In a bid to make the Triple X the answer to more people’s problems, Torch Computers has introduced a multi-user version of the Unix-based workstation and announced support for the increasingly popular X-Window window management system. The Triple X multi-user system can support up to 16 terminals plus the console and three extra serial ports for printers or additional terminals. The multi-user Triple X uses the standard Torch man-machine interface OpenTop, which the company claims will run all Unix System V programs without change. The system is based on the Motorola 68010 processor using the Triple X VME bus expansion and modular housing. An eight-user installation is available for UKP10,500 with terminals and a fully-configured 16-user system costs around UKP13,000. The Cambridge-based company says that the multi-user pricing puts the product around 25% cheaper than similar products from NCR or Altos. Torch has also joined the likes of Apollo, Data General, DEC, Hewlett-Packard, Masscomp and Sony in support of the Massachussetts Institute of Technology-developed X-Window. Torch’s Triple X-Window implementation runs under OpenTop rather than accessing the graphics hardware directly, which Torch claims will allow unmodified Unix applications, such as Informix and Uniplex, to run alongside specially written X-Windows graphics software on the same screen. The Triple X family will also now support the Network File System developed by Sun Microsystems.
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