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The history of Polish computing (informatics) began during the Second World War with breaking the Enigma machine code by Polish mathematicians. After World War II, work on Polish computers began. Poles made a significant contribution to both the theory and technique of world computing.
In the State Institute of Mathematics, established in 1948 (from 1952 at the Polish Academy of Sciences), it was decided[ when? ] to start prospective work on the construction of at least one machine comparable to the American ENIAC. For this purpose, the Mathematical Apparatus Group of this Institute (pol. Grupa Aparatów Matematycznych, GAM) was established.[ when? ] The first engineering employee of GAM was Leon Łukaszewicz , and shortly after he was joined by his fellow students, Romuald Marczyński and Krystyn Bochenek. Logician and statistician Henryk Greniewski became the head of GAM. There were no resources to build such a computer - neither technical facilities, nor electronic equipment, nor experience. The only chance was given by the enthusiasm and alleged talent of a few newly promoted engineers.[ citation needed ]
Some of the earliest computers created in Poland were the first Odra computers. They were manufactured at the Elwro manufacturing plant in Wrocław, (the brand name comes from the Odra River that flows through the city of Wrocław) and exported to other communist countries. The production started in 1959–1960. The last series of Odra computers—the Odra 1300—consisted of three models: the Odra 1304, 1305, and the 1325. The hardware was developed by Polish teams to run the software for the above machines provided by the British company ICL. The Odra 1300 models were designed to be ICL 1900 compatible.
K-202 was 16-bit minicomputer built by Jacek Karpiński in 1971. It was faster and cheaper than most of the world's production at this time[ citation needed ], and more advanced than IBM PC released decade later[ citation needed ], but the mass production was never started because of political reasons and dependence on western parts; it was not compatible with the ES EVM standard.
Produced by Mera-Elzab, Meritum I and II models were created in 1983 and 1985 respectively. Based on U880DA CPU (Zilog Z80 clone), with 16 and 48KB RAM, were based on the TRS-80 computer. They were intended primarily for scientific, engineering and office applications.
Elwro 800 Junior (1986) and Elwro 804 Junior PC (1990) were ZX Spectrum clones intended for schools, and for home use respectively. The 804 model had a 3.5" disk drive built in; the drive was available as an accessory for 800 (the alternative mass storage being a tape recorder). The computers used the Z80A CPU, 64KB RAM and 24KB ROM. The ROM contained either CP/J (a variant of CP/M) operating system, or Spectrum-compatible BASIC. [1] [2]
Mazovia was a Polish clone of IBM PC/XT.
The Polish Information Processing Society (also known as Polish Informatics Society) is the oldest Polish organization that associates professionals from the computing industry. They act for their environment, as well as the social and economic environment. As part of its statutory activities, the Polish Informatics Society speaks on behalf of the surrounding community in the most important issues related to computerization, is consulted in legislative processes, and conducts certification and appraisal activities. They also organize a series of conferences, meetings and thematic workshops aimed at improving competences and integrating IT specialists. They are also working to increase general digital skills in society. They effectively promote Poland by showing the global successes of their computer scientists and unique digital technology products created in Poland.
The IBM Personal Computer is the first microcomputer released in the IBM PC model line and the basis for the IBM PC compatible de facto standard. Released on August 12, 1981, it was created by a team of engineers and designers directed by Don Estridge in Boca Raton, Florida.
The Sinclair QL is a personal computer launched by Sinclair Research in 1984, as an upper-end counterpart to the ZX Spectrum. The QL was aimed at the serious home user and professional and executive users markets from small to medium-sized businesses and higher educational establishments, but failed to achieve commercial success. While the ZX Spectrum has an 8-bit Zilog Z80 as the CPU, the QL uses a Motorola 68008. The 68008 is a member of the Motorola 68000 family with 32-bit internal data registers, but an 8-bit external data bus.
The Tandy 1000 is the first in a line of IBM PC workalike home computer systems produced by the Tandy Corporation for sale in its Radio Shack and Radio Shack Computer Center chains of stores.
IBM PC compatible computers are similar to the original IBM PC, XT, and AT that are able to use the same software and expansion cards. Such computers were referred to as PC clones, or IBM clones. The term "IBM PC compatible" is now a historical description only, since IBM no longer sells personal computers after it sold its personal computer division in 2005 to Chinese technology company Lenovo. The designation "PC", as used in much of personal computer history, has not meant "personal computer" generally, but rather an x86 computer capable of running the same software that a contemporary IBM PC could. The term was initially in contrast to the variety of home computer systems available in the early 1980s, such as the Apple II, TRS-80, and Commodore 64. Later, the term was primarily used in contrast to Apple's Macintosh computers.
Odra was a line of computers manufactured in Wrocław, Poland. The name comes from the Odra river that flows through the city of Wrocław.
The Didaktik was a series of 8-bit home computers based on the clones of Intel 8080 and Zilog Z80 processors produced in former Czechoslovakia.
ES PEVM was a Soviet clone of the IBM PC in 1980s. The ES PEVM models lineup also included analogues of IBM PC XT, IBM PC AT, IBM XT/370.
The Apple II home computer series was frequently cloned, both in the United States and abroad, in a similar way to the IBM PC. According to some sources, more than 190 different models of Apple II clones were manufactured. Most could not be legally imported into the United States. Apple sued and sought criminal charges against clone makers in more than a dozen countries.
Jacek Karpiński was a Polish pioneer in computer engineering and computer science.
The PC-9800 series, commonly shortened to PC-98 or 98, is a lineup of Japanese 16-bit and 32-bit personal computers manufactured by NEC from 1982 to 2000. The platform established NEC's dominance in the Japanese personal computer market, and, by 1999, more than 18 million units had been sold. While NEC did not market these specific machines in the West, it sold the NEC APC III, which had similar hardware as early PC-98 models.
Pravetz computers are the Bulgarian personal computers produced from 1979 that were widely used in scientific organizations and schools until the late 1990s, and are still in use in some schools.
Mera–Elzab Meritum – a family of Polish personal computers based on TRS-80 Model I with BASIC Level II. Manufactured in the 1980s by Mera–Elzab in cooperation with ITM company.
The NEC APC, APC II and APC III were the international versions of models from the Japanese NEC N5200 series. The 8086-based N5200, released in 1981, was the first computer to use the NEC µPD7220 High-Performance Graphics Display Controller.
The Iskra 1030 was an Intel 8086 compatible personal computer produced in the USSR. It was designed by Elektronmash in Leningrad. The main manufacturers were the Iskra factory in Smolensk and the Shchyotmash factory in Kursk. The model line consisted of Iskra 1030.11 (basic), Iskra 1030М (modified), Iskra 1031, and Iskra 3104.
The ICL DRS was a range of departmental computers from International Computers Limited (ICL). Standing originally for Distributed Resource System, the full name was later dropped in favour of the abbreviation.
The Matsushita JR series was a line of microcomputers produced by Matsushita Electric Industrial during the 1980s. Based on the success of the Sharp MZ and NEC PC-8000 series, it was an attempt by Matsushita to enter the personal computer market.
The IBM Personal Computer XT is the second computer in the IBM Personal Computer line, released on March 8, 1983. Except for the addition of a built-in hard drive and extra expansion slots, it is very similar to the original IBM PC model 5150 from 1981.
Elwro was a Polish company that manufactured mainframe and microcomputers from 1959 until 1989. Its plant was in Wroclaw. Computer models included Odra mainframe systems, and the Elwro 800 Junior microcomputer for education.