Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!apple!brutus.cs.uiuc.edu!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!cica!ctrsol!ginosko!uunet!kddlab!titcca!ccut!seiken!suzuki From: suzuki@tkl.iis.u-tokyo.junet (Shinji Suzuki) Newsgroups: comp.sources.d Subject: Re: AX Computer Standard Message-ID: Date: 15 Jul 89 08:22:09 GMT References: <2740001@hpsgpa.HP.COM> Sender: news@tkl.iis.u-tokyo.junet (News maintainer) Distribution: comp Organization: Institute of industrial science, University of Tokyo Lines: 25 In-reply-to: lky@hpsgpa.HP.COM's message of 14 Jul 89 09:42:28 GMT As I have moved to U*ix world I posses a little knowledge on PC trends. But I'll try to toss my two cents. Basically, AX is an PC-AT architecture with extensions for handling Kanji Characters. The extensions are in video display, BIOS, and keyboard. The standard display card is named JEGA, which operates in two major modes, EGA(640x350) compatible and JEGA(640x480) with kanji support. BIOS input/output routines are enhanced to handle 2 byte kanji code and a couple of keytops are added to facilitate Kanji input. In comp.sources.d point of view, the AX's compatibility to the PC is quite impressive especially in AT mode. Therefore it mainly appeals to software developers and hackers. But business users, who determines the success or fail of personal computers, will not be fascinated by T**bo Pascal Ver5.0, T**Speed Modula-2, E*sil*n, rich archives of comp.binaries.ibm.pc,etc. There is a little suspicion on the success of AX, though it is going to be a next commercial standard according to the expectation of AX participants. Sanyo, Cannon, Sharp, Sony, Mitsubishi, Acer, Yokogawa Hewlett Packerd(spell?), etc seem to manufacture AX machines. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Shinji Suzuki:Institute of Industrial Science, The University of Tokyo. e-mail:suzuki%tkl.iis.u-tokyo.junet@relay.cs.net or suzuki@tkl.iis.u-tokyo.ac.jp << The opinion expressed here is strictly mine. >>