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Commodore 900

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1465: 1455: 1445: 247:(APU) running at 24 MHz. The specification as announced in 1984 featured 256 KB of RAM and a 10 MB hard drive, but subsequently settled on 512 KB of RAM and a 20 MB hard drive as the minimum configuration, with 40 MB and 67 MB hard drives offered as options. A minimum configuration system had been expected to provide only 128 KB of RAM and a 320 KB floppy drive, selling for under $ 1,000. 1011: 1425: 1435: 337:
plant, with availability in the United States announced for the third quarter of the same year, and with pricing starting from approximately $ 2,700. The machine was publicly demonstrated for the first time outside the US at the 1985
318:. Some observers found the choice of an earlier form of Unix "surprising" given the availability of more recent versions and of Zilog's commitment among other manufacturers to promote System V as the industry standard for Unix. 764:
Coherent appears to be nearly a clone of UNIX Version 7, an older release of UNIX that has since been replaced by System III and System V. I write "appears to be" because the Coherent manual doesn't say it is based on
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to adopt the Z8000 family of processors for its next generation of computers, conferring rights to Commodore to manufacture these processors and for Zilog to manufacture various Commodore-designed
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families of personal computers that had found success in Europe as business machines. The project was initiated in 1983 by Commodore systems engineers Frank W. Hughes, Robert Russell, and
243:. Initial announcements indicated the use of a 10 MHz Z8001 processor, but earlier technical documentation suggested the use of a 6 MHz part and detailed the option of a Z8070 342:, with interest in the product described as "overwhelming". Ultimately, only fifty prototypes were made and sold as development systems before the project was cancelled. 908: 1373: 284:
colour graphical display. The high-resolution display option employed 128 KB of dedicated video memory and featured hardware support for
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operation. Commodore had reportedly been developing its own 16-bit microprocessor, abandoning this effort to adopt the Z8000.
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products. Zilog was to manufacture components for Commodore's computers, allowing Commodore to expand its own
1448: 917: 876: 777: 675: 592: 330: 240: 93: 48: 38: 529: 513: 489: 565: 1116: 747: 322:, a pioneer of Z8000-based systems running Unix, had previously delivered ports of Version 7 Unix and 728: 272:. For the text-only configuration and for lower-resolution graphical output, the system employed the 251: 864: 1499: 273: 137: 438:"Commodore 900: The Unix-like workstation/server that was eclipsed by Amiga – VintageComputer.ca" 262: 217: 187: 1332: 1025: 549: 413: 403: 269: 244: 1383: 1126: 1075: 303: 289: 202: 81: 58: 1358: 1111: 986: 323: 846: 701: 1327: 1317: 1269: 1264: 1259: 1254: 1249: 1244: 1201: 1174: 1035: 464: 315: 1483: 1404: 1363: 1285: 1239: 1131: 1070: 996: 991: 311: 221: 206: 198: 183: 155: 261:
graphics and a multi-user system featuring a text-only display intended to act as a
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Commodore 900: The Unix-like workstation/server that was eclipsed by Amiga
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operations, this being employed by a graphical environment featuring "
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Commodore Microcomputer magazine coverage of the 900's announcement
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On the Edge: The Spectacular Rise and Fall of Commodore
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Manufacturing of the system was to commence in 1985 at
306:, claimed in publicity as being "fully compatible with 847:
C900 page at 'The Secret Weapons of Commodore' website
396:"Commodore Announces Unix®-Compatible Business System" 873:
