The Osborne Executive is the successor of the already commercially successful Osborne 1 portable computer by Osborne Computer Corporation. The Executive consists of a collection of the good features from the Osborne 1 and fixes some of its predecessor's perceived flaws.
The Osborne Executive, like the Osborne 1, comes with application software. The WordStar word processor, SuperCalc spreadsheet, and the CBASIC and MBASIC programming languages—all software packages that were the leading applications in their respective niches at the time—had a retail value of more than US$2,495.
The disk drives and built-in 7-inch amber CRT are covered by the keyboard when snapped on to the main case for transportation. Like the Osborne 1, the Executive can be supported by the keyboard at a convenient viewing angle. The Executive includes a cooling fan, unlike the Osborne 1, and a tiny air filter for it.
Osborne 1Osborne 1After Adam Osborne sold his computer book-publishing company to McGraw-Hill in 1979, he decided to market an inexpensive portable computer with bundled software and hired Lee Felsenstein to design it. The resulting Osborne 1 featured a 5inch (127mm) 52-column display, two floppy-disk drives, a Z80 microprocessor, and 64KB of RAM. It could fit under an airplane seat and survive being accidentally dropped. The bundled software package included the CP/M operating system, the BASIC programming language, the WordStar word processing package, and the SuperCalc spreadsheet program. It also included project management software with PERT and GANTT charts, and communications software for a 300 baud modem. Osborne obtained the software in part by offering stock in the new Osborne Computer Corporation,[2] which he founded in January 1981. For example, MicroPro International received 75,000 shares and $4.60 for each copy of WordStar Osborne distributed with his computers.We will cover 100 dollars on the shipping.
The Executive is the successor of the Osborne 1, from which it keeps the good points and correct its flaws. More memory, bigger screen, more powerful software and... higher price.When closed, the Executive looks like a sewing machine! Once opened, the detachable keyboard is connected to the main unit through a quite short coiled cord. The keyboard can be tilted for a better typing. It has a separated numeric keypad and 4 cursor keys. The layout of these keys is not very convenient. There is "left" & "up" on one row, and "down" & "right" on the other...The front panel of the Executive is divided in four parts. In the center, one can find the built-in amber monitor (13 x 10 cm) bigger than the Osborne 1 one. On the right hand side, there is the fan grid, the Executive logo and the on/off button. The two 5.25" half-height disk drives, are mounted horizontally just above an empty disk storage space. Different connectors are placed at the bottom of the front panel: two RS232c/serial (for printers and modem), one Centronics and the keyboard connector. Next to them are brightness and contrast control knobs, as well as a reset button.At the back of the system is the handle to carry the system once it is closed. Under this handle is the fan trap door, which you have to open before starting to work. The Executive has of course its own power supply unit, but what is more uncommon, is that it can accept 110v or 220v, the system will convert both. This was useful for people traveling a lot.The built-in monitor was the main flaw of the Osborne 1. This tiny screen was displaying 52 of 132 virtual columns (this was done by scrolling), resulting in 2 mm high characters! The Executive has a wider screen which can really display 80 columns, though some critics said it was still too small. The characters can be displayed in normal mode, half intensity, inverse or blink. Two character sets are available, and independent windows can be defined.The Executive was delivered with a binder containing 14 disks! There was CP/M+, Wordstar 3.3, Mailmerge, Supercalc 1.12, Pearl (file manager), Microsoft Basic 5.22, CBasic 2 and several tools. The Executive can also read disks from many other systems: Osborne 1, IBM PC under CP/M 86, DEC VT 180, Xerox 820, Cromenco Minidisk and UCSD p. It can also emulate several terminal types: VT 100, ADM, Hazeltine, HP... and know several communication protocols: 3270, 2780, 3780 and X25.Though most reviews said it had 128 KB, the Executive is equipped with 124 KB from which only 60 KB are left free for the user. The missing 4K was because of the bank switching it couldn't switch the whole 64K only 60K could be switched the 4K had to remain common. The memory can however be expanded to 384 KB.
