https://www.mcmordie.co.uk/acornhistory/index.shtml

      A technical history of Acorn Computers (Version 0.6 Beta)

These pages contain a fairly brief technical history of Acorn
Computers. I have decided to focus on the technology because that is
where my interests lie. Only very major non-technical events in
Acorn's history have been included. If anyone finds any inaccuracies
in the following pages please contact me using the link at the bottom
of the page, including a correction if possible.

Note that the information on these pages is not an offical history of
Acorn's computers and has no official support from Acorn Computers.

These pages are under construction. I'm very busy at the moment, but
I'm trying to sort these pages out as quickly as possible.

19th April 2004 - a few days late, but never mind... Happy Birthday,
RiscPC! (10 years old on the 16th of April.)

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                              Timeline

  +--------------------------------------------------------------+
  |Year|  Month  |                     Event                     |
  |----+---------+-----------------------------------------------|
  |1978|December |Acorn formed by Chris Curry and Herman Hauser. |
  |----+---------+-----------------------------------------------|
  |1979|March    |System One launched.                           |
  |----+---------+-----------------------------------------------|
  |1979|         |                                               |
  |to  |         |Systems Two, Three and Four launched.          |
  |1980|         |                                               |
  |----+---------+-----------------------------------------------|
  |1980|         |System Five launched.                          |
  |----+---------+-----------------------------------------------|
  |1980|         |Acorn Atom launched.                           |
  |----+---------+-----------------------------------------------|
  |1981|November |BBC Micro Models A and B launched.             |
  |----+---------+-----------------------------------------------|
  |1983|August   |Acorn Electron launched.                       |
  |----+---------+-----------------------------------------------|
  |1984|         |BBC Model B+ launched.                         |
  |----+---------+-----------------------------------------------|
  |1984|         |Acorn Business Machine range launched,         |
  |    |         |including Acorn Cambridge Workstation.         |
  |----+---------+-----------------------------------------------|
  |1986|January  |BBC Master 128 launched.                       |
  |----+---------+-----------------------------------------------|
  |1986|September|BBC Master Compact launched.                   |
  |----+---------+-----------------------------------------------|
  |1986|         |ARM second processor launched.                 |
  |----+---------+-----------------------------------------------|
  |1987|         |Acorn Archimedes A305, A310 and A440 launched. |
  |----+---------+-----------------------------------------------|
  |1989|January  |Acorn R140 UNIX workstation launched.          |
  |----+---------+-----------------------------------------------|
  |1989|April    |Acorn RISC OS 2 launched.                      |
  |----+---------+-----------------------------------------------|
  |1989|May to   |Revised Archimedes range launched, consisting  |
  |    |July     |of A3000, A410/1, A420/1 and A440/1.           |
  |----+---------+-----------------------------------------------|
  |1990|June     |Acorn R260 and R225 UNIX workstations launched.|
  |----+---------+-----------------------------------------------|
  |1990|October  |Acorn A540 launched.                           |
  |----+---------+-----------------------------------------------|
  |1991|         |ARM Ltd spun off as a separate company, to     |
  |    |         |produce ARM processors.                        |
  |----+---------+-----------------------------------------------|
  |1991|November |Acorn A5000 launched. First RISC OS 3 machine. |
  |----+---------+-----------------------------------------------|
  |1992|June     |Acorn A4 portable launched.                    |
  |----+---------+-----------------------------------------------|
  |1992|August   |Acorn A3010, A3020, A4000 and Pocket Book      |
  |    |         |launched. A5000 enhanced.                      |
  |----+---------+-----------------------------------------------|
  |1993|September|Acorn A5000 alpha variant released (enhanced   |
  |    |         |A5000).                                        |
  |----+---------+-----------------------------------------------|
  |1994|April    |Acorn RISC PC 600 launched. Includes updated   |
  |    |         |RISC OS 3.5 OS.                                |
  |----+---------+-----------------------------------------------|
  |1994|August   |Formation of Acorn Online Media.               |
  |----+---------+-----------------------------------------------|
  |1995|March    |First StrongARM RISC PC Processor Card powered |
  |    |         |up.                                            |
  |----+---------+-----------------------------------------------|
  |1995|July     |Acorn RISC PC 700 and A7000 machines launched. |
  |    |         |Both includes RISC OS 3.6.                     |
  |----+---------+-----------------------------------------------|
  |1996|         |Acorn and Apple launch Xemplar Education.      |
  |----+---------+-----------------------------------------------|
  |    |         |Acorn Network Computer (NC) launched by Acorn  |
  |1996|August   |Network Computing, Set Top box 2 launched by   |
  |    |         |AOM, Stork and NewsPAD launched by ART.        |
  |----+---------+-----------------------------------------------|
  |1996|September|Acorn StrongARM RISC PC launched. Includes RISC|
  |    |         |OS 3.7.                                        |
  |----+---------+-----------------------------------------------|
  |1997|May      |Acorn A7000+ launched (an enhanced A7000).     |
  |----+---------+-----------------------------------------------|
  |    |         |Acorn StrongARM RISC PC alpha variant launched |
  |1997|September|(enhanced StrongARM RISC PC). Acorn NetStation |
  |    |         |launched.                                      |
  |----+---------+-----------------------------------------------|
  |1998|         |ARM Ltd floated on stock market, worth PS1      |
  |    |         |billion on paper.                              |
  |----+---------+-----------------------------------------------|
  |    |         |Phoebe (later Phoebe 2100) announced but never |
  |1998|September|released. Acorn Workstations Division          |
  |    |         |disbanded. Acorn rebranded as Element 14 and   |
  |    |         |shifts corporate focus.                        |
  |----+---------+-----------------------------------------------|
  |1999|July     |RISC OS 4 released by RISCOS Ltd.              |
  |----+---------+-----------------------------------------------|
  |1999|         |Hardware, software and systems using RISC OS   |
  |to  |         |continue to be developed. Life goes on in the  |
  |2002|         |Acorn world.                                   |
  +--------------------------------------------------------------+

There are some gaps in this history. For example, I know that there
was a PocketBook II released by October 1996, but I don't know how it
fits in. Also, I don't know very much at all about the Acorn Network
Computer, Set Top Box 2, Stork or NewsPad, and I can't remember when
the StrongARM was transferred to Intel. I also don't know very much
about the post-Acorn RISC OS machines, the R7500 and the Mico, among
others. Any information on any of the reorganisations (in 1995/6 and
1997, I believe) would also be appreciated. If anyone can supply any
information, or point me in the direction of some information, please
e-mail me using the contact link at the bottom of the page.

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                            Robert McMordie

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