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Acorn Archimedes

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Acorn Archimedes
Archimedes 400/1
Also known asXaiye
DeveloperAcorn Computers
Product familyXaiye
TypePersonal computer
Release dateJune 1987; 37 years ago (1987-06)
Introductory price£800 (circa £2800 today)
DiscontinuedMid-1990s
Operating systemRISC OS or RISC iX
CPUARM
Memory512 KB–16 MB
Display1152x864 monochrome, 640x512 in 16 colors, 640x256 in 256 colors
GraphicsVIDC1
SoundVIDC1 8 channels, 8-bit, stereo
PredecessorBBC Micro
SuccessorA7000, Risc PC

Acorn Archimedes is a series of personal computers designed by Acorn Computers in Cambridge, England. Launched in 1987, these systems were powered by Acorn's own ARM architecture processors and ran on proprietary operating systems, Arthur and RISC OS. The Archimedes family was sold until the mid-1990s.[1]

With a 32-bit ARM RISC CPU achieving 4 MIPS, the Archimedes has been considered a significant leap from earlier 8-bit home computers. Some models featured BBC branding, aligning with the BBC's computer literacy project. However, this branding faced criticism from competitors advocating for more "business standard" operating systems like MS-DOS.

"Acorn Archimedes" commonly refers to any of Acorn's designs based on this ARM architecture, which included the first-generation chipset: MEMC (Memory Controller), VIDC (Video and Sound Controller), and IOC (Input Output Controller). Acorn Archimedes is a collection of personal computers designed by Acorn Computers of Cambridge, England. The systems are based on Acorn's own ARM architecture processors and the proprietary operating systems Arthur and RISC OS. The first models were introduced in 1987,[2] and systems in the Archimedes family were sold until the mid-1990s.[3]

The name "Acorn Archimedes" is commonly used to describe any of Acorn's contemporary designs based on the same architecture. This architecture can be broadly characterised as involving the ARM CPU and the first generation chipset consisting of MEMC (Memory Controller), VIDC, and IOC (Input Output Controller).[4]

History

[edit]

Having introduced the BBC Micro in 1981, Acorn was a major supplier to primary and secondary education in the United Kingdom.[5] Acorn's strategy for business computing involved a range of "second processor" expansions,[6] including a Z80 second processor running the CP/M operating system, a commitment made by Acorn when securing the BBC Micro contract.[7]

Acorn's strategy seemingly evolved to align with Torch Computers—a company that Acorn considered acquiring[8]—which had already combined BBC Micro hardware with second processors (and modems) to produce their Communicator product line[9] and derivatives.[10] In 1984, Acorn introduced the Acorn Business Computer (ABC) range, based on the BBC Micro architecture, offering models with different second processors.[11] These models received generally favorable reviews from the computing press.[12]

With Acorn facing financial strain due to various endeavors, the company was rescued by Olivetti in 1985.[13] Ultimately, only one of the variants remained, the Acorn Cambridge Workstation.[14] Meanwhile, competing machines attempted to offer a degree of compatibility with the BBC Micro.[15] The BBC Model B+ was a redesigned BBC Model B, being labelled as a "stop gap" by Acorn User's technical editor.[16]

Other commentators suggested that Acorn pursue a strategy leveraging the existing user base of the BBC Micro while those users were still using the machine.[17] In 1986, Acorn introduced the BBC Master series, starting with the Master 128 which re-emphasised second processors in the form of internally fitted "co-processors".[18] The planned Master Scientific product was never launched.[19] In late 1985, news of its RISC microprocessor development effort had emerged.[20] Commentary suggested the availability of this microprocessor—the Acorn RISC Machine—in future computers as well as in an evaluation board for the BBC Micro,[21] although such a board—the ARM Evaluation System[22]—would only be announced in mid-1986.[23] Having also developed the additional support chips required to make up a complete microcomputer, Acorn was regarded as having leapt ahead of its competitors.[24]

On the eve of the announcement of Acorn's 32-bit ARM-based microcomputer products, prototypes designated A1 and A500 were demonstrated on the BBC television programme Micro Live exhibiting BASIC language performance ten times faster than a newly introduced 80386-based computer from perennial education sector rival Research Machines. Acorn's managing director noted, "Over the past two years we've paid the price of having no 16-bit micro."[25]

A300 and A400 series

[edit]

Powered by an ARM2 (Acorn RISC Machine) processor, the Acorn Archimedes was variously described as "the first RISC machine inexpensive enough for home use".[26] The first models were released in June 1987 as the 300 and 400 series.[27] The 400 series included four expansion slots and an ST-506 controller for an internal hard drive, whereas the 300 series required the addition of a backplane to gain expansion slot capabilities. A two slot backplane could be added to the 300 series as an official upgrade, with the possibility of 4-slot backplane being available from third parties.[28]

Both series included the Arthur operating system (later replaced by RISC OS as a paid-for upgrade), BBC BASIC programming language, and an emulator for Acorn's earlier BBC Micro. All models featured eight-channel 8-bit stereo sound and were capable of displaying 256 colours on screen.[29]: 4 [30]: 2 

Three models were initially released with different amounts of memory, the A305, A310 and A440.[29] The 400 series models were replaced in 1989 by the A410/1, the A420/1 and A440/1,[31] these featuring an upgraded MEMC1a and RISC OS. Earlier models which shipped with Arthur could be upgraded to RISC OS 2 by replacing the ROM chip containing the operating system.[32] Because the ROM chips contained the operating system, the computer booted instantly into its GUI system, familiar from the Atari ST.[33]: 140  Despite the A310 being limited to 1 MB of RAM officially,[34] several companies made upgrades to 2 MB and 4 MB, with the smaller upgrades augmenting the built-in RAM and the larger upgrades replacing it entirely.[35] The 400 series were officially limited to 4 MB of RAM, but several companies released 8 MB upgrades that provided an extra MEMC chip plus 4 MB of RAM.[36]

A3000

[edit]
Acorn Archimedes A3000 computer main unit
Acorn Archimedes A3000 computer with cover removed
Acorn Archimedes A3000 main PCB. Corrosion from a leaky NiCd battery can be seen in the bottom left corner.

