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<!DOCTYPE html> <html lang="en"> <head> <title>Acorn Computers Ltd. from FOLDOC</title> <meta http-equiv="Content-Security-Policy" content="default-src 'unsafe-inline' http: https:"> <meta name="verify-v1" content="siAI0ZOMn41hao0E/T76D1I2L3MtFjzE48P3ctCjRNU="> <meta charset="utf-8"> <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1"> <meta name="msapplication-TileColor" content="#da532c"> <meta name="theme-color" content="#ffffff"> <meta name="google-translate-customization" content="828219db36930e1e-c51d915bf2ea717c-g9b503f9a85d5b5a7-a">  <script src="https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtag/js?id=UA-9715943-1"></script> <script> window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; function gtag(){dataLayer.push(arguments);} gtag('js', new Date()); gtag('config', 'UA-9715943-1'); </script>  <link href="//fonts.googleapis.com/css?family=Duru+Sans%7CBelgrano%7CInconsolata%7CAlef%7CArmata" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css"> <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="/css/layout.css?2">  <link rel="apple-touch-icon" sizes="152x152" href="/im/apple-touch-icon.png"> <link rel="icon" type="image/png" sizes="32x32" href="/im/favicon-32x32.png"> <link rel="icon" type="image/png" sizes="16x16" href="/im/favicon-16x16.png"> <link rel="manifest" href="/im/site.webmanifest"> <link rel="mask-icon" href="/im/safari-pinned-tab.svg" color="#5bbad5"> <link rel="canonical" href="https://foldoc.org/Acorn+Computers+Ltd."> <link rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml" title="FOLDOC" href="/rss.xml"> <link rel="search" title="FOLDOC" type="application/opensearchdescription+xml" href="//foldoc.org/search.xml">  <script async src="https://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-5521724329338202" crossorigin="anonymous"></script>  </head> <body> <div id="fb-root"></div> <script> (function (d, s, id) { var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0]; if (d.getElementById(id)) return; js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id; js.src = "//connect.facebook.net/en_GB/all.js#xfbml=1"; fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs); }(document, 'script', 'facebook-jssdk')); </script> <div id="container"> <div id="left"> <a href="/"> <img src="/foldoc.gif" width="300" height="98" alt="Free On-line Dictionary of Computing" class="logo"> </a> <div id="nav"> <a href="/contents.html" class="button">Contents</a> <a href="/help.html" class="button">Help</a> <a href="/random-entry" class="button">Random</a> </div> <form action="/"> <input type="text" name="query" id="query" autofocus="autofocus"> <input type="submit" name="action" value="Search" class="button"> </form> <div id="content"> <h3>acorn ⇝</h3> <h2>Acorn Computers Ltd.</h2> <p></p> <p><<i><a href="contents/company.html">company</a></i>></p> <p> A UK computer manufacturer, part of the <a href="/Acorn+Computer+Group">Acorn Computer Group</a> plc. Acorn was founded on 1978-12-05, on a kitchen table in a back room. Their first creation was an electronic slot machine. After the <a href="/Acorn+System+1">Acorn System 1</a>, 2 and 3, Acorn launched the first commercial <a href="/microcomputer">microcomputer</a> - the <a href="/ATOM">ATOM</a> in March 1980. In April 1981, Acorn won a contract from the <a href="/BBC">BBC</a> to provide the <a href="/PROTON">PROTON</a>. In January 1982 Acorn launched the <a href="/BBC+Microcomputer">BBC Microcomputer</a> System. At one time, 70% of microcomputers bought for UK schools were BBC Micros. <p></p> The Acorn Computer Group went public on the Unlisted Securities Market in September 1983. In April 1984 Acorn won the Queen's Award for Technology for the BBC Micro and in September 1985 <a href="/Olivetti">Olivetti</a> took a controlling interest in Acorn. The <a href="/Master">Master</a> 128 Series computers were launched in January 1986 and the BBC <a href="/Domesday">Domesday</a> System in November 1986. <p></p> In 1983 Acorn began to design the Acorn RISC Machine (ARM), the first low-cost, high volume <a href="/RISC">RISC</a> processor chip (later renamed the <a href="/Advanced+RISC+Machine">Advanced RISC Machine</a>). In June 1987 they launched the <a href="/Archimedes">Archimedes</a> range - the first 32-bit <a href="/RISC">RISC</a> based <a href="/microcomputers">microcomputers</a> - which sold for under UKP 1000. In February 1989 the R140 was launched. This was the first <a href="/Unix">Unix</a> <a href="/workstation">workstation</a> under UKP 4000. In May 1989 the A3000 (the new <a href="/BBC+Microcomputer">BBC Microcomputer</a>) was launched. <p></p> In 1990 Acorn formed <a href="/Advanced+RISC+Machines">Advanced RISC Machines</a> Ltd. (ARM) in partnership with <a href="/Apple+Computer,+Inc.">Apple Computer, Inc.