Current users of Nixdorf Computer GmbH’s 8890 series of IBM compatible machines are being given five years to move over to Unix-based alternatives. The company has guaranteed support and maintenance until 1995, but has already frozen the development of new products and software releases – it offers the compatible but unlicensed NiDOS/VSE, and a distributed derivative of VM developed from work done by Spartacus Inc. The 8890 family comprises four top-end D Models, built around Hitachi processors supplied by Comparex Informationssysteme GmbH, and three low-end C Models, manufactured in part under licence from Israel’s Elbit Computer Systems Ltd. Excluding peripherals and certain software products, 8890 sales have never exceeded 5% of Nixdorf’s total sales, but that still implies over $100m annual business.
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