In early 1989, commentators envisaged a low-cost, cut-down model to replace the A305.[37] This speculation evolved to more accurately predict a machine with 1 MB of RAM aimed at junior or primary schools.[38] Rumours about the integration of various elements of Acorn's chipset—specifically, MEMC and VIDC—to "do an Electron" were regarded as logistically demanding and thus unlikely to reduce cost.[39]

Work had commenced on a successor to the Arthur operating system, initially named Arthur 2 but renamed to RISC OS 2 for launch.[40] In May 1989, the 300 series was phased out in favour of the new BBC A3000, with the 400 series being replaced by the 400/1 series models.[31] It was reported that the A3000 was the first home microcomputer to use surface mount technology, with the machine being built at AB Electronics.[41] The A3000 came in a single-part case similar to the BBC Micro, Amiga 500 and Atari ST computers, with the keyboard and disc drive integrated into a base unit "slightly smaller than the Master 128".[41] PRES announced a monitor plinth and external disc drive case.[31] The new model also sported a single internal expansion slot.

With the "British Broadcasting Corporation Computer System" branding, the "main market" for the A3000 was schools and education authorities.[42] The relative affordability of the A3000 compared to the first Archimedes machines helped to convince educational software producers.[43] Shortly after the A3000's launch, one local education authority had already ordered 500 machines, aiming to introduce the A3000 to its primary schools in addition to other levels of education.[44] It alone had 37 percent of the UK schools market in a nine-month period in 1991 and, by the end of that year, was estimated to represent 15 percent of the 500,000 or more computers installed in the country's schools.[45]

The introduction of the A3000 also led to Acorn getting agreements with the John Lewis and Alders chains.[46] Acorn also hosted a conference in August 1989 for representatives of "the top 30 software houses, including Ocean, Domark, US Gold, Grand Slam and Electronic Arts".[47] Marketing efforts towards home users continued in 1990 with the introduction of The Learning Curve, a bundle of A3000 and application software. Aiming at the "pre-Christmas market" in 1990, another bundle called Jet Set offered a more entertainment-focused collection of software.[48]

A540

[edit]

The A540, introduced in late 1990, was a consequence of Acorn's Unix workstation development,[49] it is without Ethernet support.[50] It was Acorn's first machine to be fitted with the ARM3 processor as standard.[51] The FPA, replacing Acorn's previous floating point podule, was scheduled to be available in 1991.[50] The FPA finally became available in 1993.[52]

A5000 and A4 laptop

[edit]
A5000 with top removed

In late 1991, the A5000 was launched to replace the A440/1 machine.[53] The A5000 initially ran RISC OS 3.0, although several bugs were identified,[54] and most were shipped with RISC OS 3.10 or 3.11. The A5000 (along with the earlier A540) supported the SVGA resolution of 800×600 in 16 colours.[55] The A5000 was the first Acorn machine to adopt the 15-pin VGA connector.[56] It was the first Archimedes to feature a high density capable floppy disc drive as standard.[57] A5000 can use a socket for the MEMC1a chip, meaning that memory expansions beyond 4 MB could easily replace the single MEMC1a.[58]

A4 laptop

In 1992, Acorn introduced the A4 laptop computer featuring a slower 24 MHz version of the ARM3 processor, supporting a 6 MHz power-saving mode. The machine has an LCD screen capable of displaying a maximum resolution of 640 × 480 pixels. No colour version of the product was planned. A notable omission from the machine was a built-in pointing device.[59]

The other expansion ports available on the A4 were serial and parallel ports, a PS/2 connector for an external keyboard, a headphone connector, and support for an Econet expansion. The A4 fit an A5000 into a portable case, having a motherboard "roughly half the size of a sheet of A4 paper". The A4's case itself was used by Olivetti and Triumph-Adler models.[60] Peripherals for the A4 were eventually produced, with Acorn providing the previously announced Econet card, and with Atomwide providing Ethernet and SCSI adapters.[61]

A3010, A3020, A4000

[edit]
A3010

In 1992, several new models were introduced.[62] Launched alongside the Acorn Pocket Book, a product based on the Psion Series 3, the machines supposedly heralded "a changed company, with new direction".[63] These new models used the first ARM system-on-chip—the ARM250 microprocessor—a single-chip design including the functionality of an ARM2, the IOC1, VIDC1a, and MEMC1a chips.[64][note 1] Some early units of the A3010 did not use the ARM250. An Acorn representative indicated that this was pursued to meet retailing deadlines, whereas an ARM representative denied that any "serious delays" had occurred in the development of the ARM250. Performing the upgrade involves modifications to both the "Adelaide" mezzanine board and the ARM3 upgrade board.[65]

The machines were supplied with RISC OS 3.10 or 3.11.[66] The A3010 model was intended to be a home computing machine, featuring a TV modulator and standard 9-pin joystick ports, while the A3020 targeted the primary and middle school educational markets, featuring an optional built-in 2.5-inch hard drive and a dedicated network interface socket. Meanwhile, the A4000 was aimed at the secondary education and office markets, offering a separate adjustable keyboard. The A4000 along with the other models provided a single "mini-podule" expansion slot.[67]

The Learning Curve bundle upgraded to 2 MB of RAM in place of the A3000. Acorn apparently attempted to target the "games machine plus" market with the A3010 by appealing to "the more knowledgeable, sophisticated and educationally concerned parents".[67] A variety of demonstration programs and an audio training tape were also provided with the bundles.[68] In late 1994, Acorn appointed a sole distributor for the A3010 Action Pack and Learning Curve bundles.[69] As the Christmas 1995 season approached, Beebug purchased Acorn's remaining inventory.[70] Production of the A3020 and A4000 ceased in 1995, with remaining stocks to be sold during 1996, due to their lack of conformance with newly introduced European Union electrical and electronics regulations. This left the A7000 as Acorn's entry-level desktop system.[3]

Later A-series models

[edit]

The A7000, despite its name being reminiscent of the Archimedes naming conventions, was actually more similar to the Risc PC, the line of RISC OS computers that succeeded the Archimedes in 1994. It lacked, however, the DEBI expansion slots and multi-slice case that characterized the Risc PC (though by removing the CDROM, a backplane with one slot could be fitted).

