Editing Acorn Archimedes (section)

=== IBM PC-compatible podules ===

Acorn initially planned to produce an IBM PC-compatible system on a podule (peripheral module), complete with 80186 processor (running at 10&nbsp;MHz<ref name="acorn_app118_issue1" />{{rp|pages=12|quote=A 10 MHz 80186 co-processor unit running MS-DOS. }}) and disk drive support.<ref name="acornuser198710_pc" /> Subsequent pricing and competitiveness considerations led to the product being shelved.<ref name="acornuser198802_pc" /> However, in late 1991, hardware supplier Aleph One announced a PC podule based on a 20&nbsp;MHz Intel 80386SX processor with VGA display capability.<ref name="acornuser199110_aleph1pc">{{ cite magazine | url=https://archive.org/details/AcornUser111-Oct91/page/n10/mode/1up | title=PC Compatibility Podule for the Arc Now Ready | magazine=Acorn User | date=October 1991 | access-date=5 June 2021 | pages=9 }}</ref> Launched in early 1992, the podule fitted with 1&nbsp;MB of RAM cost £595, whereas a 4&nbsp;MB version cost £725.<ref name="acornuser199203_aleph1pc">{{ cite magazine | url=https://archive.org/details/AcornUser116-Mar92/page/n8/mode/1up | title=PC on a Card for the Arc | magazine=Acorn User | date=March 1992 | access-date=6 June 2021 | pages=7 }}</ref> Known as the 386PC, the expansion was "in effect, a PC within your Archimedes" whose RAM could be upgraded from the minimum of 1&nbsp;MB, the price of this configuration having fallen to £495 at the time of its review, to the maximum of 4&nbsp;MB, with this configuration also being offered at a reduced price of £625. A socket on the board permitted the [[X87#80387|80387 maths co-processor]] to be fitted for hardware floating point arithmetic support, this costing an extra £120. Integration of the PC system involved the Archimedes providing display, keyboard and disk support. In the initial version, the supplied 386PC application would put the Archimedes into dedicated display mode and thus take over the display, but subsequent versions promised operation of the PC in a window, much like the updated PC Emulator from the era. Screen memory requirements were around 256&nbsp;KB for MDA and CGA, with EGA and VGA requiring another 256&nbsp;KB. Separate serial and parallel ports were fitted on the expansion board due to limitations with the ports on existing Archimedes machines, but integration with those ports was also planned for subsequent versions of the product.<ref name="acornuser199205_aleph1pc">{{ cite magazine | url=https://archive.org/details/AcornUser118-May92/page/n107/mode/2up | title=The PC Inside Your Arc | magazine=Acorn User | date=May 1992 | access-date=6 June 2021 | last1=Brown | first1=Malcolm | pages=106–108 }}</ref>

Watford Electronics, in association with "prolific ex-Computer Concepts hardware expert" Chris Honey, announced a PC podule in early 1992, this effectively delivering "a stand-alone PC" within the host computer and potentially allowing two independent users with their own keyboards and monitors, although the PC system would be accessible via a desktop window and have access to RISC OS hard drive partitions.<ref name="acornuser199204_watford">{{ cite magazine | url=https://archive.org/details/AcornUser117-Apr92/page/n11/mode/1up | title=Watford to Launch a New PC Podule | magazine=Acorn User | date=April 1992 | access-date=30 June 2022 | pages=10 }}</ref> This product was apparently never released, however, and its designers subsequently formed graphics expansion producer State Machine.<ref name="acornuser199208_statemachine"/> In late 1992, Aleph One reduced the price of the 386-based card by £100, also upgrading the processor to a 25&nbsp;MHz part, and introduced a card featuring a 25&nbsp;MHz [[Cyrix Cx486SLC|Cyrix 486SLC]] processor, with the new card retaining the maths co-processor option of the earlier product. The stated performance of this new card was approximately twice that of the 386-based card but only "40 percent of the performance of a standard 33&nbsp;MHz 486DX PC clone". However, upgraded Windows drivers reportedly allowed even the 386-based card to exceed the graphical performance of such a 486-based clone, effectively employing the host Archimedes as a kind of "Windows accelerator".<ref name="acornuser199211_aleph1pc486">{{ cite magazine | url=https://archive.org/details/AcornUser124-Nov92/page/n14/mode/1up | title=486 PC Card for Price of a 386 | magazine=Acorn User | date=November 1992 | access-date=15 June 2021 | pages=11 }}</ref> A subsequent review moderated such claims somewhat, indicating a Windows performance "not noticeably better than an average un-accelerated 386SX PC clone", although acceleration support was expected to improve, with device drivers for various direct drive laser printers also expected. The product was priced at £495 for the 1&nbsp;MB version and £595 for the 4&nbsp;MB version, with a future revision of the product anticipated that would support up to 16&nbsp;MB of RAM.<ref name="acornuser199302_aleph1pc486">{{ cite magazine | url=https://archive.org/details/AcornUser127-Feb93/page/n120/mode/1up | title=Easy PC | magazine=Acorn User | date=February 1993 | access-date=15 June 2021 | last1=Burley | first1=Ian | pages=119 }}</ref>

