)

 Price  Mod/Feature
$3,995  5170/68 System Unit/Keyboard
 5,795  5170/99 SU/KB (w/512k, 20MB HD, and serial/parallel card)
   495  0202    256k Memory expansion kit (256 to 512 - chips only)
   350  0209    128k Memory expansion option (512 to 640 - one slot)
 1,125  0203    512k Memory expansion option (1024 up. Multiples OK)
 1,595  0205    20MB Fixed disk
   650  0206    High Capacity disk drive (like the std 1.2MB)
   425  0207    Dual-sided disk drive (same as the 360KB DSDD)
   375  0211    80287 Math co-processor
   150  0215    Serial/parallel adapter
   240  1204    BSC Adapter
   240  1205    SDLC Adapter
    35  0220    Prototype Adapter (full-size prototype card)







IBM (USA) PC/AT and LAN announcements 8/14/84 -       Page 1


Here's a price comparison between existing models  of  IBM  PC's.
All  include  keyboards  but  most  exclude  a monitor or monitor
adapter:

$5,795 PC/AT 512k, 1.2Mb floppy, 20Mb hard disk, I/O card
 3,995 PC/AT 256k, 1.2Mb floppy.
 4,395 PC/XT 256k, 360Kb floppy, 10Mb hard disk.
 2,295 PC Portable 256k, 360Kb floppy, small built-in monitor
 1,995 PC 256k, 360Kb floppy
   999 PCjr 128k, 360Kb drive (new, full-sized keyboard)
   599 PCjr 64k (with new keyboard)

GOOD NEWS AND BAD

First, the good news: The  old monochrome and color adapters will
work on the new PC/AT. The bad news is, of course, that they  are
the only ones that IBM officially supports. Examples of old cards
not  supported  on the AT are the old keyboard, memory cards, BSC
and SDLC adapters, prototyping  card, disk controllers and drives
(fixed nor floppy), and printer adapter. Nor do they support  the
old  expansion  boxes on the new AT. This is not to say that some
of the older 8-bit cards  won't  work  in  the AT but it looks as
though the third-party add-on suppliers have  some  work  to  do;
their product line just became inadequate. ATT appears faced with
a  complete  revision  of  the  16-bit  bus  extensions that they
announced last month.

Software remains largely compatible provided  you run DOS 3.x and
could run it on the XT previously.  However,  IBM  announced  new
versions  of  some  software; my guess is that software that per-
forms direct, bit-mapped console  I/O  may cause problems. I have
seen Flight Simulator 1.0 fail on the AT, for example.

DOS 3.0 AND DOS 3.1

DOS 3.0 does not replace DOS 2.1, though it can be  used  on  all
IBM  PC's  including the Jr. It is basically 2.1 plus support for
the PC/AT and therefore is  the  minimum  level for the PC/AT. It
takes more memory (36k vs 24k), COMMAND.COM is larger, and  there
are a few enhancements:

 1. File sharing
 2. Block locking
 3. Background print with path specification and internal
    programming interface
 4. Enhanced error reporting and recovery
 5. VDISK - including support above 1 MB on the PC/AT, and
 6. A new interrupt 21H for file management
 7. Larger linker - supports up to 1 megabyte
 8. Larger disk buffers that reduce disk access time


IBM (USA) PC/AT and LAN announcements 8/14/84 -       Page 2

DOS  3.1  will  replace  DOS  3.0  but not DOS 2.1. 3.1 will also
support all members of  the  IBM  PC  family. It contains all the
functions in 3.0 plus enhancements for  networking  hardware  and
software "while requiring the same amount of memory". (The code's
there in 3.0, it just doesn't work).

New functions include:
 1. Interrupt 21H for file management AND networking support.
 2. Redirector - the means by which a user may access a printer
    or DASD on another computer in the PC Network. (Networks
    require the PC Network Program, available separately)
 3. JOIN command for splicing directories
 4. SUBST command for substituting a virtual drive name for
    a path name.

DOS  3.0  and  DOS  3.1  are both priced at $65. DOS 3.0 is to be
available with the PC/AT and  DOS  3.1 scheduled for 1Q85. Buyers
of 3.0 may upgrade to 3.1 for $30 when the time comes.