Software

[edit]

Arthur operating system

[edit]

Reminiscent of the BBC Micro upon its release, the earliest Archimedes models were delivered with provisional versions of the Arthur operating system,[71] for which upgrades were apparently issued free of charge, thus avoiding the controversy around early ROM upgrades for the BBC Micro.[72] In early 1988, Arthur 1.2 was delivered in an attempt to fix the deficiencies and problems in the earlier versions of the software.[73] After Arthur 1.2 had been released, a reported 100 documented bugs regarded as "mostly quite obscure" persisted, with Acorn indicating that a "new, enhanced version" of the operating system was under development.[74]

Early applications

[edit]

Following on from the release of Arthur 1.2, Acorn offered a free "basic word processor", ArcWriter.[75] Acorn also announced a port of the 1st Word package, First Word Plus, for the platform.[76] ArcWriter was poorly received, with window repainting issues demonstrated as a particular problem and with users complaining of "serious bugs".[73] Complaints were made about "blurred and smudged" characters.[77] Several software companies then promised software for the Archimedes.[78] In early 1988, many software developers were reportedly holding off on releasing software for the Archimedes until the release of a stable operating system, with Acorn offering to lend Arthur 1.2 to developers.[71] Acorn announced a £250,000 investment in educational software. Alongside First Word Plus, the Logistix spreadsheet-based business planning package[79] was also commissioned by Acorn from Grafox Limited as a port to the platform.[80]

Although Acorn had restricted itself to supporting the use of its View word processor under BBC emulation on the Archimedes,[81] View Professional—the final iteration of the View suite on Acorn's 8-bit computers—had been advertised as a future product in June 1987 for November availability.[82] View Professional had been developed for Acorn by Mark Colton, and a company—Colton Software—delivered the successor to this product as PipeDream for the Cambridge Computer Z88.[83] In mid-1988, Colton Software announced PipeDream for the Archimedes, following on from the announcement of a version for MS-DOS,[84] followed by PipeDream's eventual successor, Fireworkz, in 1994.[85]

Acorn offered an expansion alongside a BBC-compatible interfacing expansion.[86] Acorn also emphasised the PC Emulator product; plans were made for the launch of a podule hardware expansion.[87] The PC Emulator in its initial form shipped with MS-DOS 3.21. Acorn indicated the possibility of "an 80186 co-processor".[88] The podule expansion was postponed in early 1988 (and ultimately cancelled), with Acorn indicating that its price of £300 would have been uncompetitive.[89]

RISC OS

[edit]

Remedying various criticisms of the early operating environment, Acorn previewed RISC OS (or, more formally, RISC OS 2) in late 1988 and announced availability for April 1989.[90] New facilities in RISC OS included co-operative multitasking, a task manager, "solid" window manipulation, and adaptive rendering of bitmaps and colours.[91] Acorn also launched updated applications to use the improved desktop environment. One of these, deferred until after the launch of RISC OS, was Acorn Desktop Publisher, a port of Timeworks Publisher.[92] First Word Plus was also updated to support the new desktop environment.[93] Acorn introduced a bundle called The Learning Curve, initially featuring the A3000, an optional monitor, and a set of applications (First Word Plus, the PC Emulator, and Genesis).[94] This bundle was upgraded later in 1990.[95] In 1990, PipeDream 3 became the first version of the PipeDream integrated suite.[96]

The launch of the A5000 in late 1991 brought RISC OS 3.[53] The bundled applications introduced keyboard shortcuts and other features. The printing system was also updated to support multiple printers at once.[55] Draw had also gotten multiple features. Edit gained searching support and a transparent BASIC program.[97] RISC OS 3 uses dedicated bitmaps for window furniture.[98] The appearance of the desktop would eventually shift towards Acorn's "NewLook" desktop theme, previewed in late 1993.[99]

In late 1992, RISC OS 3 was updated, becoming RISC OS 3.1 (as opposed to the initial RISC OS 3.0 provided with the A5000) and being made available for all existing Archimedes machines, although A300 series and the original A400 series machines needed a hardware modification to be able to accept the larger 2 MB ROMs, employing a special daughterboard.[100] Various bugs were fixed. Two deficiencies perceived with RISC OS were a lack of virtual memory support and the use of cooperative multitasking as opposed to preemptive multitasking. An update to the FileCore functionality was delivered in 1995, raising the limit to 128 GB.[101] With a restructuring of the company in late 1995, Acorn cultivated a relationship with IBM whose PowerPC-based server hardware had already been featured in Acorn's SchoolServer product running Windows NT.[102]

PC Emulation

[edit]

In mid-1991, the PC Emulator was updated to work as a multitasking application on the RISC OS desktop. The emulator permitted access to CD-ROM devices and ran MS-DOS 3.3 with a special mouse driver.[103]

Bitmap image editing

[edit]

One of the first available packages, Clares's Artisan, supported image editing only in the 16-colour mode 12, despite the availability of the 256-colour mode 15 as standard. Clares released a successor, Artisan 2, two years later to provide compatibility with RISC OS.[104] Clares also produced a 256-colour package called ProArtisan. ProArtisan ran in full-screen mode outside the desktop, used the 256-colour mode 15, and offered their own interfaces.[105] In 1989, RISC OS was provided with the Paint application on one of the accompanying application discs.[106]

In 1990, Arcol from ExpLAN offered a single-tasking, 256-colour editing experience. ExpLAN subsequently released Arcol Desktop, this product was judged less favourably, with the partitioning of functionality between the desktop and painting interface being "awkward" and the behavioural differences "confusing".[107] In the second version, sold as Revelation 2 around a year later, colours were being redefined when selecting a 16-colour display mode while editing a 256-colour image.[108] A further version update was delivered as the Revelation ImagePro product.[109] Clares later released ProArtisan 2, a successor to its earlier product, in late 1993 as "a completely new program" with 24-bit colour support and desktop compliance.[110]

Vector image editing

[edit]

RISC OS was supplied with the Draw application,[111] a capability provided by the application (and exploited by art packages[110]) was that of Bézier curve editing.[112]

The file format used by Draw was documented and extensible, and a range of tools emerged to manipulate Draw files for such purposes as distorting or transforming images or objects within images. Amongst them was the Draw+ (or DrawPlus[113]), an application which defined other object types.[114] DrawPlus became available in 1991. A version of Draw was also developed for Microsoft Windows by Oak Solutions.[115] A significant introduction to the Archimedes's software portfolio came with the release of ArtWorks by Computer Concepts in late 1992.[116]

