Osborne Vixen
Template:Short description Template:Infobox computer
The Osborne Vixen is a "luggable" portable computer announced by the Osborne Computer Corporation in November 1984, as a follow-up to their Osborne 1 and Osborne Executive system.<ref name="watt84">Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name=":0">Template:Cite book</ref>
The Vixen has a 4 MHz Zilog Z80 microprocessor with 64 KB dynamic random-access memory (DRAM) and 4 KB EPROM.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> It has a 7-inch diagonal amber display that can show 24 lines by 80 columns of memory mapped video. It uses two 400 KB disk drives, utilizing double-density double-sided 5.25" diskettes. As a luggable, it weighs about 18 pounds. Contemporary advertising pointed out that it could fit under the seat in an airplane, with dimensions of 12Template:Fraction by 16Template:Fraction by 6Template:Fraction inches (321 by 413 by 159 mm).
When it was released, the Vixen had a retail price of $1298.<ref name=":0" /> Customers also had the option of purchasing an external 10 megabyte hard disk for $1495.<ref name=":0" />
The Vixen used version 2.2 of the CP/M operating system. It was also bundled with a number of software packages: WordStar, the popular word processing package; SuperCalc, a spreadsheet; MBASIC, a programming language; Osboard, a graphics and drawing program; TurnKey, a system utility; Media Master, a data interchange program that allowed compatibility with over "200 other computers"; and Desolation, a game.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name=":0" />
The Vixen was also known as the Osborne 4.<ref name=":0" /> It was developed and released after the bankruptcy of the Osborne Computer Corporation. An earlier system also called "Vixen" was never released.<ref>John Dvorak, Adam Osborne, Hypergrowth: the rise and fall of Osborne Computer Corporation, Idthekkethan Pub. Co., 1984 Template:ISBN, page 70</ref> Due to technical problems with prototypes and the corporate bankruptcy, by the time the CP/M Vixen was introduced, it had already been made obsolete by MS-DOS IBM PC compatibles.<ref>Robert J. Thierauf, A problem-finding approach to effective corporate planning, Greenwood Publishing Group, 1987 Template:ISBN, pages 15–16</ref> A last ditch effort to design and market a fully IBM PC compatible produced three prototypes, but too late to save the company from bankruptcy.
Software
| Program Name | Version | Published by | Program Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| Desolation | Game | ||
| Osboard Software | Graphics | ||
| WordStar/MailMerge | 3.3 | MicroPro International | Application |
| SuperCalc | 2 | Sorcim | Application |
| MBASIC | Microsoft | Application | |
| Media Master | Utility | ||
| TurnKey | Utility |