IBM's new PC duly appeared last week but so far there have been no reports of competitors jumping from high windows in despair.
The PC AT (for Advanced Technology) is bigger and faster than the XT but overlaps with it in cost. For $3,995 you get 256K and 1.2Mb on a floppy disk drive. A larger model, at $5,795, has 512K and 20Mb on a hard drive.
Launched with the machine were items of software to handle windows, multiuser (three) support, and a local area network that links up to 72 PCs.
Sirius Support Assured
Victor Technologies, striken US maker of the Sirius, has passed into the Swedish hands of Datatronic. This is a turnip for the books.
Datatronic has already held tanks with ACT, distributor of the Sirius in the UK, and it looks as though nothing will change from the point of view of UK users.
"We do anticipate continuing to distribute the product," an ACT spokesman said. "We are committed to supporting it in the future - there are 25,000 of these machines in the marketplace."
But demand for the Sirius has plunged from a peak of 1,400 a month to 300/400 a month now.
Quantum Queue Jump
When is 21-day delivery a very special offer? When you're talking about the Sinclair QL.
Coming to the end of its famous backlog, Sinclair has started mailing owners of ZX81s and Spectrums with the offer of faster delivery of a QL. "Twenty-eight days is still the standard," said a spokesman. "But 21 is a special offer for people who have already done business with us."
In at least one case the faster delivery has been promised as a response to a customer's cancellation - this, also, falls into the category of 'doing business' with Sinclair.
More Rabbit than Tesco
The Rabbit lives to run another day. The liquidator of Rabbit Software has put all the company's assets up for sale by tender. Included in the list is a stock of 200,000 games cassettes and the right to use the name Rabbit.
Anxious for a quick sale liquidator Stuart Edgar organized viewing days at Rabbit's Wealdstone, Middlesex premises for Monday and Tuesday this week. Sealed bids for the assets must be in by Friday.
The extent of Rabbit's debts has been contested by creditors who are taking legal action to overturn Mr. Edgar's appointment as liquidator.
25th August 1984