PC owners who do not need the LAN support or the AT will not want
to use DOS 3.0. VDISK will no doubt be available in the next  re-
lease  of  DOS  2.x (it installs just like any device driver). It
appears that IBM wants to keep two DOS versions up to date in the
future. One will be small  enough  to  fit on the smallest PC and
the other will handle large configurations.

IBM PC LAN

IBM announced a real-live LAN for interconnection of  members  of
the  IBM  PC  family  except the PCjr. It uses the IBM PC Network
(hardware) and the IBM  PC  Network Program which provides server
capabilities for  file,  print,  and  message  functions.  It  is
basically  the  Sytek  LAN which IBM has decided to sanction. IBM
also announced a "Statement of Direction" indicating their intent
to provide  these [LAN-like] "functions" for other communications
environments. (Same functions, different cables?).

The cabling is CATV 75 Ohm coax(!)  in  a  "tree"  topology.  The
Statement  of  Intent  says  they will connect via the previously
announced IBM cabling system later. It also says the 3270 PC will
interconnect  later  (in   some   unspecified  manner).  This  is
obviously not the LAN that IBM had in mind  when  they  suggested
twisted pair cabling systems. But for one reason or another, they
decided  to  go  with this one and tie it into their longer-range
plans later.

The LAN is described  as  peer-to-peer,  supporting  up to 72 PCs
within a 1000 foot radius permitting up to 32 active sessions per
PC attached to the network. (That's a clue of  some  kind).  Data
transmission  rates  up  to  2 megabits are supported via CSMA/CD
protocol.



IBM (USA) PC/AT and LAN announcements 8/14/84 -       Page 3

The Network consists of cables, a Network Translator Unit for the
NET and one Network Adapter for each PC attached.

  $595  5178 PC Network Translator Unit
   695  0213 PC Network Adapter
    59  0230 Base Expander

The Translator  connects  to  up  to  eight  Adapters. Each eight
additional Adapters require one Base Expander.

PC NETWORK PROGRAM

The IBM PC Network Program utilizes DOS to  share  resources  and
information between the PC, PC/XT, PC Portable, and PC/AT (Jr not
mentioned).  Most  applications running under DOS will be able to
take advantage of the new server functions. NETBIOS, for applica-
tion programs, was also announced. Also, IBM announced the IBM PC
Network SNA  3270  Emulation  Program  which  provides  3270 SDLC
communication to S/370 applications for PC's attached to the net.
This means that an IBM PC can now be  an  SDLC  terminal,  either
stand-alone or via a shared SDLC adapter in the LAN.

The software obviously controls the LAN hardware but unlike a lot
of LANs out there, it supports multiple file servers and peer-to-
peer  communication.  Concurrent access to data by multiple users
is also  supported  through  sharing  functions  to maintain data
integrity.

The two primary modes of operation are  the  Redirector  and  the
Server.  The  redirector intercepts application program calls for
disk or printer services and  redirects  them into the network as
required. (You simply assign a node name to LST:,  for  example).
The redirector also fields responses from the net and passes them
to  the  application  program.  The  other mode is called server.
Server-mode work-stations  contain  the  redirector  as a subset.
There is a secondary mode called Receiver mode which is basically
the redirector plus the ability to receive and log messages.

Operator functions provide for network configuration, workstation
renaming, file-sharing  environment  specification,  print  queue
management,  file  transfers,  and  inter-machine  communication.
Security  and  access  rights are provided by passwords unique to
each named node. Each  node  has  a  primary network name and may
have additional names to be used for other purposes.

DOS 3.1 is a prerequisite. No manual numbers were  announced.  It
costs  $75 (per node) and will be available 1Q85, same time frame
as the ATT LAN - what a coincidence!





IBM (USA) PC/AT and LAN announcements 8/14/84 -       Page 4
TOPVIEW - PC WINDOWS, MULTITASKING

TOPVIEW is IBM's answer for  multitasking  and windows on the IBM
PC. It has many of the functions previously available only on the
3270 PC and supports three different commercially available mice.

