From: CSBVAX::CSBVAX::MRGATE::"SMTP::ANDREW.CMU.EDU::RL1B+IDM.ERR" 2-MAR-1989 01:39 To: MRGATE::"ARISIA::EVERHART" Subj: Digital Equipment Corporation's PC100 Microcomputer Received: by po2.andrew.cmu.edu (5.54/3.15) id ; Wed, 1 Mar 89 15:01:28 EST Received: via switchmail for info-dec-micro+@andrew.cmu.edu; Wed, 1 Mar 89 15:00:57 -0500 (EST) Received: from po3.andrew.cmu.edu via qmail ID ; Wed, 1 Mar 89 14:42:01 -0500 (EST) Received: from ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU by po3.andrew.cmu.edu (5.54/3.15) id for info-dec-micro; Wed, 1 Mar 89 14:40:08 EST Received: by ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU (5.61/1.33) id AA03557; Wed, 1 Mar 89 11:27:37 -0800 Received: from USENET by ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU with netnews for info-dec-micro@andrew.cmu.edu (info-dec-micro@andrew.cmu.edu) (contact usenet@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU if you have questions) Date: 1 Mar 89 06:15:34 GMT From: rochester!rit!ritcv!iav1917@cu-arpa.cs.cornell.edu (alan i. vymetalik) Organization: Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, NY Subject: Digital Equipment Corporation's PC100 Microcomputer Message-Id: <958@cs.rit.edu> Sender: info-dec-micro-request@andrew.cmu.edu To: info-dec-micro@andrew.cmu.edu Hello Dec-Micro Land: Every now and then I am amazed by the fact that many (if not most) of the readers of this newsgroup are still NOT DEC micro "evangelists!" I mean if, after all this time, you still don't know everything there is to know about DEC's micros... well, you may as well buy an IBM PC and read the (crowded, noisy, etc.) comp.sys.ibm.pc newsgroup. ;-) Oh, by the way, no matter what the logos on the outside say, the NEW DEC PCs are NOT DEC. They're Tandy. Don't confuse the issue. This newsgroup discusses DEC's PCs: The Pro 325/350/380, DecMate I, II, III, III+, the Rainbow 100A/100B/100+/190, and the VaxMate. Let's face it. The world is no longer going to accept high-quality, non-commodity-designed machines. It's an IBM PC world. Face it, folks! DEC built wonderful, albeit high-priced, machines that last. They're well-built and well-designed. Some break down. Most keep chugging along. OK. They're not "HOT STUFF." But, then again, I don't need HOT STUFF to wordprocess my articles and papers. I need a quality display and keyboard. If it takes 2.5 seconds to jump to end-of-file instead of 1.5 seconds, I can live with that. By the time I have $10,000 to spend on an '386 PC system, the Dynabook will be a reality and all these PCs will be nothing but a footnote in computer history. A real power-user knows how to get the Rainbow to do what he/she wants it to. Hey, with the Rainbow GRAPH.TPU unit floating around for Turbo Pascal V5.0, the BGIDEMO (graphics!) demo program runs virtually, flawleslsy on the Rainbow at about a slow AT's speed! Not too shabby for a supposedly non-compatible machine. By the way, the Rainbow has an almost complete implementation of the VT-102 (not just VT-100!) built into ROM! You don't even need to boot DOS or CP/M to talk to a modem. And, of course, there are no file handling capabilities in the Rainbow's VT-102 implementation. If the machine has no disks and can still boot to be a terminal, where's the data going to go? There is STILL a small, but extremely dedicated bunch of people out there who want to see Rainbow users SUCCEED using the hardware and software that they purchased years ago, and which DEC abandoned over a year ago. The number of companies that once supported the Rainbow were many. Now, only a mere handful remain. But, that handful is doing MORE than DEC ever did. Suitable Solutions, in particular, is the premier Rainbow product and support company. If you're a Rainbow owner and you're not buying Suitable's products (and thereby nOT supporting them to continue with their development of Rainbow hardware and software), sell me your machine for $100.00 right now and buy an IBM PC. Good luck in the PC world. OK, that was a shameless plug. I admit it. OK. Here's