Osborne 1

Information about Osborne 1

An opened Osborne 1 computer, ready for use. The keyboard sits on the inside of the lid.

The Osborne 1 was the first commercially successful portable microcomputer, released in April, 1981 by Osborne Computer Corporation. It weighed 23.5 pounds (10.7 kg), cost US$1795, and ran the then-popular CP/M 2.2 operating system. Its principal deficiencies were a tiny 5 inch (13 cm) display screen and single sided, single density floppy disk drives whose disks could not contain sufficient data for practical business applications. Its design owed much to that of the Xerox NoteTaker, a prototype developed at Xerox PARC in 1976.

Software

The Osborne 1 was the first microcomputer that came with application software. The WordStar word processor, SuperCalc spreadsheet, and the CBASIC and MBASIC programming languages—all software packages that were the leading applications in their respective niches at the time—had a retail value of more than $2,000. The exact contents of the bundled software varied depending on the time of purchase; for example, dBASE II was not included with the first systems sold.

Program Name	Version	Published by	Program Type	Date	Format	Part Number	Number of Disks
CBasic/MBasic		Microsoft	Business Software		5 1/4" Floppy Disk	301002-02D	1
Colossal Cave			Game		5 1/4" Floppy Disk
Deadline		Infocom	Game		5 1/4" Floppy Disk		2
Dbase II		Ashton-Tate	Business Software		5 1/4" Floppy Disk
Dbase II Tutor		Ashton Tate	Business Software		5 1/4" Floppy Disk		6
Nominal Ledger	2.7	PeachTree Software	Business Software	1983	5 1/4" Floppy Disk	2X09200-04	2
Purchase Ledger	2.7	PeachTree Software	Business Software	1983	5 1/4" Floppy Disk	2X09200-04	2
Sales Ledger	2.7	PeachTree Software	Business Software	1983	5 1/4" Floppy Disk	2X09200-04	2
Supercalc		Sorcim	Business Software	1981	5 1/4" Floppy Disk	301002-03	1
Wordstar	2.26	MicroPro	Business Software		5 1/4" Floppy Disk		1

Hardware Specifications

Hardware features:

Dual 5Â¼-inch, single-sided 40 track floppy disk drives ("dual density" upgrade available)
4 MHz Z80 CPU
65 kilobytes main memory
Fold-down keyboard doubling as the computer case's lid
5-inch, 52 character × 24 line monochrome CRT display
IEEE-488 port configurable as a Parallel printer port
RS-232 compatible 1200 or 300 baud Serial port for use with external modems or serial printers

The Osborne 1 was powered by a wall plug, and had no internal battery, although an aftermarket battery pack offering 1 hour run-time was available. Early models (tan case) were 120 V only, later models (blue case) could be switched to run on either 120 V or 230 V, 50 or 60 Hz.

Peripherals

External Monochrome Display
Parallel Dot matrix Printer

Operating system:

CP/M version 2.2. A complete listing of the ROM BIOS was available in the Osborne technical manual.

Superseded by

Osborne Executive

Games

Since the display of the Osborne did not support bit-mapped graphics, games were typically character based games, like text adventures (the 1982 game Deadline, for example, packaged in a dossier type folder and came on two 5 1/4" diskettes.). Compiled and MBASIC interpreted versions of Colossal Cave Adventure were available for the Osborne.

ADVENT (Colossal Cave Adventure) running on an Osborne Computer circa 1982

Peripherals

These peripherals were not part of the base computer. Peripherals may have been offered by particular vendors at various times.

External Monochrome screen - using separate synch and video connections, driven by the motherboard video circuitry.
Dot Matrix Parallel Printer (Made by Star)
300 Baud Modem - fit into a diskette storage pocket, powered from the motherboard.

A small set of aftermarket vendors offered several other upgrades to the basic model, including third-party double density disk drives, external hard disks, and a battery-backed RAM disk that fit in a disk storage compartment.

Aftermarket 80-column video upgrades were available for the original 52-column-only machines.

Market life

At its peak, Osborne Computer Corporation shipped 10,000 Osborne 1 units per month. The computer was widely imitated as several other computer companies started offering low-priced portable computers with bundled software. The Osborne 1 was about the size and weight of a heavily packed suitcase; one commercial humorously pointed out that it did not quite fit under an airplane seat. As such it is now classified as a "luggable" computer in comparison to later laptop designs. The Osborne's popularity was surpassed by the similar Kaypro II which had a much more practical 9 inch (23 cm) CRT that could display the standard 80 characters on 24 lines as well as double density floppies that could store twice as much data.

Osborne Computer Corporation was unable to effectively respond to the Kaypro challenge until after the market window had closed and the day of the 8-bit, CP/M-based computer had ended. Sales of the Osborne 1 were also hurt by the premature announcement of superior successor machines such as the Osborne Executive (See Osborne effect). Later Compaq delivered a portable computer (the Compaq Portable) with a 9 inch CRT, that was software compatible with the IBM PC, making it the first PC clone.

Osborne Computer Corporation filed for Chapter 11 (Bankruptcy) in September 1983.

After Chapter 11

When Osborne 1 filed for Chapter 11 protection it was working on the Osborne Vixen, which when announced hampered the sales of the Osborne 1. In 1985 the Osborne-4 (Vixen) was released a smaller machine with the keyboard permanently fixed which acted as a stand. This model didn't sell in great numbers.

External links

Osborne 1 information and photos – At the Obsolete Technology Website
Osborne 1 detailed images and boot up video – At the Bunker of DOOM
Collection of old digital and analog computers

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microcomputer (in the 1970s and 80s sometimes shortened to micro^[2]) is most often taken to mean a computer with a microprocessor as its CPU. Another general characteristic of these computers is that they occupy physically small amounts of space.
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1978 1979 1980 - 1981 - 1982 1983 1984

Year 1981 (MCMLXXXI
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Date Invented: 1969 (8 inch), 1976 (5 Â¼ inch), 1983 (3.5 inch)
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19th century - 20th century - 21st century
1940s 1950s 1960s - 1970s - 1980s 1990s 2000s
1973 1974 1975 - 1976 - 1977 1978 1979

Year 1976 (MCMLXXVI
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MBASIC is the Microsoft BASIC implementation of the BASIC programming language for the CP/M operating system on the 8-bit Intel 8080 processor. MBASIC is a descendant of the original Altair BASIC interpreters that were among Microsoft's first products.
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Microsoft Corporation

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Founded Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA (April 4 1975)^[1]
Headquarters Redmond, Washington, United States

Key people Bill Gates, Co-founder and Executive Chairman ;
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Two 512 MB DRAM Modules

Connects to:

PCB or motherboard via one of

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