Editing Wang Laboratories (section)

==PCs and PC-based products==
Despite the release of the 2200 PCS (Personal Computer System) and 2200 PCS-II models in 1976, the history of computing regards the earliest PC as one which contained a [[microprocessor]], which the 2200 PCS did not. However, the self-contained PCS-II<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gaby.de/ewang.htm |title=Wang 2200 PCS-II |website=Gaby.de |access-date=2016-05-20}}</ref> incorporated many of the innovations that would later be seen in PCs, including the first 5.25-inch floppy drives that were designed for the PCS-II by [[Shugart Associates]].<ref name = "Computer July 1977">{{Cite journal | last = Michalopoulos | first = Demetrios | title = New Products: Wang's new "deskette" computer brings direct-access processing to small user | journal = Computer | volume = 10 | issue = 7 | page =81 | date = July 1977 | doi = 10.1109/C-M.1977.217790 }} "The PCS II makes use of minidiskette storage devices initially conceived by Wang and developed by an independent disk manufacturer, Shugart Associates."</ref><!--"deskette" is a play on desktop computer with floppy disks.-->

===The original Wang PC===
The original Wang PC was released in April 1982 to counter the IBM PC, which had been released the previous August and which had gained wide acceptance in the market for which Wang traditionally positioned the OIS system. It was based on the [[Intel 8086]] microprocessor, a faster CPU than the IBM PC's 8088.<ref>The Intel 8088 processor is a slightly modified version of the earlier 8086. Its external data bus is 8 bits wide as compared to the 8086's 16, thus requiring two bus cycles to transfer a 16-bit value. This resulted in slower execution time for some instructions.</ref> A hardware/software package that permitted the Wang PC to act as a terminal to the OIS and VS products was available. The first version of the hardware component was made of two large add-in boards called the WLOC (Wang Local Office Connection). It contained a Z-80 processor and 64 KB of memory. The original PC-VS hardware used the 928 terminal emulator board; the WLOC boards were used in the subsequent 80286 machines.

These PCs later formed the basis for the system console on VS7000 and later series of the Wang mid-frame series, being used for the initialisation of the boot process. One of the distinguishing features of the Wang PC was the system software. Similar to the Wang VS minicomputer, the command line was not evident. Everything could be run from menus, including formatting a disk. Furthermore, each item on a menu could be explained by hitting a [[help key]] on the keyboard. This software was later sold in MS-DOS-compatible form for non-Wang hardware. The Wang word processing software was also very graphical. The keyboard had 16 function-keys and, unlike [[WordStar]] (the popular word processor of the day), control key combinations were not required to navigate the system. The F-keys had the word processing functions labeled on them.<ref>This may be where the designers of [[WordPerfect]] got the idea of stickers with alt/ctrl/shift colors for the f-keys.{{Weasel inline|date=April 2018}}</ref>

Despite being a compliant MS-DOS system, it was not [[PC compatible#Compatibility issues|compatible]] with the IBM PC at the hardware level, because MS-DOS was used as a simple program loader. Complex software (spreadsheets, Flight Simulator, etc.) could obtain acceptable performance by direct manipulation of the hardware. Wang used a 16-bit data bus instead of the 8-bit data bus used by IBM, arguing that applications would run much faster since most operations required I/O (disk, screen, keyboard, printer). With this 16-bit design, Wang used peripheral hardware devices, such as the Wang PC display adapter, that were not compatible with their counterparts in the IBM PC line. This meant that the vast library of software available for the IBM PC could not be directly run on the Wang PC. Only those programs that were either written for the Wang PC or ported from the IBM PC were available. [[Lotus 1-2-3]] and [[DBase|dBase II]] were also available. This lack of application software led to the original Wang PC's end, and it was replaced by an Intel 80286-based product that was [[plug compatible]] with the IBM PC. The unique system software was available at extra cost.

Most Wang PCs were released with a monochrome graphics adapter that supported a single video mode with text and graphics planes that could be scrolled independently. A color graphics adapter and Wang-branded color monitor were also available.

An ergonomic feature of the Wang PC was the monitor arm that clamped to the desk and held the monitor above and a system clamp that attached to the side of the desk and held the rather large computer box. By using these, there was nothing on the desktop except the keyboard.

===IBM-compatible Wang PCs===
{{More citations needed|section|talk=Wang Laboratories|date=October 2022}}
Wang released an emulation board for Wang PC that enabled operation of many PC-compatible software packages. The board accomplished this by monitoring all I/O and memory transactions (visible in those days before [[Northbridge (computing)|North]]/[[Southbridge (computing)|South]] bridge chips to any board plugged into a slot on the expansion bus) and generating a [[non-maskable interrupt]] (NMI) whenever an operation was deemed to involve an incompatible device, requiring emulation.

For example, the floppy controller circuitry on the Wang PC was similar to that of the IBM PC but involved enough design differences that PC-compatible software attempting to manipulate it directly would fail. Wang's PC emulation hardware would detect I/O and memory operations involving the addresses associated with the floppy controller in the IBM PC and generate an NMI. The NMI handler would be activated (the exception vector having been appropriated during system init to point to ROM routines on the emulation board instead of the NMI routine in the PC BIOS) and would then update an internal representation of the IBM PC floppy controller and manipulate the real controller to reflect its state. Reads were satisfied in a similar way, by forcing an NMI, decoding the machine code indicated by the instruction pointer at the time of the fault, and then obtaining the desired info and updating the CPU registers accordingly before resuming the executing program.

IBM PC-emulation on the 8086-based Wang PC was working well when IBM released their 80286-based PC-AT, so Wang made the 80286-based '''Wang APC''' (Advanced Professional Computer).

