CLASSICCMP digest 85

RE: Marvin <marvin(a)rain.org> The SuperPET was developed by Waterloo University in Ontario, Canada and was released by Commodore sometime around 1980/81. I read a press release where the CBM 8096 (a close pre-cursor to the SuperPET) and VIC-20 were being introduced. It was also referred to as the Commodore SP9000 and Micro-Mainframe. The SuperPET was (I'm pretty sure) the last of the PET/CBM series. After that, in 1982, almost the entire Commodore line was re-vamped with: the Ultimax, C-64, B-128 series, and P-128/P-500 models. What the "PET Personal Computer Guide" Says about the SuperPET: It was designed around the CBM 8032 but boasted a 64k bank-switched RAM expansion and a 6809 co-processor which could emulate a 16 bit computer. In order to be truly compatible with IBM the OS had been retooled to use standard ASCII throughout, it also has a true RS-232 port. It has a 'Highly flexible terminal mode,' 'highly advanced text editor,' and 'run time monitor.' Among its more remarkable features is its ability to trace and repair most errors without losing the current program or its variables. Another virtue is its ability to send any program or data to another computer at any time in any language. The standard languages are IBM-compatible APL (including a complete APL character set), Waterloo BASIC, COBOL, FORTRAN, and Pascal. All languages are stored on disk (which I don't have any of *sigh*) until used. And at the printing of the book the languages worked as interpreters. Waterloo planned to have compiled versions available for the SuperPET in the future. Another language is included is 6809 assembly language. SuperPET comes with an assembler, linker, and loader. -------------------------------- Many of the features of the SuperPET can be seen in later Commodore units such as the B-128 and C-128 series (bank switched memory co-processors, etc.) Browsing the Web I have found some mentions of them, but many were no more than that. So far it seems one or two may have more than just the unit. I hope to get email soon from one person I wrote for info to.