Hewlett-Packard Co’s Gecko line, due out in the middle of the month, will feature a Precision Architecture RISC 7100LC-based HP-UX enterprise desktop system starting $4,000. According to sources in the US, models 712/60 and 712/80i – reflecting 60MHz and 80MHz clock speeds – are rated at 58 SPECint92, 79SPECfp92 and 84 SPECint92, 79SPECfp92 respectively. Memory goes from 16Mb to 128Mb, disk from 260Mb to 1Gb. They support Tele-Share, Hewlett-Packard’s add-in board combining data and voice communication. Servers, the 800 Models E25, E35 and E45 run at 48MHz, 64MHz and 80MHz respectively, are rated at 44 SPECint92, 66 SPECfp92; 65 SPECint92, 98 SPECfp 92 and 80 SPECint92 and 120 SPECfp92 respectively. They’re expected to go from between $5,000 and $10,000, with $8,700 bandied as a realistic configuration. The workstations come with RTW, a Ready-to-Ware interface builder that will feature Wabi, the SunSoft Inc Windows-under-Unix system, an MS-DOS emulator and MPower 2.0, the second take of Hewlett-Packard’s multimedia bundle. Andatco Inc’s Xcelerated Liken Mac emulator, and Steve Jobs’ NeXTstep will be up on the things by May or June, around the same time as Hewlett servers arrive running native NetWare. They will roll as soon as Novell Inc completes work on the processor-independent NetWare. New 7100LC X Window System terminals, to be dubbed the Entria line, will also be included in this month’s announcement.
