Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!umich!samsung!cs.utexas.edu!asuvax!mcdphx!mcdchg!att!cbnewsd!knudsen
From: knudsen@cbnewsd.ATT.COM (michael.j.knudsen)
Newsgroups: sci.electronics
Subject: Re: 1802 et al.
Summary: 6809, multitasking
Message-ID: <12991@cbnewsd.ATT.COM>
Date: 31 Jan 90 21:25:23 GMT
References: <3218@uceng.UC.EDU> <914@xroads.UUCP> <1874@neoucom.UUCP> <80541@psuecl.bitnet>
Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories
Lines: 29

In article <80541@psuecl.bitnet>, peg@psuecl.bitnet (PAUL E. GANTER) writes:
> Why can't you believe this?  Very fast versions of the 6500 series are
> available.  What rumors from Commodore can't you believe?  The one that
> says they have been selling a multitasking home computer with color
> graphics and a reasonably small OS for under $1000, and doing it for
> over 4 years?
> Sorry, couldn't quite resist that one...

Nor can I resist pointing out the "rumor" that Radio Shack has been
selling a multitasking color grafix home computer with an OS
of about 24 to 32K bytes for about 6 years, and at half the
cost of an Amiga 500.

It uses a 6809, the last and best of the 8-bitters, as an earlier
poster mentioned.  That's the Color Computer running OS-9 from
Microware.  The 6809 is almost as fast in tight corners as the 6502
and a heck of a lot better C-language machine.  THe 6502 is a little
too RISCy for high-leel languages.

Not to rag on the Amiga, since the above posting did not claim
that it was the *first* M-Tasking home machine.
Actually, both the Amigas and the Color Computers join forces
whenever someone from Microsoft or International BM points to
their PS2 and OS/2 systems and says you need $10000 worth of hardware
and 4 MB of software to do multitasking with windows.
-- 
Mike Knudsen  knudsen@ihlpl.att.com   (708)-713-5134
"Round and round the while() loop goes;
        Whether it stops," Turing says, "no one knows."