PERQ facts for kids
The PERQ was a very important and early workstation computer. It was made in the late 1970s and early 1980s. In 1979, the first PERQ was ordered in the UK. It was officially shown to the public in August 1979.
The PERQ was special because it was the first computer sold to people that had a Graphical User Interface (GUI). This means you could use a mouse and see pictures and icons on the screen, not just text. Its design was inspired by another early computer called the Xerox Alto, which was never sold. The name "PERQ" came from "Pascal Engine that Runs Quicker." It also sounded like "perks," which means extra benefits.
Six people who used to work at Carnegie Mellon University started the company that made the PERQ. They formed Three Rivers Computer Corporation (3RCC) in 1974. One of them, Brian Rosen, also worked on another early computer at Xerox PARC. In 1981, 3RCC teamed up with a British computer company called International Computers Limited (ICL). ICL helped sell the PERQ in Europe. The PERQ was used in many science projects in the UK during the 1980s. The company 3RCC changed its name to PERQ System Corporation in 1984. However, it closed down in 1986. This was because other companies like Sun Microsystems started making similar computers.
Contents
Computer Parts (Hardware)
The Brain of the PERQ (Processor)
The PERQ's main brain, called the CPU, was built from many small electronic parts. It wasn't a single microprocessor chip like in modern computers. It used special parts called ALUs. The PERQ's CPU was unique because it could change its own instructions. This made it very flexible.
PERQ 1 Model
The first PERQ model, called the PERQ 1, came out in 1980. It looked like a tall cabinet with a brown front. It had a floppy disk drive at the top.
The PERQ 1's CPU had a special memory for its instructions. This memory could hold 4,000 "words" of instructions. A later version, the PERQ 1A, had more memory for these instructions. The PERQ 1 could have different amounts of RAM, from 256 kilobytes to 2 megabytes. It also had a large 14-inch hard disk for storing files. A floppy disk drive was also included. The hard disk was placed vertically inside, which made the computer tall.
A basic PERQ 1 had a CPU board, a memory board, and an I/O board. The I/O board helped the computer talk to other devices. It had a small microprocessor and connections for other devices. It also had a way to make speech sounds. PERQ 1 computers also had a slot for extra connections, like for Ethernet networks.
A graphics tablet was a standard part of the PERQ 1. Most PERQ 1s came with a special black and white screen. This screen was tall and narrow, like a piece of paper.
PERQ 2 Model
The PERQ 2 was released in 1983. You could tell it apart from the PERQ 1 by its wider, lighter-colored case. It had a vertical floppy disk drive and a small screen that showed numbers.
The PERQ 2 used the same CPU as the PERQ 1A. It came with a 3-button computer mouse instead of a graphics tablet. It had a quieter 8-inch hard disk and 1 or 2 megabytes of RAM. You could choose between the tall screen from the PERQ 1 or a larger, wider 19-inch screen.
Because of some problems making the first PERQ 2s, ICL changed the design. This led to the PERQ 2 T1 model. Later models, the PERQ 2 T2 and PERQ 2 T4, used smaller 5¼-inch hard disks. This meant you could put a second hard disk inside.
The T4 model was very rare. It had a more advanced CPU and could use 4 megabytes of RAM. The PERQ 2 still had a slot for extra connections. It also had new I/O boards that included a real-time clock and a second connection for other devices. Some even had an Ethernet connection built-in.
PERQ 3 Model
The PERQ 3A was a new computer ICL was developing to replace the PERQ 2. It had a completely new design. It used a powerful Motorola 68020 microprocessor and other special chips for graphics. It also had more RAM and a SCSI hard disk. This computer was designed to sit on a desktop. It used a version of the UNIX operating system. Prototypes were made in 1985, but the project was stopped.
Another PERQ computer, the PERQ 3B, was a color model. This project was taken over by another company. They used it for their own page layout workstation. This workstation had very powerful graphics and a lot of storage space. It even used an early version of RAID technology, which combines multiple hard disks for better performance.
Extra Devices (Peripherals)
Many extra devices could be connected to the PERQ 1 and 2. These included connections for other PERQ computers and Ethernet networks. You could also connect a Canon laser printer. Regular dot-matrix printers could also be connected. Other companies made special boards to connect things like tape drives or video cameras to the PERQ.
Computer Programs (Software)
The PERQ's original instruction set was designed to work very well with the Pascal programming language. This is why one of the PERQ's nicknames was "Pascal Evaluation Real Quick." It was usually easier to write programs in Pascal than in the PERQ's own low-level language.
Operating Systems
Many different operating systems were made for the PERQ. These included:
- POS (PERQ Operating System): This was the first operating system for the PERQ. It could only do one task at a time. It was written in PERQ Pascal.
- MPOS (Multitasking POS): This was a version of POS that could do many tasks at once. However, it was not officially released.
- Accent: This was a research operating system developed at a university. It had a window manager called Sapphire. Accent was an early version of the Mach kernel, which many later operating systems used.
- PNX: This was a version of Unix made for the PERQ. It was developed in the UK for researchers. PNX used its own special instructions that worked better with the C programming language.
- FLEX: This operating system was also implemented using special instructions. It was similar to other early workstation systems. The main programming language for FLEX was ALGOL 68.
Compilers
Companies worked with universities to create special programs called compilers for the PERQ. Compilers translate programming languages like Fortran77 into instructions the PERQ could understand.
Applications
The PERQ was a popular early computer with a graphical screen. Because of this, many early programs were made for it. These programs used the graphical user interface and bitmapped graphics. One company made a set of graphical programs for drawing, creating fonts, and managing files.
The PERQ was also used for some very early hypertext programs. Hypertext allows you to click on words to jump to other parts of a document or other documents. Some famous hypertext programs on the PERQ were ZOG, KMS, and Guide. A CAD system for drawing circuit diagrams was also created for the PERQ.
