Chronology
of
Workstation Computers
1991
- January
- Sun Microsystems begins shipping the SPARCstation 2. [35.81]
- RDI announces the availability of Macintosh emulation software
for
SPARC systems. [34.80]
- February
- Sun Microsystems creates SunSoft, a system software subsidiary.
[172.198]
- MIPS Technologies unveils the R4000 RISC processor
architecture. [31.13]
- March
- NeXT begins shipping of its low-end NeXTstation color computers
for
US$8000. [33.66] [110.263] (April [42.289])
- May
- NeXT begins shipping of its high-end NeXTstation color
computers for
US$14000. [110.263]
- June
- Ross Perot resigns from the NeXT board of directors. [110.292]
- July
- NeXT completes the Japanese version of the NeXTSTEP operating
system.
[110.280]
- Sun Microsystems introduces the SPARCstation ELC, and the
SPARCstation
IPX. [34.80]
- August
- Silicon Graphics announces the Indigo computer. [138.81]
- (month unknown)
- Steve Jobs agrees with his NeXT company advisors to port the
NeXTSTEP
operating system to the Intel 80x86 architecture. [110.318]
- September
- MIPS Technologies begins shipping samples of the R4000
processor. [98.9]
- Silicon Graphics begins licensing the OpenGL graphics library.
[130.108]
- SunSoft announces the Solaris 2.0 operating system for 80x86
and SPARC
architectures. [172.198]
- October
- Sun Microsystems begins licensing the new chipset used in the
SPARCstation
2. [35.81]
- MIPS Technologies officially introduces the 100-MHz R4000, its
64-bit
RISC processor. [8] [48]
- November
- MIPS Computer Systems announces its ARC System licensing
program, consisting
of a complete ARC System 100 system design, supporting ROM code,
operating
system drivers, and ASICs. [112.1]
- Intel decides against licensing Digital Equipment's technology
in the
Alpha architecture. [97.24]
- December
- Standards Performance Evaluation Corp (SPEC) names its integer
and
floating point benchmark metrics for Unix systems as SPECint and
SPECfp,
respectively. [145.6]
- December 31
- Shipments of Unix operating system for the year: 1.2 million.
[175.134]
1992
- January
- Standards Performance Evaluation Corp (SPEC) announces
availability
of SPECint92 and SPECfp92 benchmark suites for Unix systems. Cost of
the
suite is US$900. [121.78] [113] [145.6] [191]
- At NeXTWORLD Expo in San Francisco, NeXT announces that a
version of
the NeXTSTEP operating system will be made for Intel PCs. [42.289]
[110.319]
- Standards Performance Evaluation Corp (SPEC) announces renaming
of
its Unix system benchmark metrics to include the "89" suffix,
ie. SPECint89 and SPECfp89. [145.6]
- (month unknown)
- Hewlett-Packard introduces the Series 9000 Model 710 computer.
It features
50-MHz PA-RISC processor, Ethernet, serial, parallel, SCSI-2, 16 MB
RAM,
19-inch 8-bit grayscale monitor, for US$9490. [161.36]
- Hewlett-Packard introduces the Series 9000 Model 705 computer.
It features
35-MHz PA-RISC processor, Ethernet, serial, parallel, SCSI-2, 16 MB
RAM,
19-inch 8-bit grayscale monitor, for US$4990. [161.36]
- February
- Ross Technology publicly previews its Pinnacle-1 SPARC
processor. [111]
- (month unknown)
- Tadpole Technology introduces the Sparcbook portable computer.
It features
8-32 MB RAM, 85-240 MB hard drive, floppy drive, gray-scale or color
640x480
monitor, 25-MHz CY601 integer processor, 25-MHz CY604 floating point
processor,
Ethernet port, internal 9600/2400 fax/modem, Solaris operating system,
Open Windows 3.0, SoftPC to run MS-DOS and MS-Windows applications.
Size
is 12 x 8.5 x 2 inches, weight is 7 pounds 1 ounce, price is
US$4950-14850.
[165.40]
- March
- MIPS Technologies ships the 100-MHz R4000 processor. [90.134]
[150]
- Silicon Graphics announces it is acquiring MIPS Computer
Systems. [111.1]
- (month unknown)
- MIPS Computer Systems announces the Magnum 4000 and Millennium
4000
OEM systems, based on the ARC System 100 design. Both use a 50/100-MHz
R4000 processor. [112.1]
- Silicon Graphics ships its 100,000th workstation. [197.9]
- May
- Ross Technologies announces the hyperSPARC processor. [180]
[182]
- IBM announces the RS/6000 Model 970 computer. It features
50-MHz processor
with 32 KB instruction cache and 64 KB data cache, 64 MB RAM, 2.7 GB
hard
disk. Price is US$97,822. Performance specifications are 47.1
SPECint92,
93.6 SPECfp92, 49.3 SPECint89, 160.9 SPECfp89. [113.5]
- Sun Microsystems announces the SPARCstation 10 family, using
the Sun
/ TI Viking SuperSPARC processor. Original name for the family was
SPARCstation
3. [113.11] [116.20] [180]
- Sun Microsystems announces the SPARCstation 10 model 30.
Features include
36-MHz SuperSPARC processor, 32 MB RAM, 424 MB hard drive Price is
US$18495.
[113.11]
- Sun Microsystems announces the SPARCstation 10 model 41.
Features include
40-MHz SuperSPARC processor, 1 MB second-level cache, 32 MB RAM, 424 MB
hard drive Price is US$24995. [113.11]
- Sun Microsystems announces the SPARCstation 10 model 52.
