website/content/museum/matra-max-20.md

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

title	categories	types	origins	years	cpus	params
Matra MAX 20	Computers	Professional Computer	France	1984	Intel 8088	name image company company_name specs comments oc_id source MAX 20 /media/museum/photos/matra_max20_system_1.jpg /companies/matra Matra label value NAME MAX 20 label value MANUFACTURER Matra label value TYPE Professional Computer label value ORIGIN France label value YEAR 1984 label value END OF PRODUCTION 1986 label value BUILT IN LANGUAGE None label value KEYBOARD Full stroke 92 keys with numeric keypad and arrow keys label value CPU Intel 8088 label value SPEED 4,77 Mhz label value CO-PROCESSOR Optional 8087 math co-processor label value RAM 64 kb (up to 1 Mb) label value ROM 2 kb label value TEXT MODES 80 chars x 24 lines label value GRAPHIC MODES Unknown label value COLORS Monochrome green label value SOUND Built-in speaker label value SIZE / WEIGHT 42 (W) x 51 (D) x 38 (H) cm label value I/O PORTS Parallel, optional Serial and Network label value BUILT IN MEDIA 5.25'' disk-drive - 320 kb label value OS MS-DOS & CP/M 86 label value POWER SUPPLY Built-in PSU - 65W label value PERIPHERALS Printers, disk-drives, V24 communication card, high resolution card, modem label value PRICE Unknown author date text Jean Francois Girard (Canada) Saturday 5th November 2016 I remember using this machine under DOS 2.11 and programming in GW-BASIC too ... Grade IV and V @ St-Maxime, Québec in the end of the 90s'' - what a blast from the past! I even played a joke upon my teacher by hiding one of these beasts in my locker loll! author date text D (Montreal, QC, Canada) Tuesday 27th August 2013 Can''t beleive I learned my first programming language on this machine when I was 10. BASIC! author date text Hien Le (Houston, Texas, USA) Tuesday 8th August 2006 I remember using this model in high school in Quebec (the year was 1989 I think) though it was not all popular. I had to edit an essay I started typing on my IBM PC at home but the school's computer lab only had Apple II's. Luckily, I remember seeing a few abandoned Max's in a nearly abandoned classroom so I asked for permission to use one. It booted my DOS 5.25" floppy diskette and ran my word processor with no problem and I was able to complete my essay. author date text Jacques Danière (FRANCE) Friday 22nd July 2005 About the M of MAX :\ - from one part, Max is a very friendly name like Bob\ - on the other side, Matra-AXel (the original case design was the one of the Ax 20. A micro-computer designed (electronic and the case) by G Cottin who had sold his first company named Alcyane to MATRA. About the main customer : this micro had been designed on specifactions of the Québec and French Education. But only the Québec bought this product. The French education prefered work on its project "informatique pour tous" with the Léanord "nanoréseau". 959 url date https://web.archive.org/web/20221205023127/http://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?c=959 2022-12-05

The MAX-20 (for Matra AX-20) was the same machine as the Axel 20. The main difference between them was the removal of the function keys in front of the monitor. The 'E' version probably meant 'Education'

Although the machine was well conceived and the case offered a nice design, it had no success in the private sector because of its poor compatibility with the IBM-PC standard. However, about 1000 systems were sold to the French Department of Education as network servers (first networks established in schools, called 'Nano Réseau').

Furthermore, as the computer was built by Comterm-Matra, a Franco-Canadian subsidiary of Matra, the Canadian Department of Education obliged schools to order the MAX-20 instead of the Apple Macintosh. Thee first deliveries occurred in early 1985. One year later, after having delivered 9000 computers, Comterm-Matra met with financial difficulties and ceased production. Thus, the machines quickly became obsolete and unusable in schools.