Minimum hardware requirements (Was: Old, but not "Classic"

From: Computer Room Internet Cafe <netcafe_at_pirie.mtx.net.au>
Date: Fri Nov 13 18:48:23 1998

-----Original Message-----
From: John Ruschmeyer <jruschme_at_exit109.com>
To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers
<classiccmp_at_u.washington.edu>
Date: Saturday, 14 November 1998 11:57
Subject: Re: Minimum hardware requirements (Was: Old, but not "Classic"


>> it would be wonderful to have an OS that multitasks with no
>> problem on an 8086.


I saw a strange machine here a couple weeks ago.
It was called an Altos 486, and a guy brought it into the shop because it
had a password and he couldn't get past it.
He thought it was a 486 PC obviously, but when he brought it in, he brought
a serial terminal in with it! When we eventually fired it up, it turned out
to be
running SCO Unix (somewhat trimmed!) on an 8086, with (I think) 512k of RAM.
It also had z80's on there, port controllers I think.
Evidently it multitasked pretty well, it had 4 terminal ports and was
bundled with a business package, that did debtors & creditors, stock control
and word processing etc.
I'm trying to get him to part with it. The guy is about smart enough to
turn on a light switch without written instructions, but I tried teaching
him enough about it to make it useable for his (very) simple purposes (just
some record keeping) but it was a hopeless cause.
I'm going to do up an old 386 with a VGA monitor and see if he'll swap it
for the Altos.
Seems he bought it at auction (thought it was a pc because it said 486) for
A$40.

Anybody here got any more info on it? Couldn't find a date on the machine
itself, but the
chips seem to be circa 1979. The terminal was also an Altos and was
ansi/vt100 based.
It also had a Wyse 50 term with it.


Cheers
Geoff
Computer Room Internet Cafe
Port Pirie
South Australia.
netcafe_at_pirie.mtx.net.au
Received on Fri Nov 13 1998 - 18:48:23 GMT