</a> and <a href="/VLSI">VLSI</a> to develop the ARM processor. Acorn has continued to develop <a href="/RISC">RISC</a> based products. <p></p> With 1992 revenues of 48.2 million pounds, Acorn Computers was the premier supplier of <a href="/Information+Technology">Information Technology</a> products to UK education and had been the leading provider of 32-bit RISC based <a href="/personal+computers">personal computers</a> since 1987. <p></p> Acorn finally folded in the late 1990s. Their operating system, <a href="/RISC+OS">RISC OS</a> was further developed by a consortium of suppliers. <p></p> <a href="/Usenet">Usenet</a> newsgroups: <a href="https://groups.google.com/group/comp.sys.acorn">comp.sys.acorn</a>, <a href="https://groups.google.com/group/comp.sys.acorn.announce">comp.sys.acorn.announce</a>, <a href="https://groups.google.com/group/comp.sys.acorn.tech">comp.sys.acorn.tech</a>, <a href="https://groups.google.com/group/comp.binaries.acorn">comp.binaries.acorn</a>, <a href="https://groups.google.com/group/comp.sources.acorn">comp.sources.acorn</a>, <a href="https://groups.google.com/group/comp.sys.acorn.advocacy">comp.sys.acorn.advocacy</a>, <a href="https://groups.google.com/group/comp.sys.acorn.games">comp.sys.acorn.games</a>. <p></p> <em><a href="ftp://ftp.acorn.co.uk/">Acorn's FTP server</a></em>. <p></p> <em><a href="http://micros.hensa.ac.uk/micros/arch.html">HENSA software archive</a></em>. <em><a href="http://csv.warwick.ac.uk/~phudv/">Richard Birkby's Acorn page</a></em>. <em><a href="http://geko.com.au/riscman/">RiscMan's Acorn page</a></em>. <em><a href="http://stir.ac.uk/~rhh01/Main.html">Acorn On The Net</a></em>. <em><a href="http://csc.liv.ac.uk/users/u1smt/u1smt.html">"The Jungle" by Simon Truss</a></em>. <p></p> [Recent history?] <p></p> <p class="updated">Last updated: <a href="/new.html">2000-09-26</a></p> <p></p> <p class="vertical-space"></p><h3>Nearby terms:</h3> <p class="neighbours"> <a href="/Acorn+Computer+Group">Acorn Computer Group</a> &diams; <b><a href="/Acorn+Computers+Ltd.">Acorn Computers Ltd.</a></b> &diams; <a href="/Acorn+Online+Media">Acorn Online Media</a> </p> <p> Try this search on <a href="https://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Search?search=Acorn+Computers+Ltd.">Wikipedia</a>, <a href="https://www.wiktionary.org/wiki/Acorn+Computers+Ltd.">Wiktionary</a>, <a href="https://www.google.com/search?q=define:Acorn+Computers+Ltd.">Google</a>, <a href="https://www.onelook.com/?w=Acorn+Computers+Ltd.">OneLook</a>. </p> <p class="vertical-space"></p> <hr> <div></div> <hr>  <div id="HCB_comment_box">Loading</div> <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="//www.htmlcommentbox.com/static/skins/bootstrap/twitter-bootstrap.css?v=0"> <script language="javascript" id="hcb"> hcb_user = { PAGE: 'https://foldoc.org/Acorn+Computers+Ltd.', comments_header: ' ', no_comments_msg: ' ', err_comment_empty: 'Your comment was not posted because it was empty!', rss: '', }; var s = document.createElement("script"); s.setAttribute("type", "text/javascript"); s.setAttribute("src", "//www.htmlcommentbox.com/jread?page=" + escape(hcb_user.PAGE).replace(/\+/g, "%2B") + "&mod=%241%24wq1rdBcg%24.0y2uzvjA2bsnhzpXVq9F." + "&opts=17374&num=10"); // No e-mail field: 16846 if (typeof s != "undefined") document.getElementsByTagName("head")[0].appendChild(s); </script> <script> setTimeout(function () { document.getElementById('hcb_form_content').rows = 1 }, 1000); </script> <hr>  </div>  </div>  <div id="right"> <div id="google_translate_element"> <script> function googleTranslateElementInit() { new google.translate.TranslateElement({ pageLanguage: 'en' }, 'google_translate_element'); } </script> <script src="https://translate.google.com/translate_a/element.js?cb=googleTranslateElementInit"></script> </div> <p><br></p> <hr> <div id="social"> <div class="fb-like" data-href="http://foldoc.org/" data-layout="button_count" data-action="like" data-show-faces="false" data-share="true"> </div> <a href="https://twitter.com/share" class="twitter-share-button" data-via="foldoc"> Tweet </a> <script> if (!document.getElementById('twitter-wjs')) { var fjs = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0], js = document.createElement('script'); js.id = 'twitter-wjs'; js.src = 'https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js'; fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs); } </script> </div> <hr> <div> <p></p> </div> <p> <a href="/rss.xml"> <img src="/orangerss.gif" width="14" height="14" alt="RSS feed of new items"> </a>   <a href="/new.html">Recent Updates</a>     |     <a href="/missing.html">Missing Terms</a> </p> <p>Updated: Sun, 06 Oct 2024 20:18:24 GMT</p> <p>15274 entries</p> <p><em><a href="/Free+On-line+Dictionary">Copyright Denis Howe 1985</a></em></p> </div>  </div>   <script type="text/javascript"> window._qevents = window._qevents || []; (function() { var elem = document.createElement('script'); elem.src = 'https://secure.quantserve.com/quant.js'; elem.async = true; elem.type = 'text/javascript'; var scpt = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; scpt.parentNode.insertBefore(elem, scpt); })(); window._qevents.push({ qacct: 'p-48Rosdvs3EiOc', uid: '__INSERT_EMAIL_HERE__' }); </script> <noscript> <div style="display:none;"> <img src="https//pixel.quantserve.com/pixel/p-48Rosdvs3EiOc.gif" border="0" height="1" width="1" alt="Quantcast"/> </div> </noscript>  </body> </html>