Aquarius (was Re: Apple 1)

On Mon, 15 Jun 2020 at 15:25, Ethan O'Toole via cctalk <cctalk at classiccmp.org> wrote: It certainly would. I never heard of this before. There is a technological precedent -- well, maybe not before, but equivalent, anyway. https://qlwiki.qlforum.co.uk/doku.php?id=qlwiki:qxl_card This is basically an enhanced (68040-based) Sinclair QL on an ISA card. It uses the DOS PC for all I/O, keeps its files in the DOS filesystem, etc., but it runs apps on its own processor in its own RAM. Given that the original QL had very slow stringy-floppy drives, fairly low-spec and quite slow graphics, this was quite a good, elegant compromise. Conceptually similar to the Acorn Springboard: http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/acorn/Acorn_PC_ARM/PCW_Jan88_Springboard.pdf http://chrisacorns.computinghistory.org.uk/docs/Acorn/Brochures/Acorn_APP12… An ARM co-pro for a PC compatible, on an ISA card. But you had to write your own apps for the Springboard -- it wasn't Archimedes-compatible (and given that the Archie had very good sound, graphics and I/O for its time, it would have been horribly crippled if it was. The QXL card made a PC into a (partial) QL-compatible, able to run QL apps. A chap at ByteFest last summer had a QXL installed in an Amstrad ALT386, itself now a rare and collectible machine -- a very early 386 colour laptop, complete with a short ISA slot. So, 2 rare machines in one, and a powerful portable QL! Language issues meant I did not find out much more... http://www.bytefest.cz/ -- Liam Proven ? Profile: https://about.me/liamproven Email: lproven at cix.co.uk ? gMail/gTalk/gHangouts: lproven at gmail.com Twitter/Facebook/LinkedIn/Flickr: lproven ? Skype: liamproven UK: +44 7939-087884 ? ?R (+ WhatsApp/Telegram/Signal): +420 702 829 053