IBM should by now have set a new world record by bringing its new PC AT (issue 75) to the UK less than a month after its US launch.

The usually ponderous IBM last week called a press conference due to have taken place yesterday (Tuesday). A tight-lipped spokeswoman gracefully refused to say what the press conference would be about, but the chances are that IBM's new wunderkind was the subject.

The AT's US launch was several months later than planned - an international launch had been scheduled for May. IBM normally takes three months or more to announce products overseas, but in this case it seems cefrtain to have achieved a personal best.

The AT with an Intel 80286, 256K, and 1.2Mb on diskette costs $3,995. It has set the cat among the pigeons on the US market and has won the awed admiration of various sycophants and industry analysts. Besides PCDOS 3.0, it runs Xenix, an increasingly popular version of the multi-user multi-task Unix.

The prompt arrival of the AT contrasts sharply with the continued non-appearance here of the PCjr.