🚀 go-pugleaf

   Hello Dec-Micro Land:

   Every now and then I am amazed by the fact that many (if not most)
   of the readers of this newsgroup are still NOT DEC micro 
   "evangelists!"  I mean if, after all this time, you still don't
   know everything there is to know about DEC's micros... well, you may
   as well buy an IBM PC and read the (crowded, noisy, etc.) 
   comp.sys.ibm.pc newsgroup.  ;-)  Oh, by the way, no matter what the
   logos on the outside say, the NEW DEC PCs are NOT DEC.  They're
   Tandy.  Don't confuse the issue.  This newsgroup discusses DEC's
   PCs:  The Pro 325/350/380, DecMate I, II, III, III+, the Rainbow
   100A/100B/100+/190, and the VaxMate.

   Let's face it.  The world is no longer going to accept high-quality,
   non-commodity-designed machines.  It's an IBM PC world.  Face it,
   folks!  DEC built wonderful, albeit high-priced, machines that
   last.  They're well-built and well-designed.  Some break down.
   Most keep chugging along.  OK.  They're not "HOT STUFF."  But, then
   again, I don't need HOT STUFF to wordprocess my articles and papers.
   I need a quality display and keyboard.  If it takes 2.5 seconds to
   jump to end-of-file instead of 1.5 seconds, I can live with that.
   By the time I have $10,000 to spend on an '386 PC system, the
   Dynabook will be a reality and all these PCs will be nothing but
   a footnote in computer history.

   A real power-user knows how to get the Rainbow to do what he/she
   wants it to.  Hey, with the Rainbow GRAPH.TPU unit floating around
   for Turbo Pascal V5.0, the BGIDEMO (graphics!) demo program runs
   virtually, flawleslsy on the Rainbow at about a slow AT's speed!
   Not too shabby for a supposedly non-compatible machine.   By the
   way, the Rainbow has an almost complete implementation of the
   VT-102 (not just VT-100!) built into ROM!  You don't even need to
   boot DOS or CP/M to talk to a modem.  And, of course, there are
   no file handling capabilities in the Rainbow's VT-102 implementation.
   If the machine has no disks and can still boot to be a terminal,
   where's the data going to go? 

   There is STILL a small, but extremely dedicated bunch of people
   out there who want to see Rainbow users SUCCEED using the hardware
   and software that they purchased years ago, and which DEC abandoned
   over a year ago.

   The number of companies that once supported the Rainbow were many.
   Now, only a mere handful remain.  But, that handful is doing MORE
   than DEC ever did.  Suitable Solutions, in particular, is the premier
   Rainbow product and support company.  If you're a Rainbow owner and
   you're not buying Suitable's products (and thereby nOT supporting them
   to continue with their development of Rainbow hardware and software),
   sell me your machine for $100.00 right now and buy an IBM PC.  Good
   luck in the PC world.  OK, that was a shameless plug.  I admit it.

   OK.  Here's a brief summary of some things available for the Rainbow.
   And, MOST of it has come out in the last year to two years.  NOT
   four or five years ago!

      Suitable Solutions sells:

         8087 and 8087/clock/calendar boards
         The Turbow-286, an 80286/80287 accelerator card for $595.00
         1MB memory boards
         Clock/calendar chip-boards
         Suitable Solutions MS-DOS V3.10A (revisions came out in 
               October, 1988)
         SCache - Reliable Disk Cacheing software
         Harddisks and controllers
          
         Suitable also markets IBM-compatibility software and hardware:

            CodeBlue V2.0 - runs a VERY WIDE range of non-graphic, PC
                            DOS programs and languages.  Complete 
                            remapping of the Rainbow's keyboard to match
                            the Enhanced AT keyboard (which, by the way,
                            is a direct rip-off of DEC's keyboards). 
            The IDrive - A 360K DSDD floppy drive which reads, writes,
                         and formats IBM PC diskettes on the Rainbow.

      Boston Software Works sells:

         LCTERM (in a commercial package format) - Everyone knows about
                LCTerm.  Right?
 
         Enhanced Rainbow/VENIX V2.0 - Do you want to see a TRUE multi-
                tasking, multi-user operating system on the Rainbow?
                Forget QNX or MINIX.  Venix from BSW is a greatly-
                enhanced version of the original VenturCom Venix system.
                It's Unix System V7 and it works!  I reviewed the OS
                a while back and had 5 users running (each doing a task)
                and two background processes running.  Simultaneously!
                OK.  It was somewhat slow.  If BSW would revamp it for
                the 286 board from Suitable, I'd buy it!  BTW, four of
                the users on my Rainbow were the four consoles available
                via the console switch hotkeys.  The fifth was a GIGI
                hooked up to the serial port.

      Wordperfect:

         Wordperfect V4.2 (Enhanced Version) - This version is the latest
                WP version (before 5.0) and the enhanced version does
                screen I/O FASTER than an IBM PC (almost the speed of a
                6mhz AT).

      Lotus:

         1-2-3 V2.01 is available as well as Symphony V1.1
 
      Ashton-Tate:

         dBase III V1.1 is available

      Borland:

         TurboPascal V5.0 (command-line version, only).

   The list goes on.  Nearly every MAJOR product on the market has a
   Rainbow version.  Well, that WAS true up until DEC stopped production.
   Obviously, there isn't much of an incentive to keep making Rainbow
   products if DEC stops making the machine.

   Want to know more?  Do you have any questions?  Send me mail or an
   e-mail and ask.  I develop software for the DEC Rainbow and I perform
   consulting services for the machine.  The machine is far from dead.
   In fact, two IBM PCs that I've had had since passed away and were
   sold off cheaply because they kept breaking down.  My Rainbow has been
   working FINE for almost FIVE years straight.  I've never had my
   floppy drives replaced.  I have a 33MB harddrive, an 8087 board,
   896K of USABLE memory, a graphics card/color monitor, a V20 replacement
   CPU for the 8088 (plus new ROMs), and I'm soon going to purchase the
   Turbow-286 board.  There's even a rumour that Suitable will be
   marketing Windows V2.1 for the Rainbow.

   You want compatibility?  With a lot of companies moving to
   Windows-based applications, well, there you have it.  Couldn't have
   asked for a better thing to happen to the Rainbow, hmm?

   Price?  Well, DEC built QUALITY equipment.  I haven't even had a
   board or chip failure in my machine.  You paid for Q/A and stringently-
   controlled production of the equipment.  It's just too bad DEC didn't
   know how to play the marketplace.  They had high-caliber machine and
   they blew it.  No doubt about that.  They could have owned a good
   share of the market had the played their cards properly.  Oh well,
   what can you do?

   Enjoy,
   Alan
   "The usenet DEC Rainbow Evangelist"

   Mail:  Alan I. Vymetalik, Prism Software Designs, 8 Barn Swallow Lane
          Rochester, New York, 14624-4650, USA    Phone:  (716)-889-2904

   uucp:  {seismo}!rochester!ritcv!iav1917       BITNET:  aiv1917@ritvax

   Reality Check:  
     Based on highly-expensive, government-sponsored research into the
     subject (which has cost the taxpayers of this country plenty as
     well as the life of one researcher), I have determined that the
     above statements and opinions ARE directly related to the fact that
     a little, fat man puts crisp $100 bills in my pocket.