Features include
two 45-MHz SuperSPARC processors, each with 1 MB second-level cache, 64
MB RAM, 1 GB hard drive cache Price is US$39995. [113.11]
- Sun Microsystems announces the SPARCstation 10 model 54.
Features include
four 45-MHz SuperSPARC processors, each with 1 MB second-level cache,
64
MB RAM, 1 GB hard drive cache Price is US$57995. [113.11]
- (month unknown)
- SPARC International introduces version 9 of the SPARC
architecture.
It features 64 bit address space, and instruction set extensions for
superscalar
implementations. [175.26]
- Unix Systems Laboratories announces Unix System V release 4.2.
[175.38]
- Silicon Graphics and the OpenGL Architecture Review Board
officially
release OpenGL 1.0 Specification. [130.13]
- Bud Tribble, co-founder of NeXT, resigns from NeXT, and goes to
work
for Sun Microsystems. [110.330]
- September
- NeXT ships NeXTSTEP v3.0. [42.289]
- (month unknown)
- IBM announces the RS/6000 Model 580 computer. It incorporates a
62.5-MHz
POWER chip set. Performance is 59 SPECint92, 125 SPECfp92, and 126
SPECmark89.
Base price is US$62,500. [146]
- October 14
- At the Microprocessor Forum, Texas Instruments and Sun
Microsystems
formally unveil the 50-MHz microSPARC processor. The processor includes
integer and floating-point units, and 4 KB instruction and 2 KB data
caches.
It incorporates 800,000 transistors, using a 0.8-micron CMOS process.
Development
names during development were Tsunami and TMS390S10. Performance is
about
40 MIPS. [90.134] [147.1] [107.36] [180]
- October
- Hewlett-Packard announces the PA-7100LC processor. [182]
- November 16
- Digital Equipment demonstrates systems with 125-MHz 21064 Alpha
processors
running a variety of Windows NT applications. [149]
- November
- Digital Equipment unveils the 150-MHz DECchip 21064
microprocessor,
implementing the Alpha AXP 64-bit architecture. Development name was
EV-4.
[7] [37.15] [69.61] [87.64] [90.134] [148.1] [187]
- Digital Equipment introduces the DEC 3000 Model 500 AXP,
featuring
150-MHz Alpha 21064 processor, 512 KB cache, 32 MB RAM, 1 GB hard
drive,
six Turbochannel expansion slots, CD-ROM drive, and 19-inch color
monitor.
Price is US$38.995. Performance is 121.5 Specmark. [137.22] [148.1]
- Sun Microsystems introduces the SPARCclassic, featuring a
50-MHz microSPARC
processor, 16 MB RAM, 207 MB hard disk, two SBus expansion slots,
Solaris
2.1, and 15-inch color monitor. Price is about US$4500. Performance
specs
are 59.1 MIPS, 26.4 SpecInt92, 21.0 Specfp92. [37.15] [137.21] [148]
- Sun Microsystems introduces the SparcStation LX, featuring
50-MHz microSparc
processor, 16 MB RAM, 424 MB hard disk, Solaris 2.1, GXplus video
accelerator,
CD-quality audio, built-in ISDN, and 16-inch color monitor. Price is
US$7995.
Performance specs are 59.1 MIPS, 26.4 SpecInt92, 21.0 Specfp92. [37.15]
[137.21]
- Sun Microsystems announces SPARCcenter 2000 multiprocessor
server.
Up to 20 SuperSPARC processors can be used. Price with two processors
is
US$95,000. [37.15] [148]
- MIPS Technologies (division of Silicon Graphics) announces the
R4400
microprocessor, previously called the R4000A. It is an R4000 processor
with double on-chip cache, implemented in 0.6-micron CMOS. Clock rates
of up to 150-MHz (75-MHz internal) will be available. The chip
incorporates
2.2 million transistors. [148.1] [180]
- Hewlett-Packard announces the HP 9000 Model 735 desktop
workstation.
It features a 99-MHz PA-RISC 7100 processor, 32 MB RAM, 525 MB SCSI
hard
drive, and 19-inch color monitor. Rated speeds are 147 Specmarks and
40.8
MFLOPS. Price is US$37,395. [37.15] [139.18]
- Hewlett-Packard announces the HP 9000 Model 755 deskside
workstation.
It features a 99-MHz PA-RISC 7100 processor, 64 MB RAM, 2 GB hard
drive,
and 19-inch color monitor. Rated speeds are 147 Specmarks and 40.8
MFLOPS.
Price is US$58,995. [37.15] [139.18]
- Hewlett-Packard announces the HP 9000 Model 715/33 workstation.
It
features 33-MHz PA-RISC processor, grayscale monitor, and one expansion
slot. Price is US$4,995. [37.15] [139.18]
- Hewlett-Packard announces the HP 9000 Model 715/50 workstation.
It
features 50-MHz PA-RISC processor, grayscale monitor, 512 MB hard
drive,
and one expansion slot. Price is US$11,895. [139.18]
- Hewlett-Packard announces the HP 9000 Model 725/50 workstation.
It
features 50-MHz PA-RISC processor, 4-slots, grayscale monitor, 512 MB
hard
drive, 16 MB RAM, for US$17,895. [37.15] [139.18]
- December
- Novell buys UNIX Systems Laboratories from AT&T, gaining
all rights
to the UNIX source code, for US$150 million. [14] (December 1993
[45.141])
(January 1993 [70.1]) (US$350 million [117.99])
- December 31
- Workstation market share for the year: HP PA-RISC 31%, Sun
SPARC 25%,
MIPS 20%, IBM RS/6000 12%. [183]
