Whitechapel Workstations

[Iain A F Fleming]

At home I run a couple of Whitechapel Workstations (WCW) MG-1s.
They are NS32016-based graphics boxes running 4.2BSD

Until recently, I thought that the MG-1 (and its colour version,
the CG-1) were the only models that WCW ever made - they went
bust in 1988, just like 80% of all 1980s workstation startups.

However, I was recently told that they also made a couple of
other machines: the MG-2 (also NSC32k based?) and the HITECH-10
(MIPS R2000 based?) which seemingly ran UMIPS.

Can anyone give me *any* information on either of these machines?
Has anyone ever seen either of them?
Is anyone still using either of them?
Does anyone know where I can lay my hands on an example of either?

Thanks.
--
Iain A F Fleming Numerical Algorithms Group Ltd Oxford UK OX2 8DR
ia...@nag.co.uk tel: +44.865.511245 x255 fax: +44.865.311205

[Ian Kemmish]

ia...@num-alg-grp.co.uk (Iain A F Fleming) writes:

>At home I run a couple of Whitechapel Workstations (WCW) MG-1s.
>They are NS32016-based graphics boxes running 4.2BSD
>
>Until recently, I thought that the MG-1 (and its colour version,
>the CG-1) were the only models that WCW ever made - they went
>bust in 1988, just like 80% of all 1980s workstation startups.
>
>However, I was recently told that they also made a couple of
>other machines: the MG-2 (also NSC32k based?) and the HITECH-10
>(MIPS R2000 based?) which seemingly ran UMIPS.
>

Whitechapel went bust twice - once in 1986 and once in 1988.
The marketing rights were bought by a piece of shrapnel which
managed to limp on into 1989.

The MG-2 was based around the 32332, which was late (like all
NatSemi parts we ever got:->) and fast compared to the 32016,
but not compared to much else.

The Hitech 10, on which I am composing this, was a 16.7MHz R2000
based machine - the first desktop based mips machine anywhere,
and in 1987 also the fastest mips machine anywhere. It ran
UMIPS BSD, a sort-of 4.3 BSD port, which actually makes it a
almost universal porting target! (One of the reasons I still
like it.) Whitechapel switched form their kernel-based window
manager to offer both X11 and NeWS (both rare in 1987). The
Hitech made quite a killing in the Soho-based computer animation
houses, long before the SGI 4D's worked reliably. IN fact,
if the investors hadn't removed backing in the middl of the beta-test
period (possibly the single most stupid point in a product life
cycle) in a knee-jerk reaction to the 1987 stock-market crumble,
it might have done reasonably well. The Hitech-20 (using a
25MHz R3000) made a brief appearance in 1988. To this day,
there seem to be more people in California who remember the
Hitech than there are in the Uk:-).

As to the people... I now spend my life writing PostScript interpreters.
The hardware team are stil together trading as Algorithmics
and will hapiily design you the fastest mips board you ever
saw if you need one.....

--
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Ian Kemmish 18 Durham Close, Biggleswade, Beds SG18 8HZ
i...@eeyore.dircon.co.uk Tel: +44 767 601 361
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[drj...@gmail.com]

I am trying to find one for the computer museum in Cambridge
Wcw mg1


Jona...@ingram.Xyz