Altos Computer Systems

Altos Computer Systems
Company type	Public (until acquisition)
Industry	Computer hardware
Founded	1977
Founder	David G. Jackson, Roger William Vass Sr.
Defunct	1990
Fate	Acquired by Acer Inc.
Headquarters	Los Altos Hills, California, United States
Area served	Worldwide
Key people	David G. Jackson (founder)
Products	Multi-user computer systems running CP/M, Unix, Xenix
Number of employees	(reduced by half in mid-1980s, exact number unknown)
Parent	Acer Inc. (from 1990)

Altos Computer Systems was established in 1977 by David G. Jackson and Roger William Vass Sr., focusing on compact multi-user computer systems built around CP/M, Unix, and Xenix platforms. The company went public in 1982, successfully raising $59 million, with its shares traded under the ticker ALTO.

Confronted with intense rivalry from dominant server manufacturers such as Compaq and Sun Microsystems, Altos experienced a $5 million deficit in the fiscal year ending June 1989. This downturn culminated in Acer's acquisition of Altos in 1990 for $94 million, primarily motivated by the value of Altos' US distribution network rather than its technological assets. At that point, roughly 128,000 Altos machines were operational worldwide.

Company history and products

Founded by Dave Jackson in 1977, Altos Computer Systems began with the development of a single-board microcomputer crafted in a leased space on Stevens Creek Boulevard. The company financed its growth through profitable sales, generating $260,000 during its inaugural year. The name "Altos" was inspired by Jackson’s hometown of Los Altos Hills, California.

By May 1979, Altos had shifted its focus to supplying OEM computer systems, reaching an annual revenue of $5 million within just 15 months. Their single-board offering, the "Sun-Series 8000," was powered by a 4-MHz Z80 processor and included 32 KB of RAM expandable to 64 KB. Unlike competitors that adopted the S-100 bus architecture, Altos integrated a disk controller capable of managing two 8-inch Shugart drives, alongside two serial ports and one parallel port. Optional enhancements included a secondary Z80 processor for DMA control and an AMD 9511 floating-point coprocessor. Supported operating systems comprised CP/M and Oasis.

ACS 8000

The ACS 8000 marked Altos’ initial multi-user system, operating on their CP/M-based AMEX (Altos Multiuser Executive) OS. It accommodated up to four simultaneous users by allocating dedicated program memory through bank switching. Introduced in late 1979, the ACS 8000 supported as much as 208 KB of system RAM and was compatible with AMEX, Oasis, or MP/M OS variants. Its Banked XIOS component was custom-developed by Altos specifically for the Sun Series 8000 platform.

Despite the "8000" designation suggesting use of the newer 16-bit Zilog Z8000 processor released that year, the ACS-8000 actually utilized the older 8-bit Z80 chip. A review from 1981 highlighted that although the Z80 lagged behind competitors’ more powerful 16-bit processors, the ACS-8000 remained well-suited for multi-user order entry applications. Pricing was notably competitive: a base configuration featuring a 10-MB hard drive, a 1-MB floppy drive, printer, and one terminal cost $12,340; expanding to four terminals raised the price to $15,625—substantially lower than typical multi-user systems ranging from $25,000 to $50,000. This established Altos as a provider of affordable multi-user computing solutions. However, limited expansion slot availability restricted system flexibility. The absence of S-100 bus circuitry contributed to reduced costs compared with industry norms at that time.

ACS 8600

The subsequent product series from Altos incorporated the 16-bit Intel 8086 processor due to its hardware accessibility and compatibility with the CP/M-86 operating system. Initially announced as "ACS 16000" in October 1980 and released in November 1981, the ACS-8600 line featured the Intel 8086 alongside an 8089 communications co-processor. Supported operating systems included CP/M-86, MP/M-86, Oasis-16, and notably introduced Xenix support for the first time. Both floppy and hard drives employed 8-inch disk technology. Entry-level configurations offered 128 KB RAM with a single 1-MB floppy drive priced at $8,990; premium models provided up to 512 KB RAM paired with a 40 MB hard disk at $18,980. By 1983, Altos had become the leading vendor of Unix systems based on the 8086 architecture running Xenix.

ACS 68000

In 1982, Altos broadened its product lineup with the introduction of the ACS68000, which utilized the Motorola 68000 processor clocked at 8 MHz and was engineered to accommodate up to 16 simultaneous users. The system initially came equipped with Unix System III. The entry-level configuration featured a 40 MB hard drive and was priced at $14,500, followed by an 80 MB model released in early 1983 for $16,500. Due to a scarcity of commercial software tailored for the ACS68000, sales predominantly occurred through original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) rather than Altos’ own dealer channels. Significantly, Oracle’s inaugural Unix-compatible database (version 3) supported the ACS68000 alongside other "supermicro" systems such as the Tandy Model 16 and Fortune 32:16. Additionally, Altos made a strategic investment in Informix Corporation, acquiring a 19% share during its initial public offering.

Subsequent products

Additional multi-user computer offerings included:

The Altos 580 (1983), along with models 5-5 and 5-15, which were economical Z80-based machines utilizing 5.25" floppy drives.
The Altos ACS-86C operated Altos MS-DOS version 2.11 and featured a 1.95 MiB hard disk.
The Altos 586 incorporated a 10 MHz Intel 8086 CPU, ranking among the fastest processors available in 1983. It supported up to eight terminals through an Intel 8089 and Z80 queuing processor, running either Xenix or MP/M-86 operating systems. Equipped with 512 KB of RAM, six RS-232C serial ports, and one RS-422 port for networking purposes. The enhanced Altos 986 variant offered 1 MB of memory and additional serial connectivity; notably, 3Com developed an Ethernet adapter for this model, marketed as a network disk server compatible with IBM PC and XT computers.
Responding to IBM PC/AT’s multi-user functionality, the Altos 486 (1984) utilized an 8 MHz Intel 80186 processor running Xenix and was positioned at a lower price point than the 586 model.
The Altos series including the 886, 1086, and 2086 (1985) featured Intel 80286 processors operating between 7.5 and 8 MHz, supporting user capacities of eight, ten, and twenty respectively. The top-tier 2086 model incorporated a zero wait-state CPU alongside dedicated communication boards equipped with their own processors. Both the 1086 and 2086 introduced tower-style chassis designs.
Based on a Motorola 68020 running at 12 MHz, the Altos 3068 (1985) supported Pick OS release 2.15 or Unix System V; it served as the foundation for Tandem Computers’ LXN system.
In 1986, updates to the Intel 286 line included the Altos 686 and high-end Altos 3086 models; the latter supported up to thirty-two users with a processor speed of 12.5 MHz and was also offered as an upgrade option for earlier models like the 1086 and 2086. During this period, the company reduced its workforce by nearly half due to stagnant sales.
The Altos Series 2000 (1987) marked their first implementation of an i386-based platform running Xenix System V. Subsequent iterations provided rebranded versions of SCO Unix under the name "Altos Unix," as well as Portable NetWare on Unix.
December of 1988 saw the launch of the "68x Series 030," featuring a dual-processor configuration capable of supporting up to two Motorola 68030 CPUs at speeds up to 25 MHz each, operating Pick OS.

Altos also offered VT100-compatible terminals spanning from Altos II through IV models.

Following acquisition by Acer, Altos began marketing Unix servers derived from Acer hardware platforms. By February 1993, their lineup included EISA-based AcerPower 486e systems bundled with Unix software. Later that year in December, Acer consolidated its server offerings under the Acer Altos brand name, which remained active as of December 2013. Acer continues to distribute servers under various acquired brand names such as Gateway as part of its diversified branding strategy.

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