Tycom Microframe

In 1983 Tycom Corporation introduced the Tycom Microframe, heralded at the time as the "first fourth-generation computer".

The computer at the core was an Intel Corp. 8088-based multiuser system that had a performance range extending from a mid-range microcomputer to a high-end minicomputer of the time.

Described by some observers of the London computer scene as "future proof," Microframe contained a vendor-developed bus architecture called Versatile Base Bus Connect (VBC) that enabled its chassis, which was available in 6-, 12- and 22-slot versions, to accommodate Zilog Z80, Motorola 68000 and Digital Equipment Corp. PDP-11/70 board-level upgrades.

References

* "Tycom Offers 8088-Based System," Computerworld, February 7, 1983
* "Microsoft Advertisement" in the now defunct British magazine Practical Computing on page 149 of their January 1984 issue (Volume 7 issue 1) referenced the use of Xenix by Tycom.