Still pushing back the frontiers of X Window terminal capability, King of Prussia, Pennsylvania-based Human Designed Systems Inc has a new line of X terminals designed to interoperate seamlessly in IBM Corp RS/6000 and MVS mainframe environments, in addition to mixed environments that include computers from Sun Microsystems Inc, Hewlett-Packard Co, Digital Equipment Corp and others. The HDS ViewStation TR Series adds the ability to connect to Token Ring, Ethernet and Point-to-Point Protocol networks simultaneously. One X terminal can have up to four Internet Protocol addresses (one for each network) and can act as a network router, passing data from one net to the other. All models also include 3270 emulation for direct connection to IBM mainframe applications, and a full set of local X applications called HDSperx, which enable many X clients to run inside the terminal, off-loading mainframe and RS/6000 systems. For the uninitiated, X terminals are back to front and have the server software in the terminal while the client software is normally in the server. Local clients include the OSF/Motif and Open Look window managers, 3270 and DEC VT320 terminal emulation, a PostScript display application and productivity tools such as clock, calculators and screen saver with a local screen lock. Users can convert their own applications to run locally inside the X terminal with Human Designed’s Developer kit, which enables users to cross-compile applications on an RS/6000 or Sun workstation. Users could write Motif applications and run them on an IBM 390 without having X Window there. The chip, not identified, is presumably the same Intel Corp 80960 used in the other ViewStations. Prices go from $1,400 with 14 monochrome screen to $3,700 with 19 Trinitron colour screen.