and several of the ROMs have been reverse-engineered.
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In early 1983, Commodore announced an agreement with
484: 482: 480: 478: 476: 1392: 1341: 1308: 1278: 1230: 1140: 1089: 1058: 1051: 1018: 954: 931: 924: 735:. International Data Group. 6 May 1985. p. 57. 151: 143: 133: 125: 117: 105: 92: 80: 72: 64: 54: 44: 34: 24: 824:. Vol. 3, no. 2. Fall 1985. p. 10 616: 614: 236:computer based on the segmented version of the 622:"Commodore 900 Computer : This is Z Page" 250:Two versions of the machine were developed: a 902: 566:"Commodore to Use Z8000 Family in Its Micros" 8: 1420:† Listed in chronological order by category 458: 456: 454: 19: 1055: 1009: 928: 909: 895: 887: 702:"Secret Weapons of Commodore: The CBM 900" 18: 795:C5002A, C8002A Series Product Description 861:– color photos of a prototype unit 782:. Onyx Systems Incorporated. p. 8. 729:"Commodore high-performance micros out" 375: 276:video controller, this supporting an 7: 1434: 865:Commodore C900 product announcement 746:Rochkind, Marc J. (November 1985). 518:. Cahners Publishing Company. 1985. 593:"16-Bit Version of 6502 Announced" 345:The C900's case is similar to the 14: 869:A running CBM900 has survived at 798:. Onyx Systems Inc. February 1983 1464: 1463: 1454: 1453: 1444: 1443: 1433: 1424: 1423: 394:LeBold, Diane (September 1985). 818:"Commodore at the Hanover Fair" 197:. It was to replace the aging 1: 1041:Commodore Semiconductor Group 572:. 24 January 1983. p. 77 190:and, later, as an affordable 531:Predicasts Technology Update 466:Commodore c900 Hardware Spec 290:multiple overlapping windows 280:colour textual display or a 1031:Commodore Business Machines 680:Computers & Electronics 597:Computers & Electronics 548:, Variant Press. Page 434. 463:Frank Hughes (1985-03-01). 1516: 779:Onyx C8002 Computer System 748:"Pick, Coherent and THEOS" 265:for a number of connected 245:arithmetic processing unit 1418: 1007: 674:Libes, Sol (March 1983). 591:Libes, Sol (March 1983). 76:1.2 MB 5.25" floppy disks 1459:Storage devices template 1323:Commodore 64 peripherals 941:(founder/CEO, 1958–1984) 655:. May 1984. pp. 4–5 400:Commodore Microcomputers 349:'s but slightly larger. 186:originally intended for 1449:Amiga hardware template 1374:List of cancelled games 918:Commodore International 855:– By Bo Zimmerman 822:Commodore International 544:Bagnall, Brian (2006). 331:Commodore International 30:C900, Z-8000, Z-Machine 16:Prototype microcomputer 494:www.commodore-info.com 68:Fifty prototypes built 1495:Computer workstations 676:"Rumors & Gossip" 326:for their computers. 1279:Cancelled prototypes 1490:Commodore computers 534:. Predicasts. 1985. 440:. 21 September 2019 274:MOS Technology 8563 167:(also known as the 138:MOS Technology 8563 21: 1469:MOS chips template 932:Board of directors 859:The Commodore C900 754:. pp. 231–239 515:Mini-micro Systems 218:integrated circuit 188:business computing 1477: 1476: 1333:Super Expander 64 1304: 1303: 1232:IBM PC compatible 1026:Amiga Corporation 1005: 1004: 161: 160: 1507: 1467: 1466: 1457: 1456: 1447: 1446: 1437: 1436: 1427: 1426: 1056: 1013: 947:(CEO, 1984–1989) 929: 911: 904: 897: 888: 834: 833: 831: 829: 814: 808: 807: 805: 803: 790: 784: 783: 774: 768: 767: 761: 759: 743: 737: 736: 725: 716: 715: 713: 712: 706:www.floodgap.com 698: 692: 691: 689: 687: 671: 665: 664: 662: 660: 645: 636: 635: 633: 632: 618: 609: 608: 606: 604: 588: 582: 581: 579: 577: 562: 556: 542: 536: 535: 526: 520: 519: 510: 504: 503: 501: 500: 486: 471: 470: 460: 449: 448: 446: 445: 434: 428: 427: 425: 424: 391: 304:operating system 283: 279: 257: 121:20 MB hard drive 82:Operating system 27: 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Index

Commodore
Commodore
Desktop
Operating system
Coherent
CPU
Zilog Z8001
KB
MOS Technology 8563
Commodore PET
prototype
microcomputer
business computing
UNIX
workstation
PET
CBM
Shiraz Shivji
Zilog
integrated circuit
semiconductor
16-bit
Zilog Z8000
CPU
arithmetic processing unit
workstation
pixel
server
character-based
terminals

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