Document processing and productivity

[edit]

One product family for word processor applications was developed by Icon Technology, MacAuthor, for the Apple Macintosh. This product was ported to RISC OS and released as EasiWriter in 1991, supporting the outline fonts and printing architecture of the host system.[117] Upgraded "Professional" editions of EasiWriter and TechWriter were released in 1995, with the latter adding the feature of being able to save documents in TeX format.[118]

Longman Logotron supplied a "cost-effective introduction to DTP" in the form of FirstPage.[119][120] Aside from the hybrid word processor and spreadsheet application, PipeDream, being released in versions 3[96] and 4[121] for the RISC OS desktop environment, Colton Software released a standalone word processor, Wordz, in 1993, with plans for companion applications and a degree of integration between them.[122] The first of these companion applications was Resultz,[123] and the two applications were combined to make Fireworkz.[85] Colton subsequently expanded the family in 1995 with the Recordz database product, combining it with the existing Fireworkz functionality to make the Fireworkz Pro product.[124]

Acorn's own interest in developing applications led it to initiate work on the Schema spreadsheet application, only to disengage from application development and to transfer the product to Clares who, with assistance from the originally commissioned developers, brought the product to market.[125] A cut-down version of Schema 2 was incorporated into Acorn's Advance application.[126] Schema 2 itself was enhanced with a "powerful macro language" and released in 1994.[127]

In the spreadsheet category, Longman Logotron's Eureka, released in 1992, provided robust competition to Schema and PipeDream, seeking to emulate Microsoft Excel in terms of functionality and user interface conventions.[128] The interoperability benefits of the updated product, Eureka 2, were later given as a reason for Acorn to adopt the software internally, acquiring a 300-user site licence and thus allowing its employees to convert "substantial spreadsheet data which needed converting from Lotus 1-2-3".[129] It was updated again as Eureka 3.[130]

A number of database applications were made available for the Archimedes, with Minerva Software following up from its early applications on the system, DeltaBase and System Delta Plus,[78] with the RISC OS desktop-compliant Multistore in early 1990: a relational database with a graphical "record card" interface and report generation functionality.[131] It also introduced a flowchart-based method of querying.[132] In 1993, Longman Logotron introduced S-Base, a programmable database offering the possibility of customised database application development. Programs could be written in a language called S to handle user interaction, graphical user interface events, and to interact with data in the database.[133] DataPower, S-Base and Squirrel were all subsequently upgraded.[134]

Full-motion video

[edit]

Acorn announced a full-motion video system called Acorn Replay in early 1992, supporting simultaneous audio and video at up to 25 frames per second in the RISC OS desktop or in "a low resolution full screen mode". The compression techniques employed by Replay reportedly offered "compression factors of between 25 and 40" on the source video data, with the software decompression requiring a computer with 2 MB of RAM or more.[135] Given a slower access medium such as CD-ROM or floppy disk, video could be played back at up to 12.5 frames per second. Software developers would then used the Replay software to process a video frame by frame, employing image compression techniques and "a form of Delta compression", ultimately producing a movie file.[136]

Development tools

[edit]

With the introduction of the Archimedes, Acorn continued the practice for its earlier machines of offering languages in addition to BASIC, these including Pascal,[137] C,[138] Prolog,[139] Fortran and Lisp.[140] Other vendors produced implementations of Forth, such as Silicon Vision's RiscForth,[141] and Logo, such as Logotron Logo.[142] Other Acornsoft languages such as BCPL[138] and COMAL were not ported to the new platform and had to be run under emulation.[143] A Smalltalk-80 implementation was also made available by Smalltalk Express, offering the window-based environment.[144]

BASIC

[edit]

Acorn had emphasised its implementation of BBC BASIC in its earlier machines, and the Archimedes was delivered with an enhanced version, BASIC V, that provided while loops, case statements, and multi-line if statements. Graphics primitives and operations were also accessible via special-case keywords such as ELLIPSE, CIRCLE, RECTANGLE, and FILL. Assembly language support was included.[145] Access to operating system functionality was provided from BASIC, with some of the demonstration programs provided with the Arthur operating system employing the font and window manager operating system modules,[146][note 2] including the desktop environment.[147]

The ability to cross-assemble code in the BASIC assembler for processors other than the ARM was devised.[148]

C

[edit]

Acorn having been in a position to offer its own C compiler was reportedly the consequence of "a stroke of luck": this product having been originally developed by Arthur Norman and Alan Mycroft for a mainframe at Cambridge University and subsequently offered to Acorn.[149] Acorn's original C compiler and assembler products were superseded by its Desktop C and Desktop Assembler products in mid-1991.[150] These products comprised Acorn's Desktop Development Environment.[151]

C++

[edit]

Initially, the company announced the availability of AT&T's CFront to its registered developer community, this translating C++ code for further compilation by Acorn's Desktop C product.[152] Acorn followed up by offering a new product that integrated CFront 3.0 to support C and C++ compilation.[153] Feedback from developers had been negative, citing poor-quality code and slow compilation times.[154] Acorn chose to provide user interface component functionality using a collection of modules, accessible at the system call level.[155] In late 1994, Beebug followed up by announcing Easy C++ in advance of the availability of Acorn's own C++ product. The product was seemingly positively received.[156]

In 1994, Mark Colton of Colton Software criticised Acorn for not complementing its C compiler with "C toolbox" libraries to assist with application development and regarded Acorn as being "at a standstill" relative to broader development tool trends.[149] Charles Moir of Computer Concepts justified the development of Xara Studio, a graphics application described as effectively "ArtWorks for the PC",[157] Ben Finn of Sibelius Software indicated that Sibelius 7 had been a "completely new piece of software" written in C++.[158]

Hardware

[edit]

Graphical capabilities

[edit]

The Archimedes machines (and their equivalents running RISC iX) used the VIDC1a video chip to provide a wide variety of screen resolutions, expanding on those available on the BBC Micro, including the following:[159]

Resolution Colours Notes
160 × 256 4, 16, 256
320 × 256 2, 4, 16, 256
640 × 256 2, 4, 16, 256
640 × 512 2, 4, 16, 256 Multisync monitor required

