Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!ibmarc!rufus!drake.almaden.ibm.com!drake
From: drake@drake.almaden.ibm.com
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.rt
Subject: Re: Various RS/6000 questions
Message-ID: <154@rufus.UUCP>
Date: 6 Sep 90 05:57:17 GMT
References: <1990Sep4.200532.19719@lavaca.uh.edu>
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Organization: IBM Almaden Research Center
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In article <1990Sep4.200532.19719@lavaca.uh.edu> jet@karazm.math.uh.edu (J. Eric Townsend) writes:
>2.  CD-ROM.  Is IBM doing their own standard, or is it one of the
>SONY/ISO/whatever standards?  Can I boot from CD-ROM?  What products
>from IBM are available on CD-ROM?  (Other than AIX.)

I believe that AIX 3 implements the ISO standard CD-ROM filesystem.
The only product currently available from IBM on CD-ROM is the complete
set of AIX Version 3 and RISC System/6000 documentation.  AIX itself is
not available on CD-ROM; it comes on 8mm or 1/4" tapes, preloaded on
hard disk from the factory, and/or on 3.5" diskettes.  Given that, you
cannot boot AIX from the CD-ROM.

>3.  Languages.  We were told "IBM will support C, where C means:
>ANSI C, C++ and Objective C."  All I've seen so far is ANSI C.
>Any news on the other two?

IBM announced C++ and Objective C on Feb 15th, the same day the system
was announced.  Objective C is part of NextStep, and will be available
from IBM in the 3rd quarter of 1990; for C++ the IBM announcement refers
interested parties to Oasys's Glockenspiel C++.

>5. Graphics cards.  Anyone bought any of them?  How do they really
>perform relative to a stock 320 (what we plan on buying the most of).

The question confuses me.  IBM sells two graphics adapter cards that
could be used in a Model 320; the 2-D adapter and the 3-D adapter.
A Model 320 can be configured without either of these cards, in which
case it has no graphics capability at all; it can serve as a LAN server
or as a host for ASCII terminals (VT-100-ish things).  With either card
it supports graphics of the obvious type (2-D or 3-D).  So asking what
the performance of a graphic card relative to a stock 320 doesn't mean
anything to me ... can you be more specific about what you're interested
in?


Sam Drake / IBM Almaden Research Center 
Internet:  drake@ibm.com            BITNET:  DRAKE at ALMADEN
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