In 1993, Aleph One collaborated with Acorn to produce Acorn-branded versions of the PC cards for use with the A3020 and A4000 which used a distinct "mini-podule expansion system". The 25&nbsp;MHz 386SX and 486SLC cards were offered in this profile to provide DOS and Windows compatibility,<ref name="acornuser199303_aleph1pc">{{ cite magazine | url=https://archive.org/details/AcornUser128-Mar93/page/n11/mode/1up | title=Acorns and PCs Meet | magazine=Acorn User | date=March 1993 | access-date=19 June 2021 | pages=10 }}</ref> branded as the PC386 and PC486, priced at £275 and £499 respectively. In late 1993, the supplied software was upgraded and discounts to the products announced, bringing the respective prices down to £225 and £425. Acorn also offered bundles of the A4000 with a hard drive and each of the cards.<ref name="acornuser199312_acorn_pc">{{ cite magazine | url=https://archive.org/details/AcornUser137-Dec93/page/n8/mode/1up | title=Acorn card price cut offers cheaper PC compatibility | magazine=Acorn User | date=December 1993 | access-date=19 June 2021 | pages=7 }}</ref> Coincidentally at this time, with speculation building about future Acorn computer products, Acorn's product marketing manager had been reported as suggesting that such products "would have an empty Intel socket for customers to add PC Dos and Windows compatibility". Such remarks were clarified by Acorn's technical director, indicating that an Intel "second processor" was merely an option in an architecture supporting multiple processors.<ref name="acornuser199312_intel">{{ cite magazine | url=https://archive.org/details/AcornUser137-Dec93/page/n8/mode/1up | title=Acorn Machines to Have Intel Inside? | magazine=Acorn User | date=December 1993 | access-date=19 June 2021 | pages=7 }}</ref> Ultimately, Acorn would release the [[Risc PC]] with dual processor capabilities and support for using a "low cost (£99 upwards) plug-in 486 PC processor or other CPUs" alongside an ARM processor.<ref name="acornuser199405_riscpc">{{ cite magazine | url=https://archive.org/details/AcornUser142-May94/page/n10/mode/1up | title=Risc PC, the Next Generation | magazine=Acorn User | date=May 1994 | access-date=19 June 2021 | pages=11 }}</ref>

Redesigned PC cards were released in 1994, introducing the option of a faster 50&nbsp;MHz [[Cyrix Cx486SLC|486SLC2]] processor for a reported doubling of the performance over the fastest existing cards. Up to 16&nbsp;MB of SIMM-profile RAM could be fitted, and a local hard drive controller was added. The supplied software was also upgraded to support Windows in a resolution of {{nowrap|800 x 600}} at up to 16 colours, and optional network driver support was available to use the card as a [[Novell NetWare]] client and for [[Windows for Workgroups 3.11]]. Pricing remained similar to earlier models.<ref name="acornuser199405_aleph1pc">{{ cite magazine | url=https://archive.org/details/AcornUser142-May94/page/n18/mode/1up | title=Mk II PC Podules from Aleph One | magazine=Acorn User | date=May 1994 | access-date=22 June 2021 | pages=19 }}</ref> Reported performance was better than the previous generation of cards but "still slow compared to all but the most basic of modern PCs, but certainly usable". The Windows User benchmarks rated the performance as similar to a fast 386SX-based system or a "standard" 386DX-based system, with the faster processor yielding a more favourable rating, but with the hard drive and graphics tests bringing the overall rating down. Use of a hard drive fitted directly to the card, using its own dedicated [[Integrated Drive Electronics|IDE]] interface, was reported as providing up to ten times the level of hard drive performance relative to using the system's own drive, but use of the [[SmartDrive]] caching software made any resulting performance difference marginal.<ref name="acornuser199408_aleph1pc">{{ cite magazine | url=https://archive.org/details/AcornUser145-Aug94/page/n78/mode/1up | title=Rock and roll Hardware | magazine=Acorn User | date=August 1994 | access-date=30 June 2021 | last1=Burley | first1=Ian | pages=79 }}</ref>