The new Dasher personal computers introduced by Data General Corp last week (CI No 1,233) are accompanied a new release of of the MS-DOS ICobol interactive Cobol which now features complete program and file compatibility with ICobol applications running under Data General’s AOS/VS and DG/RDOS operating systems. The company also announced Revision 2.0.1 of the 386ix operating system from Interactive Systems Corp, which adds support for the TCP/IP communications protocol so that 80386-based Dashers running the Unix implementation can communicate with Data General’s MV/ minicomputer family and its new 88000-based AViiON RISC-based systems. Other features of 386/ix 2.0.1 include Xenix compatibility, improved performance and enhancements for international use. As to the new machines, the Dasher/286-12c comes in a compact 12 by 15.5 by 3.75 high chassis, and the base system includes a 3.5 1.44Mb floppy drive, two serial ports and one parallel port, built-in VGA video support, AT-interface disk adaptors, single floppy controller; and two 16-bit slots. An internal 3.5 40Mb disk drive is also available. The mid-range 80386SX-based Dasher/386sx has 40Mb internal disk drive, 2Mb memory expandable to 8Mb, VGA controller, 1.44Mb floppy and keyboard. One or two 40Mb or 100Mb disks can be installed fro a maximum of 200Mb internally.The Dasher/386-25 can be single- or multi-user and the base system includes a 156Mb ESDI disk drive, 2Mb memory expandable to 8Mb on the system board and up to 16Mb with a 32-bit memory board, 5.25 floppy, VGA controller, keyboard and MS-DOS 3.3. A total of five half-height, 5.25 storage bays and eight slots are in each system, and a 150Mb cartridge tape drive is also available for back-up. The Dasher/286-12c with the 40Mb disk is $3,000, the Dasher/386sx is from $3,800 and the Dasher/386-25 costs $8,500. All three are on 30 days’ delivery in the US.
