website/content/museum/seattle-computer-gazelle.md

---
title: Seattle Computer Gazelle
categories:
- Computers
types:
- Professional Computer
origins:
- U.S.A.
years:
- '1979'
cpus:
- 8088 then 8086
params:
  name: Gazelle
  company: /companies/seattle-computer
  company_name: Seattle Computer
  specs:
  - label: NAME
    value: Gazelle
  - label: MANUFACTURER
    value: Seattle Computer
  - label: TYPE
    value: Professional Computer
  - label: ORIGIN
    value: U.S.A.
  - label: YEAR
    value: November 1979
  - label: END OF PRODUCTION
    value: '1983'
  - label: BUILT IN LANGUAGE
    value: None
  - label: KEYBOARD
    value: Serial video terminal
  - label: CPU
    value: 8088 then 8086
  - label: SPEED
    value: 8 Mhz.
  - label: CO-PROCESSOR
    value: None
  - label: RAM
    value: 128 KB expandable up to 896 KB
  - label: ROM
    value: Unknown
  - label: TEXT MODES
    value: 80 chars. x 25 lines
  - label: COLORS
    value: None
  - label: SIZE / WEIGHT
    value: Unknown
  - label: I/O PORTS
    value: 3 x Serial (19200 bauds), 1 x parallel ports
  - label: BUILT IN MEDIA
    value: 2 x 8'' 1.25 MB F.D. drives
  - label: OS
    value: SCP-DOS (will became MS-DOS 1.0, then 1.25)
  - label: POWER SUPPLY
    value: Integrated constant-voltage power supply unit
  - label: PERIPHERALS
    value: Up to 18 x S-100 boards - 8'' Winchester disk
  - label: PRICE
    value: $5995
  tabs:
  - adverts
  - links
  adverts:
  - title: U.S. ADVERT (1982)
    subtitle: ''
    text: The Gazelle was a huge computer compared to the personal computer sizes of the time, so large that it has casters on the cabinet for moving it!
    image: null
  - title: 8086 VERSION
    subtitle: ''
    text: 'In september 1982, Seattle Computer provided the 8086 version of the Gazelle with a free set of software: Microsoft MS-DOS, GW-Basic and the Perfect Writer word processor.'
    image: null
  links:
  - title: Origins of MS-DOS
    url: http://www.patersontech.com/Dos/
    text: Several links related to MS-DOS birth and Tim Paterson story
  comments:
  - author: Achim Baqué (Germany/USA)
    date: Saturday 29th January 2022
    text: Hi, I do preserve and collect vintage computers. Please contact me (Contact via my website) if you have the computer ‚Gazelle‘ to offer
  - author: Chris (USA)
    date: Tuesday 19th February 2013
    text: Anyone know where I can find one...
  - author: Chris (USA)
    date: Tuesday 19th February 2013
    text: Anyone know where I can find one...
  - author: Bill Mills (Oklahoma)
    date: Monday 9th April 2012
    text: I use my rack mount gazelle all the way up to 1989. I still have it and as far as I know it still runs. Been saving it to pass down to my kids. It has a color graphics board, 16 ch AD/DA, 1MB SRAM, 5MB HD, 8086 with math CPU''s, 2x8" Floppies, Borland Pascal and MS Basic, assembler, Word and the first MS spreed sheet.
  - author: Ryan Brown (San Jose, CA)
    date: Friday 22nd April 2005
    text: Gazelles aregood! I have one that is half broken because i have put so many upgrades on its new 200 gb HD. Hope it lasts!
  - author: Stewart Marshall (Pacific NW)
    date: Sunday 25th January 2004
    text: Hello, nice to see something about the wonderful old Gazelle. The Gazelle was a great computer. For many years, even after normal PC computers were popular, the Gazelle was one of the few DOS machines that would address more than 1 meg of RAM. Microsoft ran one of their big compilers on a Gazelle right up to about 1990 and the machine is still in their museum I think. My Gazelle had a serial card in it and three Televideo 925 terminals tied to it for multiple users. It will no longer boot and has a problem with the logic on the CPU Support board. I will get around to fixing it one of these days! Anyway, good luck to the forum and my Best Wishes to any other Gazelle owners. Stewart Marshall
  oc_id: 614
  source:
    url: https://web.archive.org/web/20230331121919/http://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?c=614
    date: '2023-03-31'
---

Even if you've never heard of this massive computer, the Gazelle is truly a historic computer. Neither because it was one of the first 8088, then 8086 based computer, nor because this Gazelle is propably the heaviest 8088 system ever built, but because it was the computer **Tim Paterson wrote DOS for**, the first DOS operating system that became later **MS-DOS 1.0** when Microsoft bought the rights to DOS from Tim's company, afterwards.

See in the "Internet Links" section various links about Tim Paterson and origins of MS-DOS.

The Gazelle was a S-100 bus based system, engineered to be fast, reliable and expandable. Eighteen S-100 boards could be installed in the case, as well as an additional 8" Winchester hard disk. The Constant-voltage power supply provided clean and constant power, even under brownout conditions. It also allowed reliable operation in a noisiest electrical environment.

The Gazelle was discontinued in 1983, and Seattle Computer continued to manufacture more standard PC compatible systems.