Acorn Computer Group Plc, the Cambridge, UK builder of machines for schools has announced two PowerPC 604-based Windows NT servers. At the same time, the company acknowledged that it is examining the feasibility of moving its proprietary RISC OS onto the PowerPC, and licensing the operating system to other manufacturers, today’s edition of our sister publication PowerPC News. The Acorn SchoolServer is a pretty standard PowerPC box based on the 100MHz 604 processor, using IBM Corp’s OEM board and running Windows NT 3.5.1. The machine is expected to be available in mid-July and pricing has yet to be set, though the smaller AS 500 is expected to debut at around ú5,000, while the AS 1000 will cost closer to ú8,000. Acorn has gone to ANT Ltd, which has built a piece of universal client software for Acorn’s RISC OS boxes. This ‘Omniclient’ supports LAN Manager, Network File System a nd NetWare protocols. The decision by Acorn, 58% owned by Ing C Olivetti & Co SpA, to go with PowerPC at the server end raises a few questions since the company holds 43% of Advanced RISC Machines Ltd, developer of the fancied ARM processor. People have been wondering for a while whether the company might put its proprietary RISC OS operating system onto other machines and Mark Phillips, Acorn’s network product manager acknowledged last week that there is an ongoing project with IBM to examine the feasibility of putting RISC OS up on the new chip. However if it goes ahead, he says any new models will be complementary with the existing ARM-based line. Acorn is also considering that big step of licensing its operating system to other manufacturers, says Phillips. He again emphasises the word ‘considering’ but acknowledges that the move might help expand the application base, and RISC OS penetration.
