.rm 70 .po 5 .fo //--more-- .nf .nj .sp 5 CONTACT: Nicholas C. d'Arbeloff Public Relations Specialist (617) 256-6600, x4499 .sp 2 FOR RELEASE JUNE 11, 1984 .sp 2 .ce {!APOLLO INTRODUCES LOW-COST COLOR GRAPHICS WORKSTATION!} .sp 2 .fi .ju .ls 2 CHELMSFORD, Massachusetts, June 11, 1984 -- Apollo Computer Inc. today extended its family of professional engineering workstations with the DN550, a powerful color graphics workstation base priced at $31,500. .sp "Until now, color workstations with similar graphics capabilities have cost twice as much as Apollo's new DN550," said Lou Reynolds, product marketing manager. "In fact, the DN550 lets the technical professional run an extremely broad range of engineering and scientific applications at a lower cost per user than any other color system on the market today." .sp "Apollo's family of color workstations, now including the DN660 and the new DN550, provide for both computation-intensive as well as graphics-intensive applications," Reynolds added. .sp Since the new node is compatible with Apollo's entire family of workstations and software, it can run over 250 existing scientific and engineering application packages from over 80 third-party vendors. .bp .ce {!NEW DN550 WORKSTATION FROM APOLLO!} .ce -2- .sp {!FEATURES!} .sp The DN550, based on the Motorola 68010 processor, features a dedicated, bit-sliced graphics processor, a 1024 x 800 resolution color monitor, and a low-profile detachable keyboard with optional touchpad or mouse. The system offers up to 3 megabytes (MB) of main memory, and up to 2 MB of double-buffered display memory capable of displaying as many as 256 colors simultaneously. .sp The DN550 provides flicker-free color graphics, a multiwindow, multitasking environment allowing up to 24 concurrent processes with 16 MB of virtual address space per process, and an integral interface to Apollo's 12 Mbit/sec DOMAIN local area network. The 19-inch color display features both tilt and swivel and a special non-glare filter for increased visual clarity. .sp Options available for the new workstation include a 50 MB 5 1/4-inch Winchester disk, a 45 MB 1/4-inch cartridge tape unit, a four-slot MULTIBUS* peripheral adaptor, and floating point hardware accelerator. .sp {!ARCHITECTURE!} .sp The DN550 is designed with full 32-bit internal architecture. The dedicated, bit-sliced graphics processor, coupled with its extensive microcode, provides extremely fast 2D operations, and allows greater than 10,000 transformed, clipped vectors per second throughput. .bp .ce {!NEW DN550 WORKSTATION FROM APOLLO!} .ce -3- .sp The DN550 is capable of greater than 1 million pixels-per-second vector draws, and 25M - 35M pixels per second area fills and bit-block transfers. In addition, the system provides circle, arc, and spline generation as well as user-definable area fills and vector patterns. These performance characteristics make the DN550 well-suited for applications requiring a high level of interactive graphics capabilities. .sp "With the DN550," added Reynolds, "Apollo now offers a complete family of fully-compatible professional workstations, both color and monochromatic, which let users configure systems of different performance levels and finely tune their networks to better address applications that require varied computing and graphics capabilities." .sp {!PACKAGING!} .sp The DN550's electronics housing is designed to fit under the user's desk (height - 24.5 inches, width - 13.5 inches, depth - 28.5 inches). In addition, all options, including Winchester disk, tape drive, and peripheral adaptor are contained in the same enclosure, allowing the office environment to remain "peripheral-free." The unit is quiet and, because of the its modular design, maintenance is greatly facilitated. .sp Another model, the RM550, is designed with the OEM, or Value-Added Supplier (VAS), in mind. This version allows all modules to be rack-mounted for easy re-packaging of all electronic components. .bp .ce {!NEW DN550 WORKSTATION FROM APOLLO!} .ce -4- .sp {!SOFTWARE!} .sp Systems software support for the DN550 includes Apollo's proprietary operating system, AEGIS, and AUX, the firm's implementation of Bell Labs UNIX** System III software with Berkeley extensions. Apollo's operating environment is a principal design component of the Apollo DOMAIN concept because of its unique ability to support demand-paged virtual memory across the network. .sp For enhanced graphics performance and functionality, Apollo now offers the Graphics Metafiles Resource (GMR), a new, state-of-the-art software package which eliminates much of the graphics programming previously required for application development. GMR is standard on all DOMAIN workstations, including the DN550. .sp Additional software includes D3M, the DOMAIN Distributed Database Management System; SIGGRAPH Core Graphics package; FORTRAN 77, ISO PASCAL, C, and LISP programming languages; the DOMAIN Professional Support Services (DPSS), a comprehensive package of integrated administrative tools for the technical professional; and the DOMAIN Software Engineering Environment (DSEE), a software package for increased productivity in the development, maintenance, and administration of sophisticated software projects. Also available are terminal emulators, a font editor, and a high-level debugger. .sp Communications support includes IBM 3270 emulation, HASP, X.25, and an ETHERNET*** gateway. .bp .ce {!NEW DN550 WORKSTATION FROM APOLLO!} .ce -5- .sp 2 The DN550, configured with Apollo's AEGIS operating system, 1MB main memory, 4 planes of color, monitor, keyboard, electronics enclosure, and a DOMAIN local-area network interface, is priced at $31,500; $40,000 with a 50MB Winchester disk. It is available 120 days ARO. .sp Apollo Computer Inc. manufactures dedicated, high-performance, 32-bit professional workstations, which operate in a distributed, local area network. Nearly 4000 workstations have been shipped worldwide for use in a wide variety of engineering and design applications. .sp .ce --30-- .nf .nj .sp * MULTIBUS is a trademark of Intel Corporation. ** UNIX is a trademark of Bell Telephone Laboratories, Inc. *** ETHERNET is a registered trademark of Xerox Corporation.