Further iterations of the PC line were released commencing with the model number PC-240. They booted into MS-DOS or another compatible operating system, and supported [[Industry Standard Architecture|ISA]]-standard expansion cards.

This PC-240 was still not IBM PC-standard, as the keyboard, although a standard PC/AT device, supported VS-compatibility with 24 function keys rather than the normal 12, and had a number of Wang VS-specific keys. There was also a slight difference in CPU interrupts from IBM standard, so some software had compatibility issues.

VS connectivity was via an ISA-based VS-terminal card, or via LightSpeed, the networked VS Terminal Emulator, over an [[IPX]]-based Ethernet connection. The PC-240 came with a Wang-specific [[Hercules Graphics Card]] and compatible screen, which also acted as a keyboard extension, so that the base unit could be kept some distance from the screen. This was later replaced with an [[Enhanced Graphics Adapter|EGA]] card and screen.

Around 1991, Wang released the PC350-16 and PC350-40, which were Intel [[80386]]-based, clocked at 16&nbsp;MHz and 40&nbsp;MHz. They used the same VS-compatible keyboard as the PC-240, had a maximum of 4&nbsp;megabytes of RAM, and came with VGA screens as standard. They were supplied by Microsoft with MS-DOS and Windows 3.0.

The 350-16 had a bug where the machine would freeze and not boot up if power-cycled at the mains. Although it would power on, the BIOS would not start. The solution was to turn on the machine at the mains and hold down the power button for 30 seconds, at which point it would start. It was suggested{{by whom|date=November 2013}} that this was due to an under-valued capacitor in the power circuit. This problem appeared to be resolved in the 350–40, which had a different [[power supply|PSU]].

In 1992, Wang marketed a PC-compatible based on the Intel [[80386SX]] processor, which they called the Alliance 750CD. It was clocked at 25&nbsp;MHz and had a socket for an [[80387]] math coprocessor. It came with 2&nbsp;megabytes of installed RAM, and was expandable to 16 megabytes using [[SIMM]] memory cards. It had a 1.44 megabyte floppy disk drive, an internal 80 megabyte hard disk, and a CD-ROM drive. Five expansion slots were built-in. It came with MS-DOS and Windows 3.1 operating systems.

In 1994, Wang released the slimline Alliance 750CD [[80486]] based PC in the United Kingdom. These machines used standard PC/AT keyboards and were IBM compatible, shipping with MSDOS 5.0 and Windows 3.11 as standard. System [[Nonvolatile BIOS memory|BIOS settings]] and the [[real-time clock]] were maintained by four standard [[AA batteries]] instead of a specialty battery pack or [[lithium battery]]. While offered with a 33&nbsp;MHz [[80486DX]], the 750CD could be upgraded to later [[Socket 3]] processors such as the [[80486DX2]] through the use of third party CPU upgrade adapters or [[interposer]]s. This allowed upgrading to speeds beyond 50&nbsp;MHz without [[overclocking]], or more than 100&nbsp;MHz with overclocking, dependent on the processor used.

===Wang Freestyle===
'''Wang Freestyle'''<ref name="usc">{{cite web|url=http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0CMN/is_n3_v27/ai_8245288 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060320224824/http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0CMN/is_n3_v27/ai_8245288 |url-status=dead |archive-date=2006-03-20 |title=CBSi |publisher=FindArticles.com |access-date=2016-05-20 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ascilite.org.au/aset-archives/confs/olnt90/foks.html |title=OLNT'90 Proceedings: Foks - technology and open learning |access-date=May 22, 2006 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060831151033/http://www.ascilite.org.au/aset-archives/confs/olnt90/foks.html |archive-date=August 31, 2006 }}</ref> was a 1988<ref name=FSty.NYT>{{cite news
   |newspaper=[[The New York Times]]
   |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1988/11/01/business/wang-offers-new-system-for-offices.html
   |title=Wang Offers New System For Offices
   |url-access=subscription
   |author=John Markoff  |date=November 1, 1988}}</ref> product consisting of:
* A touch-sensitive tablet and a special stylus for written annotation of any file that could be displayed on the PC.<ref name=FSty.NYT/>
* A phone handset for voice annotation, but not voice communication. Demonstrated with the tablet for explaining the text annotations.
* Email, via [[Wang OFFICE]], of the resulting document set.

The pricing of the low-end product at {{US$|long=no|2000}} precluded the important features such as "facsimile and voice options" (priced at {{US$|long=no|12000}}). ''Freestyle'' was not a success in anything except marketing terms. A description of the system at the [[University of Southern California]] (USC) shows the symptoms of the failure<!-- The comment below doesn't even explain how the Freestyle was a failure. -->:

<blockquote>''The {{US$|long=no|1.2 million}} USC system includes a VS 7150 mid-range computer; 30 image workstations, 25 with Freestyle capabilities; a laser printer; five endorsers; and five document scanners. Initial storage for document images is eight gigabytes of magnetic disk storage.''<ref name="usc" />

25 of the stations were Freestyle stations. The Freestyle was only affordable for highly specialized or very senior staff in Wang Laboratories. It was sold as a C-Level<ref>C-Level refers to "Chief level" officers in an organization</ref> tool for C grades to communicate with other C Grades. This reduced the marketplace immediately from the mass market, where the system would have been effective.<ref>Assume 10 C-level officers per [[Fortune 1000]] organization. Market size is 10,000 units. Assume 1000 ordinary clerical workers in the same organization. Market size is 1,000,000 units.</ref></blockquote>