Info wanted on Altos 586

[MARK LEVY]

ps>From: paul at devon.lns.pa.us (Paul Sutcliffe Jr.)
ps>Subj: Info wanted on Altos 586 system
ps>Orga: Devon Computer Services, Lancaster, PA

ps>I have a (potential) customer who has an Altos 586 system running
ps>Xenix 3.0b.  He has asked me to help him evaluate potential
ps>replacement systems.  I could do him a better service if I knew what
ps>the 586 was. What CPU (I suspect an '286) is in there?  Is the Xenix
ps>a special Altos version; and does it have any quirks?

ps>Any info would be appreciated.  And, of course, thanks in advance.

   The Altos (ACS) 586 was one of the first "UNIX PCs" available.  It
uses a 10MHz 8086, and came standard with 5 serial ports.  Options
included a tape drive and an expansion board that expanded memory and
the number of serial ports to 9 (the 986).  The Altos 586 was also
sold under the CDC label.  The hardware is all proprietary (something 
that Altos is still doing today), and the software, XENIX 3.0b is
also proprietary.  The last I heard, 3.0b was the most recent revision
(possibly the final one) of that version of XENIX.  It is closely realted
to UNIX version 6.  The DOS commands that allow compatibility with
floppy disks never made it onto the 586, though they were ported to the
XENIX 3.XX for the 2086.  It is a good machine, but slow and pretty 
limited.

Mark
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