AX architecture
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AX (Architecture eXtended) was a Japanese computing initiative starting in around 1986 to allow PCs to handle double-byte (DBCS) Japanese text via special hardware chips, whilst allowing compatibility with software written for foreign IBM PCs. It was developed by a consortium including ASCII Corporation, Sony, Hitachi, Sharp, Oki, Casio, Canon, Kyocera, Sanyo, Mitsubishi Electric, etc. with cooperation of Microsoft. but notably excluding Toshiba and Fujitsu (who were hence the 'opposition'). At that time, NEC PC-9801 system was the dominant PC architecture in the Japanese PC market because MDA/CGA was not adequate for handling Japanese. However, NEC did not tolerate PC-9801 compatible machines and was fighting court battles with Epson which was the only PC-9801 compatible machine vendor. Therefore opposing vendors desperately needed a standard specification for Japanese capable PCs.
To display Kanji characters with sufficient clarity, AX machines had JEGA screens with a resolution of 640x480 rather than the 640x350 standard EGA resolution prevalent elsewhere at the time. Users could typically switch between Japanese and English modes by typing 'JP' and 'US', which would also invoke the AX-BIOS and an IME enabling the input of Japanese characters.
However, soon after the release of the AX, IBM released the VGA standard with which AX was obviously not compatible. Consequently, the AX consortium had to design a compatible AX-VGA. AX-VGA/H was a hardware implementation with AX-BIOS, whereas AX-VGA/S was a software emulation.
As a result,average price tag of AX machines were much higher than PC-9801 series. Due to expensive price and less available software,AX was not able to break PC-9801 monopoly in Japan. In 1990, Japan IBM unveiled DOS/V which enabled IBM-AT and its clones to display Japanese text without any additional hardware. Soon after AX disappeared and the declining of PC-9801 began.
See also
Further reading
- Myers, Steven; Smith, Greg (March 1995). "DOS/V: The Soft(ware) Solution to Hard(ware) Problems". Computing Japan Magazine. Archived from the original on 2017-01-15. Retrieved 2017-01-15.
{{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter|dead-url=ignored (|url-status=suggested) (help) - Boyd, John (April 1997). "From Chaos to Competition - Japan's PC industry in transformation". Computing Japan Magazine. Archived from the original on 2017-01-16. Retrieved 2017-01-16.
{{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter|dead-url=ignored (|url-status=suggested) (help) - Dünßer, Elmar (2015) [2005]. "Die AX Computer (Japan) - 1988-1993" (in German). Archived from the original on 2017-01-17. Retrieved 2017-01-16.
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External links
- Mitsubishi Maxy (information from a Japanese computer museum)
- Oki if386AX (information from a Japanese computer museum)
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