Since the video controller would not support display modes smaller than 20 KB, the lowest resolution modes were supported in the operating system by employing modes with twice the horizontal resolution and duplicating horizontally adjacent pixels.[160][note 3]

The introduction of RISC OS brought support for a number of new display modes including the following:[161]

Resolution Colours Notes
640 × 480 2, 4, 16, 256 Multisync or 60 Hz VGA-type monitor required
1056 × 256 16, 256 132-column modes

The A540[62] and A5000[55] supported additional display modes:

Resolution Colours
800 × 600 2, 4, 16

High-resolution monochrome display modes were offered by the A440, A400/1 series and A540:

Resolution Mode Availability
1280 × 976 22 A440 running the Arthur operating system,[162][163] this mode being dropped from RISC OS[164]
1152 × 864 23 A440 running Arthur,[162] A400/1 series running RISC OS,[161]: 453  A540[165][note 4]

Apparent confusion about monochrome monitor support upon the launch of the Archimedes models led Acorn to clarify that the A400 series had "extra circuitry" offering two additional display modes "of up to 1280 by 976 in monochrome, and 160 columns by 122 lines of text, but only using a special monitor",[166] this being connected using two BNC sockets (one for signal and one for sync).[161]: 465 

The A540 (and corresponding R-series workstations) offered three BNC sockets, adding one for a separate horizontal sync connection for certain monitors.[167]: 86  Acorn suggested the 19-inch Taxan Viking and Philips M19P114 monitors,[167]: 78  with the former being offered in a bundle with the R140 workstation.[168] The Taxan Viking R140 product bundled the existing Viking product with appropriate cabling and produced a "rock steady" 66 Hz mode 23 display, albeit with mouse pointer corruption at the extreme right of the screen due to "a bug in the VIDC chip".[169] The A5000 unlike its predecessor, the A540, did not support high resolution monochrome modes.[170]

Graphics expansions

[edit]

An expansion to speed up the VIDC chip in the Archimedes from 24 MHz to 36 MHz was announced by Atomwide in 1990.[171] One side-effect of increasing the frequency of the VIDC was to also increase the frequency of generated sounds, since the VIDC was also responsible for sound generation.[172]

The VIDC enhancer increased the memory bandwidth. Consequently, other solutions were adopted to work around the limitations of the built-in display hardware, notably "graphics enhancers" such as the PCATS graphics enhancer from The Serial Port.[173][174] Coincidentally, ARM Limited announced the VIDC20 at around the same time as the introduction of the Computer Concepts and State Machine product ranges in late 1992.[175] In late 1993, Computer Concepts announced the ColourCard Gold to offer 15 bits per pixel support in the desktop environment. The ClusterCard, employing the G335 Cluster Module, was reported to be the first graphics card for the Archimedes series not requiring the use of the VIDC.[176] The launch of the Risc PC in 1994 is Acorn's successor to the Archimedes. The full version of the card was reportedly available for A300 series, A400 series, A5000 and A540 machines.[177]

Sound and audio

[edit]

The Archimedes was capable of producing eight-channel, 8-bit, stereo sound, with the video controller chip being responsible for sound generation, it having direct memory access capabilities to independently stream audio data to the output circuitry.[30]: 2, 21, 32  Some users sought to bypass the audio filtering circuitry to improve sound from the external audio connector.[178]

Floating-point arithmetic

[edit]

The Archimedes did not provide hardware support for floating-point arithmetic as standard, but the system was designed so that one might be added, with a floating-point co-processor instruction set architecture having been defined by Acorn for programs to use. Accompanying this, a software module providing an emulation of such a co-processor, handling these additional instructions in software written using conventional ARM instructions. The co-processor offered instructions to transfer values to and from memory.[179]

In the first generation of Archimedes 300 and 400 series machines, only the 400 series had the appropriate expansion capability to add a floating-point unit (FPU) or co-processor, although the emulator was supported on all models.[180] The expansion capability was retained in the 400/1 series.[181] The WE32206 card was also offered for Acorn's Springboard expansion card for IBM PC compatibles.[182] Acorn had taken two years to deliver the WE32206 card.[183]

Reviews of the FPU noted that Acorn's claims of an eight-fold speed-up were unlikely to be achieved in "a practical program".[184] Somewhat more applied testing demonstrated speed-ups for benchmark programs of up to eight times, aligning with Acorn's claims.[185] BASIC programs compiled using the Archimedes BASIC Compiler achieved over nine-fold speed-ups for certain benchmarks.[183]

The Archimedes models based on the ARM3 processor supported a new "arithmetic co-processor" or "floating-point accelerator" known as the FPA. Released in 1993 for the R260 workstation and the A540 and A5000 machines, the FPA device—known specifically as the FPA10—was fitted in a dedicated socket on the processor card for the R260 and A540, or in a motherboard socket in the A5000. Fabrication of the device was performed by GEC Plessey Semiconductors and was reported to be in "an advanced stage of production" in early 1993.[186] Its availability remained unclear.[187]

The BASIC VI (or Basic64) interpreter bundled with RISC OS was "much slower than Basic V normally", with the former using the FPE and the latter providing its own floating-point arithmetic routines.[188] Another analysis indicated a more uniform distribution of performance improvements for BASIC VI programs. With the FPA10 having finally become available, a higher-rated part, the FPA11, was developed[189] and apparently delivered in products such as a processor card upgrade for the A540.[190]

ARM3 upgrades

[edit]

In early 1990, Aleph One introduced an upgrade board for Archimedes A300 and A400 series models featuring the ARM3 processor which had been designed by Acorn but was sold independently by VLSI Technology.[191] The ARM3 was not compatible with the existing hardware floating point co-processor solution due to the introduction of a different co-processor interface in the device, this interface eventually being used by the FPA device.

By the end of 1991, an ARM3 upgrade had been offered for the A3000 by Aleph One in association with Atomwide and by Watford Electronics. In late 1992, Simtec Electronics announced a board with an additional socket for the FPA device, thus allowing older machines to join the A540 and A5000.[192] In 1993, IFEL later announced a 35 MHz ARM3 upgrade based on a limited quantity—approximately 1500—of available suitably rated parts.[193] Prior to the availability of the FPA, Simtec reduced the price of its combined ARM3/FPA board to £165 plus VAT.

