The Osborne Vixen or Osborne 4
Successor to the Osbourne 1
Released after the Osborne corporation had declared bankruptcy the Osborne Vixen was (along with the desktop Tatung Einstein which I wrote my project papers at university on) one of the last computers to launch running CP/M 2.2. MSDOS based IBM PC compatibles were by now the de-facto standard. Even though it was supplied with a number of software packages, like Wordstar, Supercalc and “desolation” the Vixen was too little, too late to save Osbourne.
Osbourne advertising – refreshingly honest
“The company that introduced the first portable business computer is back.
We’ve learned that building a $100 million corporation in a year can have its risks.
This is the computer we were going to introduce before you-know-what happened. One year later, it’s still ahead of its time.”
The Vixen was one of the first portable computers to be offered with an external hard disk drive. This was attached via a ‘Shugart Associates System Interface’ – which was renamed SCSI later. Like the Dolch PAC64, the Vixen was loved by users for its excellent keyboard.
Links
Interview with Adam Osborne where he claims building microcomputers is like building washing machines, and there is no innovation left. The market is owned by IBM and AT&T are coming. “There never will be an IBM in software”
I have one of these as well as 3 other Osborns.
Only one will load cm/p.
I have not really tried to use it.
My father used an Osborn hence my interest.
My Vixen will boot up and ask for a cp/m disc.
Does anyone help other Osborn users with their machines?