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

title, categories, types, origins, years, cpus, params

title	categories	types	origins	years	cpus	params
Seattle Computer Gazelle	Computers	Professional Computer	U.S.A.	1979	8088 then 8086	name image company company_name specs tabs forum_thread adverts links oc_id source Gazelle /media/museum/photos/seattlecomp_gazelle_system_1.jpg /companies/seattle-computer Seattle Computer label value NAME Gazelle label value MANUFACTURER Seattle Computer label value TYPE Professional Computer label value ORIGIN U.S.A. label value YEAR November 1979 label value END OF PRODUCTION 1983 label value BUILT IN LANGUAGE None label value KEYBOARD Serial video terminal label value CPU 8088 then 8086 label value SPEED 8 Mhz. label value CO-PROCESSOR None label value RAM 128 KB expandable up to 896 KB label value ROM Unknown label value TEXT MODES 80 chars. x 25 lines label value COLORS None label value SIZE / WEIGHT Unknown label value I/O PORTS 3 x Serial (19200 bauds), 1 x parallel ports label value BUILT IN MEDIA 2 x 8'' 1.25 MB F.D. drives label value OS SCP-DOS (will became MS-DOS 1.0, then 1.25) label value POWER SUPPLY Integrated constant-voltage power supply unit label value PERIPHERALS Up to 18 x S-100 boards - 8'' Winchester disk label value PRICE $5995 adverts links 601 title subtitle text image U.S. ADVERT (1982) 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! /media/museum/pubs/seattlecomp_gazelle_pub_1.jpg title subtitle text image 8086 VERSION 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. /media/museum/pubs/seattlecomp_gazelle_pub_2.jpg title url text Origins of MS-DOS http://www.patersontech.com/Dos/ Several links related to MS-DOS birth and Tim Paterson story 614 url date https://web.archive.org/web/20230331121919/http://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?c=614 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.