Aleph One found that increased competition from "six or eight companies making Arm3 upgrades" drove down prices to the point that "margins fell, and the bottom fell out of the Arm3 market". Plans were indicated to develop a PowerPC processor card for the Risc PC.[194] Neither the PowerPC upgrade for the Risc PC nor the earlier ARM600-based upgrade for the Archimedes series appeared, with Acorn itself abandoning plans to combine newer ARM600 or ARM700 parts with FPA devices.[195] ARM3 upgrades were produced for several years. In 1997, Simtec announced a "special batch" of ARM3 upgrades for A300 and A400 series machines and the A3000, featuring a socket for the 25 MHz FPA10 or 33 MHz FPA11.[196]

IBM PC-compatible podules

[edit]

Acorn initially planned to produce an IBM PC-compatible system on a podule (peripheral module), complete with 80186 processor (running at 10 MHz[159]: 12 ) and disk drive support.[87] In 1991, hardware supplier Aleph One announced a PC podule based on a 20 MHz Intel 80386SX processor with VGA display capability.[197] It was launched in early 1992.[198][199]

Watford Electronics, in association with Chris Honey, announced a PC podule in early 1992.[200] This product was apparently never released, however, its designers subsequently formed graphics expansion producer State Machine.[201] A subsequent review moderated such claims, indicating a Windows performance "not noticeably better than an average un-accelerated 386SX PC clone". In 1993, Aleph One collaborated with Acorn to produce Acorn-branded versions of the PC cards for use with the A3020 and A4000 which used a distinct "mini-podule expansion system". The 25 MHz 386SX and 486SLC cards were offered in this profile to provide DOS and Windows compatibility,[202] branded as the PC386 and PC486. Acorn would release the Risc PC with dual processor capabilities and support for using a "low cost (£99 upwards) plug-in 486 PC processor.[203]

Redesigned PC cards were released in 1994, introducing the option of a faster 50 MHz 486SLC2 processor, and optional network driver support was available to use the card as a Novell NetWare client and for Windows for Workgroups 3.11.

Parallel and data processing

[edit]

A range of podules providing access to parallel processing capabilities using Inmos Transputer processors were announced by Gnome Computing in late 1989. Aside from a "Link Adaptor" podule for interfacing to external Transputer hardware, the "TRAM Motherboard" podule combined the Link Adaptor's interfacing logic with the hosting of up to four "TRAMs" (Transputer plus RAM modules). Also offered was a "Transputer Baseboard" podule.[204] A single podule with four TRAMs, each employing a T800 processor, was stated as giving 40 MIPS of performance.[205]

Digital signal processing capabilities were provided by the Burden Neuroscience 56001 DSP Card. This card was fitted as a single-width podule. The podule itself offered a 32 MHz Motorola 56001 digital signal processor together with 192 KB of RAM, two 16-bit analogue-to-digital converters, two 16-bit digital-to-analogue converters, and serial communications capabilities.[206]

[edit]

CD-ROM technology was introduced to the Archimedes range in 1990 with the launch of Next Technology's CD-ROM solution for the A3000 and earlier Archimedes models. Combining an SCSI interface and CD-ROM drive and supplied, it provided a filing system so that standard CD-ROM media could be browsed.[207] Acorn also introduced a Replay system, which has compression formats and associated software for playback and authoring.[208] Acorn would go on to announce Photo CD support in its products in early 1993,[209] Support for multi-session CD-ROMs entailed some upgrades to existing SCSI interfaces as well as the use of drives with the appropriate capabilities.[210]

Networking capabilities

[edit]

The Archimedes was launched with provision for an optional Econet module to be installed, this module being the same as that used by the Master series.[211] Acorn introduced Ethernet connectivity with the launch of the company's R140 Unix workstation. In 1992, Atomwide also introduced Ethernet cards.[212] Numerous vendors offered Ethernet expansion cards, such as Ant Limited (via Atomwide), Digital Services, i-cubed, Oak Solutions, and Risc Developments. Although compatible with AUN, some of the cards offered support for vendor-specific enhancements such as Oak Solutions's ClassNet and Digital Services's NetGain.[213] Other networking approaches were available, including the sharing of hard drives using a SCSI bus,[214] and Asynchronous Transfer Mode were deployed on the Acorn platform.[215]

BBC Micro interfacing and ROM software support

[edit]

1 MHz bus port and analogue port that were provided by the earlier range of machines. Acorn announced an I/O podule at the launch of the Archimedes, this being fitted with the 6522 VIA featured in the BBC range, with the possibility of upgrading the podule to provide a MIDI port.[145]

In early 1988, Computer Concepts announced its own ROM/RAM podule that was capable of accepting seven chips, each with a maximum capacity of 128 KB, supporting the use of installed RAM as "a RAM-disc filing system" with optional battery backup to retain the contents with the machine powered down. The company also announced the availability of its existing BBC Micro productivity suite for use with the board.[216] Acorn also released its ROM and I/O podules in the first half of 1988.[86] HCCS and Morley Electronics supplied podules for the A3000, with Morley's product also offering an I2C bus connector.[217]