a brief summary of some things available for the Rainbow. And, MOST of it has come out in the last year to two years. NOT four or five years ago! Suitable Solutions sells: 8087 and 8087/clock/calendar boards The Turbow-286, an 80286/80287 accelerator card for $595.00 1MB memory boards Clock/calendar chip-boards Suitable Solutions MS-DOS V3.10A (revisions came out in October, 1988) SCache - Reliable Disk Cacheing software Harddisks and controllers Suitable also markets IBM-compatibility software and hardware: CodeBlue V2.0 - runs a VERY WIDE range of non-graphic, PC DOS programs and languages. Complete remapping of the Rainbow's keyboard to match the Enhanced AT keyboard (which, by the way, is a direct rip-off of DEC's keyboards). The IDrive - A 360K DSDD floppy drive which reads, writes, and formats IBM PC diskettes on the Rainbow. Boston Software Works sells: LCTERM (in a commercial package format) - Everyone knows about LCTerm. Right? Enhanced Rainbow/VENIX V2.0 - Do you want to see a TRUE multi- tasking, multi-user operating system on the Rainbow? Forget QNX or MINIX. Venix from BSW is a greatly- enhanced version of the original VenturCom Venix system. It's Unix System V7 and it works! I reviewed the OS a while back and had 5 users running (each doing a task) and two background processes running. Simultaneously! OK. It was somewhat slow. If BSW would revamp it for the 286 board from Suitable, I'd buy it! BTW, four of the users on my Rainbow were the four consoles available via the console switch hotkeys. The fifth was a GIGI hooked up to the serial port. Wordperfect: Wordperfect V4.2 (Enhanced Version) - This version is the latest WP version (before 5.0) and the enhanced version does screen I/O FASTER than an IBM PC (almost the speed of a 6mhz AT). Lotus: 1-2-3 V2.01 is available as well as Symphony V1.1 Ashton-Tate: dBase III V1.1 is available Borland: TurboPascal V5.0 (command-line version, only). The list goes on. Nearly every MAJOR product on the market has a Rainbow version. Well, that WAS true up until DEC stopped production. Obviously, there isn't much of an incentive to keep making Rainbow products if DEC stops making the machine. Want to know more? Do you have any questions? Send me mail or an e-mail and ask. I develop software for the DEC Rainbow and I perform consulting services for the machine. The machine is far from dead. In fact, two IBM PCs that I've had had since passed away and were sold off cheaply because they kept breaking down. My Rainbow has been working FINE for almost FIVE years straight. I've never had my floppy drives replaced. I have a 33MB harddrive, an 8087 board, 896K of USABLE memory, a graphics card/color monitor, a V20 replacement CPU for the 8088 (plus new ROMs), and I'm soon going to purchase the Turbow-286 board. There's even a rumour that Suitable will be marketing Windows V2.1 for the Rainbow. You want compatibility? With a lot of companies moving to Windows-based applications, well, there you have it. Couldn't have asked for a better thing to happen to the Rainbow, hmm? Price? Well, DEC built QUALITY equipment. I haven't even had a board or chip failure in my machine. You paid for Q/A and stringently- controlled production of the equipment. It's just too bad DEC didn't know how to play the marketplace. They had high-caliber machine and they blew it. No doubt about that. They could have owned a good share of the market had the played their cards properly. Oh well, what can you do? Enjoy, Alan "The usenet DEC Rainbow Evangelist" Mail: Alan I. Vymetalik, Prism Software Designs, 8 Barn Swallow Lane Rochester, New York, 14624-4650, USA Phone: (716)-889-2904 uucp: {seismo}!rochester!ritcv!iav1917 BITNET: aiv1917@ritvax Reality Check: Based on highly-expensive, government-sponsored research into the subject (which has cost the taxpayers of this country plenty as well as the life of one researcher), I have determined that the above statements and opinions ARE directly related to the fact that a little, fat man puts crisp $100 bills in my pocket.