 | |
| Manufacturer | Olivetti |
|---|---|
| Type | Personal computer |
| Released | 1982; 44 years ago (1982) |
| Discontinued | 1984; 42 years ago (1984) |
| Operating system | PCOS |
| CPU | Zilog Z8001 @ 4 MHz |
| Memory | 128 KB (expandable to 512 KB) |
| Graphics | 512×256 8 colors with 64 KB expansion boards, 4 colors with 32 KB expansion board. 80×25 or 64×16 characters |
| Successor | Olivetti M24 |
TheOlivetti M20 is aZilog Z8000 based computer designed and released byOlivetti in 1982. Although it offered goodperformance, it suffered from a lack of software due to its use of the Z8000 processor and customoperating system, PCOS. The company introduced theIBM PC compatibleOlivetti M24 in 1983 and the M20 line was phased out.
System design began in 1979 inCupertino, California at Olivetti's Advanced Technology Center.[1]: 189 When announced on March 31, 1982,[2]: 1 it was probably the first 16-bit personal computer in Europe with an expected price range of US$3,000-6,000.[2]: 10
InfoWorld magazine saw the M20 as an "answer to Tandy'sModel 16, theIBM Personal Computer and theApple III";[3] Olivetti itself compared its computer to the IBM PC,Sirius Victor,Commodore 8000 andApple II in television advertising.[4]
Although the computer was well received, observers immediately pointed out the lack ofCP/M.InfoWorld quoted one as saying that "it reflects the thinking of 1980".[5] M20's use of a non-standard OS (Olivetti's proprietary PCOS) and CPU (Zilog Z8001) proved to be its most serious limitations.[1]: 192 [6]: 13 The first major software package was a word processor by SofSys calledExecutive Secretary,[7] followed later by another word processor,OliWord, and business software,Olibiz. There was alsoMicrosoft BASIC 5.2 with full support for the hardware's features.[6]: 14
To alleviate a lack of applications, Olivetti sold a CP/M emulator for US$300 and distributed certain CP/M software packages (dBase II andSuperCalc) for their computer.[7] Olivetti later introduced the "Alternate Processor Board" (APB 1086), based on an 8 MHzIntel 8086 CPU for compatibility withMS-DOS andCP/M-86 software.[1]: 192
In January 1984, Olivetti introduced a new IBM PC-compatible computer, theOlivetti M24, running MS-DOS as a "complement" to the Olivetti M20.[8]
Olivetti sold around 50,000 M20 computers in the first year of production.[1]: 189 Only a few games were released for the system.[9]
M20 uses Zilog Z8001 4 MHz CPU and 128 KB RAM,[6]: 14 which can be expanded up to 512 KB by three 128 KB memory boards.[1]: 190 Keyboard, motherboard and disk drives are contained in all-in-one unit with separate monitor.[6]: 13 The computer has alsoparallel (IEEE-488) andserial port (RS-232-C).Standard configuration[nb 1] includes two5+1⁄4-inch 320 KBfloppy disk drives (286 KB formatted capacity). Optional were 160 KB or 640 KB (compatible with 320 KB disks) drives or5+1⁄4-inchhard disk in place of one of the floppy disk drives (9.2 MB formatted capacity).[1]: 190
Motherboard has two expansion slots intended for thehard disk controller board, additional parallel interface, twin serial interface orCorvus OmninetLAN card.[1]: 190 This slot is also used by the APB 1086 CPU card.[12]: 2–86
M20 provides 512 × 256display resolution on 12-inch[10]monochrome or color monitor. With memory expanded by two 32 KB memory boards, the computer can display 8 colors. When using only one additional memory board, only 4 colors form 8color palette are available. All graphics is pixel-generated (there is no specifictext mode), text characters use resolution 64 characters per 16 rows (or 80 characters per 25 rows).[1]: 190
Keyboard lacksDelete,Tab ↹ and← Backspace keys - their function can be mapped onS1 ors2 special keys by the "Change Key" system utility. Instead of standardfunction keys, user defined special functions are invoked by pressing orange-colored⌘ Command or light-blue-coloredControl key along with another key (creates 24 user-definable function keys).Numeric keypad serves also ascursor controls.[1]: 189
PCOS (Professional Computer Operating System[6]: 13 ) is a single-user,single-taskingoperating system.[1]: 191 It was used on the Olivetti M20 and L1 computers. The first version (PCOS 1.0) supports 14 characters long filenames, with no directories and a limit of 192 files per disk (calledvolume).[13] PCOS requires significant part of the main memory.[6]: 13 Operating system withBASIC interpreter takes 64 KB RAM,[12]: 2–15 another 16 KB are reserved for screen output and user is left with only around 40 KB RAM on unexpanded machine. Version 2.0 supportsdynamic memory allocation alleviatingsegmented memory limitations of the Z8000 CPU.[1]: 191 PCOS can protect by password volumes (disks), individual files and BASIC programs (against listing/editing/copying).[1]: 192 Standard OS configuration includes BASIC interpreter, other programming languages (Assembler andPASCAL) are optional.[14]
Example PCOS commands:[13]
vformat - formats a volumevrename - changes the name of a volumevpass - changes the volume passwordvlist - file listvquick - quick file listvcopy - volume copyfcopy - file copyflist - display a text file contentsbasic - run the BASIC interpreterdconfig - system configurationslanguage - system regional settingsBYTE in June 1983 described M20 as "the maverick of the second-generation personal computers", noting the keyboard's lack of function keys and other unusual aspects, the Z8000 CPU, and proprietary operating system. While approving of the "extraordinary" graphics, the magazine cautioned that "its nonstandard hardware/software environment represents the most serious limitation to the M20's prospective sales", concluding that it was an "elegant, but slightly puzzling, import".[1]
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