List of models

[edit]
Model Memory (RAM) Hard disk space ARM processor (single core) Launch date UK retail price at launch Notes
BBC Archimedes 305 512 KB — ARM2 July 1987 £799[140]
BBC Archimedes 310 1 MB — ARM2 July 1987 £875[140]
BBC Archimedes 310M 1 MB — ARM2 July 1987 £960[218] Includes PC emulation software
Acorn Archimedes 410 1 MB — ARM2 July 1987 £1,399[140] Announced but not produced
Acorn Archimedes 440 4 MB 20 MB ARM2 July 1987 £2,299[140]
BBC A3000 1 MB — ARM2 May 1989 £649[219] This model was the last BBC-branded microcomputer until the BBC Micro Bit
Acorn Archimedes 410/1 1 MB (ST506 interface on motherboard) ARM2 June 1989 £999 Improved MEMC1A memory controller over previous 4x0 model
Acorn Archimedes 420/1 2 MB 20 MB ST506 ARM2 June 1989 £1,099
Acorn Archimedes 440/1 4 MB 40 MB ST506 ARM2 June 1989 £1,299 Improved MEMC1A memory controller over previous 4x0 model
Acorn R140 4 MB 47 MB ST506 ARM2 June 1989 £3,500[220] RISC iX workstation
Acorn Archimedes 540 4 MB (max. 16 MB) 100 MB SCSI ARM3 June 1990 £3,444[50]
Acorn R225 4 MB — ARM3 July 1990 £1,995[221] RISC iX network workstation
Acorn R260 8 MB 100 MB SCSI ARM3 July 1990 £3,995[221] RISC iX workstation
Acorn A5000 1, 2, 4 or 8 MB 20 MB to 160 MB IDE ARM3 September 1991 £999 or £1,499 25 or 33 MHz ARM3 processor, launched with various sub-models
Acorn A4 2 or 4 MB 40 or 60 MB IDE (2.5") ARM3 June 1992 £1,399 or £1,699 Notebook model with ARM3 processor clocked at 24 MHz, 640x480 greyscale LCD screen
Acorn A3010 1 MB — ARM2/ARM250 September 1992 £499 Early models had an ARM2 mezzanine processor board codenamed "Adelaide"[222]
Acorn A3020 2 MB Optional 60 MB (or 80 MB[223]) IDE (2.5") ARM250 September 1992 £880[67] Price included colour monitor
Acorn A4000 2 MB 80 MB IDE (3.5") ARM250 September 1992 £1115[67] Price included colour monitor

Also produced, but never sold commercially were:

  • A500: 4 MB RAM, ST506 interface, Archimedes development machine[224]
  • A680 and M4: 8 MB RAM, SCSI on motherboard, RISC iX development machines

Impact

[edit]

Dissatisfaction with the availability of essential applications, such as the lack of a word processor specifically written for the system at its launch,[81] and the incoherent user experience presented by early applications, highlighted perceived deficiencies with the product from the perspective of users and potential users.[225]

By mid-1988, only 14,000 units had reportedly been sold. The introduction of the A3000, launched with RISC OS fitted, delivered better than expected sales for Acorn, with an estimated total of 50,000 Archimedes and A3000 systems having been sold by the end of 1989.[226] By early 1991, 100,000 Archimedes machines had been sold, with the A3000 being the largest selling computer in UK schools.[227][228] In this period, over two-thirds of computer sales into primary schools had been Acorn models, with Acorn's 40% share of sales into secondary schools making the company the largest single vendor in this section of the market.[229] By mid-1992, a reported 180,000 Archimedes machines had been sold[230] due to strong A3000 sales.[45] By 1994 and the launch of the Risc PC, over 300,000 Archimedes machines had been sold,[203] and the A3000 had become the fourth best selling computer in the United Kingdom.[231] By the launch of the StrongARM J233 variant of the Risc PC in 1997, over 600,000 Archimedes, A-series and Risc PC systems had been sold.[232]

The Archimedes was distributed to varying degrees outside the UK. Enquiries about the Archimedes range were reportedly handled for the US and Canada via Olivetti Canada,[233] with distribution and servicing in Canada being undertaken by Comspec in association with Olivetti Canada.[234] In Italy, the Archimedes was promoted and distributed by G. Ricordi & C.,[235] previously appointed as Acorn's exclusive distributor in the country.[236]

Performance

[edit]
Performance evolution of the Archimedes and various competitors

Acorn's original claims for the Archimedes noted a performance of 4 million instructions per second (MIPS), these reportedly being equivalent to DEC VAX-11/750 instructions.[237]: 12  With the VAX-11/750 rated at 0.62 VAX MIPS,[238] Acorn's claimed 4 MIPS translates crudely to around 2.5 VAX MIPS. However, the initial 8 MHz Archimedes 310 model achieved around 2.8 VAX MIPS.[26]

This level of performance made the Archimedes one of the most powerful home computers available during the late 1980s and early 1990s, with its CPU outperforming the Motorola 68000.[239] The 68000-based Amiga 1000 reportedly achieved around 0.54 VAX MIPS when benchmarked as a system.[238]

Performance improvements would be delivered over time for the Archimedes and its competitors. For example, the Compaq Deskpro 386/16 model was replaced in 1988 with a 386/20 model offering somewhat improved CPU performance (around 3.5 VAX MIPS)[240][note 5] and in 1989 by a 386/33 model improving CPU performance still further (to around 6.6 VAX MIPS).[241] Upgraded Amiga models also offered steadily improving performance, with the Amiga 2500/20 appearing in 1988 and the Amiga 2500/30 appearing in 1989, these delivering approximately 1.5 VAX MIPS and 3.0 VAX MIPS respectively,[242] with an Amiga 2000 upgraded to a 33 MHz 68030 processor achieving a performance rating of around 3.0–3.6 VAX MIPS.[238][note 6] The Macintosh II series incrementally improved their performance from around 1.6 VAX MIPS in 1987 with the original 68020-based model, through to around 6.1 VAX MIPS in the 68030-based Macintosh IIfx in 1990.[243]

The increasing performance deficit relative to the x86 architecture was somewhat reduced with the introduction of the ARM3 in 1990: an Archimedes system such as the A410/1 upgraded to use a 25 MHz ARM3 could achieve 10.5 VAX MIPS,[244] with the ARM3-based A5000 achieving a reported 13.8 VAX MIPS,[238] rising to 15.1 VAX MIPS in its 33 MHz variant.[244] ARM3 upgrades were initially rather expensive[245] but decreased significantly in price and were available for all ARM2 systems, even the relatively inexpensive A3000.[192] Thus, Acorn's ARM3-based machines, generally priced for business or institutional users, remained broadly competitive. Acorn's low-end A3010, fitted with an ARM250 processor, was capable of delivering from 3.1 VAX MIPS[246] up to 5.0 VAX MIPS,[244] remaining competitive with upgraded Amiga models such as the Amiga 2500.