TOPVIEW is for all IBM PC's that run DOS 2.0 and above (save Jr?)
and also for the 3270 PC. TOPVIEW supports graphics and text  ap-
plications  and  "as  many  applications  as will fit in memory".
However, console I/O and graphics  output must be confined to the
currently executing application. Background applications that are
"well-behaved" (don't do console I/O) can be time-sliced. If they
attempt normal (not bit-mapped) DOS console  I/O,  they  will  be
suspended  until  the operator selects them as a foreground task.
(At least that is the  way  I  read  the description - it's quite
confusing). If they attempt direct, memory-mapped console output,
they are not "well-behaved" and they  will  mess  up  everything.
TOPVIEW  background seems best suited for long compiles or never-
ending telecommunications programs where  all  console I/O can be
redirected to disk.

TOPVIEW is $149, available 1Q85. A TOPVIEW  Programmer's  ToolKit
is another $395 if you want to develop applications that make use
of  mice  that  point  at  windows,  allow  cut and paste between
windows, etc.

XENIX ON THE PC/AT

IBM announced  XENIX,  Microsoft's  version  of  UNIX  III, to be
available on the PC/AT in 1Q85. It supports up  to  3MB  of  real
memory and provides multiuser, multiprogramming, and multitasking
facilities.  It  makes  use  of the dynamic memory management and
protection facilities of the 80286.  PC DOS can be co-resident on
disk and file transfer facilities are supplied  for  transfer  to
and  from  DOS  2.0  and  3.0.  The 80287 is supported as are the
Berkeley extensions to UNIX  (more,  termcap, curses). Base price
is $395 and the Software Development System costs $455 more.  The
XENIX text formatting system is extra cost - another $145.

XENIX on the AT is currently limited to three users because there
are  only  two serial ports (plus the main console) in the archi-
tecture. Several non-IBM  boards  are  available  that add serial
ports and it's just a matter of time before somebody tries one.

ANNOUNCEMENT SUMMARY

After all that, what does  it  mean?  In  my  opinion,  it  means
there's more to come...

IBM  announced a new version of the macro assembler and a profes-
sional debugger that support  the 8086/80286 architecture but the



IBM (USA) PC/AT and LAN announcements 8/14/84 -       Page 5
BASIC 3.0 announcement was  very  low  key.  No  significant  new
function  was  announced  in BASIC. Nor were any other major lan-
guages announced as supporting  the additional memory. It appears
that  a  DOS  4.0  is  down  the  road  if  virtual  memory   and
multi-tasking  are  ever  to be supported in DOS. TOPVIEW is nice
but really not too useful.  It's  complex and still doesn't allow
multi-user work. Nor would it be wise to do  program  development
in  one  task  with  important  stuff  running in the background.
MultiLink (from SoftLink) will probably drop their price soon and
become a viable  alternative  to  TOPVIEW  for  those not wanting
windows. Neither MultiLink  nor  TOPVIEW  currently  support  (or
require)   the  memory  protection  or  virtual  memory  hardware
available on the PC/AT.

The XENIX announcement  stands  out  as  the  only  OS capable of
supporting the 80286 properly but it doesn't support the LAN. The
price was basically unchanged from the previously available PC/IX
though it was unbundled a bit and adds multi-user capability. The
main reason for XENIX on the PC appears unchanged from the  PC/IX
strategy  -  it  allows  IBM to bid where UNIX is specified. This
XENIX will also provide a  bridge  from the IBM Instruments Divi-
sion 9000 series which lately has been looking orphaned.

This set of announcements leaves a lot of  questions  unanswered.
It  looks  like  a few products were left out at the last minute.
Better color graphics is  an  obvious one. The difference between
this LAN and the prior IBM announcement of the "official"  wiring
scheme must be a real embarrassment somewhere between Boca Raton,
Atlanta  and  Armonk.  The memory boards are reputed to still use
64k  RAMs  "piggy-backed"  to  save  space.  The  256k  RAMs  are
obviously hard to come by. We  may  assume that IBM is making the
80286/80287 internally under license from Intel.

It does appear, however, that IBM is determined to make the  DOS-
supported  PC series the mainstream. UNIX/XENIX, the 9000, the PC
XT/370, and even the 3270  PC remain as special-purpose offerings
to one degree or another. IBM has a way to  go  before  they  all
merge  into  a  complimentary set of products but these announce-
ments show they are working at it.

Dave Crane, Consultant
D. C. Crane, Inc.
P. O. Box 802614
Dallas, TX 75380-2614










IBM (USA) PC/AT and LAN announcements 8/14/84 -       Page 6
c.
P. O. Box 802