The introduction of the 68040, and particularly the introduction of the 80486 with its subsequent evolution, put ARM3-based Archimedes models at an increasing performance disadvantage. Successors to the Macintosh II in the form of the Quadra and Centris series improved performance two- to four-fold over earlier models.[247] An Amiga 4000 with 68040 CPU (or a suitably upgraded Amiga 2000 and 3000) could achieve a reported 18.7–21.6 VAX MIPS,[238] whereas Compaq Deskpro 486/25 and 486/33 models achieved a reported 14.7 VAX MIPS and 19.2 VAX MIPS with 25 MHz and 33 MHz 80486 CPUs respectively,[248]: 70  and with the introduction of 486DX2 CPUs at 50 MHz and 66 MHz during 1992 raising this to as much as around 28.5 VAX MIPS.[238] Against such performance ratings only Acorn's Risc PC 600 (18.4 VAX MIPS[238] to 21.8 VAX MIPS[244]) fitted with an ARM610 CPU could keep up. However, by the time of its introduction in 1994, two years after the reported incorporation of the ARM610 in the Apple Newton,[249] such performance had already been surpassed by Pentium-based models such as the Compaq Deskpro 5/66M Model 510 delivering 40.3 VAX MIPS.[250]

Although the Archimedes, emulating floating-point arithmetic instructions in software, achieved Whetstone benchmark results comparable to Acorn's earlier Cambridge Co-Processor product based on the 6 MHz NS32016 CPU with NS32081 floating-point unit,[251] such levels of performance were rather less impressive in comparison to contemporary systems equipped with hardware floating-point support, merely reaching a performance level "within a factor of two or less" of IBM PC/AT systems equipped with a 80286 CPU and 80287 floating-point co-processor.[252] Already in 1988, a 20 MHz Compaq system with a 80386 CPU and 80387 co-processor would achieve around 1800 KWhetstones or around 20 times the performance of the ARM2 emulating floating-point instructions.[253] Acorn's WE32206-based Floating Point Unit (FPU), available for the A400 series and R140, was expected to deliver ten-fold performance benefits,[251] and was eventually claimed to offer eight-fold speed-ups.[184] This left FPU-equipped systems delivering around half the performance of accelerated 386-based systems.

Unlike the R3010, announced in 1988 with claimed performance ratings of 4 MFLOPS for double-precision arithmetic and 7 MFLOPS for single-precision arithmetic,[254] and available in workstation products the same year,[255] the FPA10 was eventually delivered in 1993.

Education

[edit]

The range won significant market share in the education markets of the UK.[227] Acorn's products collectively representing over half of the installed computers in secondary schools at the start of the 1990s.[256]

In 1992, the Tesco supermarket chain initiated its Computers for Schools scheme in association with Acorn, offering vouchers for every £25 spent in Tesco stores that were redeemable against software and hardware products including complete computer systems, with this promotional campaign taking place over a six-week period.[257] Over 15,000 schools registered to participate in the scheme and over 22 million vouchers were issued during the campaign period, placing the estimated value of the distributed products at over £4.5 million,[258] although the value of distributed products was later reported as £3 million.[259] Tesco and Acorn repeated the scheme in 1993 on the basis of the response to the previous year's campaign,[260] distributing software and hardware at an estimated value of £6.5 million to over 11,000 schools including 7,000 computers, and even introducing Acorn computers to some schools for the first time.[259]

Dissatisfaction was expressed by dealers and software companies about the effects of the scheme, with anecdotes emerging of a reluctance to buy equipment that could be obtained for free, thus harming dealer revenues.[261] In response to such criticism, independent software titles were dropped from the scheme in 1994,[262] which ultimately distributed products to over 10,000 schools including 4,000 computers, with a total of 15,000 computers having been given away over the first three years of the scheme.[263]

With Tesco having expanded its presence in Scotland through acquisitions,[264] the Tesco scheme was extended to Scotland for the first time in 1995. By the end of the campaign, £5.7 million worth of products had been distributed, with the scheme having distributed products worth a total of £25.9 million, including 26,000 Acorn computers in its first five years.[265]

Acorn and Apple established a joint venture, Xemplar, to market their products in the education sector. Apple products were featured for the first time in the 1996 campaign.[265] Acorn conducted other promotional initiatives towards the education sector. The Acorn Advantage programme, launched in September 1994, offered a loyalty scheme whereby points were accrued through purchases and redeemed for "curriculum resources" that included non-computing items. Several commercial partners were involved in the scheme such as Fina and the Midland Bank.[266]

Legacy

[edit]

The Archimedes was used by music composers and scorewriters to run the Sibelius scorewriting software.[267] Between 1994 and 2004m the Archimedes and Risc PC models were used for teleprompters at television studios. Archimedes models has been used in scheduling and CD jukebox control for the Asda supermarket chain's in-store satellite broadcast radio channel.[268]

Tecnation's Bitbopper utilised video digitisers, genlock and MIDI cards in Archimedes 440 computers,[269] integrating audio and video inputs under the control of a "light jockey" and producing audiovisual output via venue entertainment system installations, using projectors and other equipment.[270] Laser Grafx's Prisma system employed Archimedes 440 and A5000 machines to control laser effects installations at music concerts.[271] A range of Archimedes and Risc PC models were used to control various aspects of the Quasar laser tag gaming experience, being introduced in an upgrade to the systems known as Chromaburst.[272]

See also

[edit]

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Notes

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  1. ^ This presumably being stated as VAX-11/750 MIPS and therefore approximately equivalent to around 4.3 VAX MIPS.
  2. ^ Pountain mistakenly identified the three-dimensional "Lander" game as being written in BASIC, which was not the case.
  3. ^ The claimed 20 KB limitation is actually a consequence of the minimum pixel clock frequency supported by the VIDC of 8 MHz, together with the typical display frequencies of supported monitors, notably the horizontal sync frequency of 15 kHz, and the colour depths of the defined modes.
  4. ^ Given as 1152 x 900 for A400/1 series and A540.
  5. ^ The 2.1 VAX MIPS of the 386/16 scaled by the CPU performance of the 386/20 divided by that of the 386/16 relative to the IBM PC/AT: 3.61/2.20.
  6. ^ Approximate figures for the 2500 models are calculated by taking 0.54 VAX MIPS as representative for the Amiga 2000 and scaling it according to the relative performance given for each model's Dhrystone benchmark result in the Amiga Intuition Based Benchmark results, these being 2.80 for the A2620 (Amiga 2500/20) and 5.51 for the 25 MHz A2630 (Amiga 2500/30).
[edit]
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