Tadpole Computer
Encyclopedia
Tadpole Computer is a manufacturer of rugged (military specification) UNIX
workstation
s and thin client
laptops and lightweight servers. Tadpole is based in Cupertino, California
.
- or x86-based microprocessors. The SPARC-based SPARCbook
laptops are sold with the Solaris operating systems, and their x86-based laptops with SUSE
Linux
. Microsoft Windows
is optional.
An Alpha
-based laptop, the ALPHAbook 1, was announced on 4 December 1995 and became available in 1996. It used an Alpha 21066A microprocessor specified for a maximum clock frequency of 233 MHz. The microprocessor was capable of throttling its clock frequency to reduce power consumption and heat. It was accompanied by a 512 KB B-cache (L2 cache). The ALPHAbook 1 has 1 MB of VRAM and a 10.4-inch TFT screen, network and modem connectivity, and is capable of displaying 256 colors from 262,144 at a resolution of 800 × 600 with the TFT screen and 1024 × 768 on external displays. The laptop used the OpenVMS
operating system.
The ALPHABOOK 1 1.2 Gb disk drive was IDE, linked with an IDE-SCSI2 adapter; this is because 2.5-inch SCSI drives did not exist at that time. A fully working Alphabook One was displayed at the recent VMworld 2011 conference, to the amazement of some, and surprise of many of the older attendees. The Alhabook 1 was manufactured in Cambridge, England.
During the early 1990s, a PowerPC
-based laptop was also produced. The classic Tadpoles were designed for SPARC, PA-RISC, DEC ALPHA and POWER (AIX). They are even now, reassuringly expensive (see: ebay history), and won favour as a method to show corporation's proprietary software (IBM/HP/DEC) on a self-contained portable device on a client site in the days before remote connectivity and ports to a Linux x86 operating system. The demonstrator would also bring along a portable SCSI tower of disks (e.g. BA356) on which the proprietary software would be loaded.
If looking to use an Alphabook 1 today, only the original and exact 3com PC Card network peripheral will be recognised by the OpenVMS operating system. Although OpenVMS 7.2-1 was the last 'officially' supported OpenVMS version [ref: http://h71000.www7.hp.com/doc/732final/6668/6668pro_012.html], the Alphabook 1 does run 7.2-1.
for $6 million.
In August 2005, Tadpole was acquired by General Dynamics
.
Unix
Unix is a multitasking, multi-user computer operating system originally developed in 1969 by a group of AT&T employees at Bell Labs, including Ken Thompson, Dennis Ritchie, Brian Kernighan, Douglas McIlroy, and Joe Ossanna...
workstation
Workstation
A workstation is a high-end microcomputer designed for technical or scientific applications. Intended primarily to be used by one person at a time, they are commonly connected to a local area network and run multi-user operating systems...
s and thin client
Thin client
A thin client is a computer or a computer program which depends heavily on some other computer to fulfill its traditional computational roles. This stands in contrast to the traditional fat client, a computer designed to take on these roles by itself...
laptops and lightweight servers. Tadpole is based in Cupertino, California
Cupertino, California
Cupertino is an affluent suburban city in Santa Clara County, California in the U.S., directly west of San Jose on the western edge of the Santa Clara Valley with portions extending into the foothills of the Santa Cruz Mountains. The population was 58,302 at the time of the 2010 census. Forbes...
.
Products
Tadpole laptops currently use either SPARCSPARC
SPARC is a RISC instruction set architecture developed by Sun Microsystems and introduced in mid-1987....
- or x86-based microprocessors. The SPARC-based SPARCbook
SPARCbook
The SPARCbook is a line of laptop computers based on SPARC microprocessors produced by Tadpole Computer .These machines are compatible with other SPARC-based systems from Sun Microsystems and can run the Solaris operating system....
laptops are sold with the Solaris operating systems, and their x86-based laptops with SUSE
SUSE Linux distributions
SUSE Linux is a computer operating system. It is built on top of the open source Linux kernel and is distributed with system and application software from other open source projects. SUSE Linux is of German origin and mainly developed in Europe. The first version appeared in early 1994, making...
Linux
Linux
Linux is a Unix-like computer operating system assembled under the model of free and open source software development and distribution. The defining component of any Linux system is the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released October 5, 1991 by Linus Torvalds...
. Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
is optional.
An Alpha
DEC Alpha
Alpha, originally known as Alpha AXP, is a 64-bit reduced instruction set computer instruction set architecture developed by Digital Equipment Corporation , designed to replace the 32-bit VAX complex instruction set computer ISA and its implementations. Alpha was implemented in microprocessors...
-based laptop, the ALPHAbook 1, was announced on 4 December 1995 and became available in 1996. It used an Alpha 21066A microprocessor specified for a maximum clock frequency of 233 MHz. The microprocessor was capable of throttling its clock frequency to reduce power consumption and heat. It was accompanied by a 512 KB B-cache (L2 cache). The ALPHAbook 1 has 1 MB of VRAM and a 10.4-inch TFT screen, network and modem connectivity, and is capable of displaying 256 colors from 262,144 at a resolution of 800 × 600 with the TFT screen and 1024 × 768 on external displays. The laptop used the OpenVMS
OpenVMS
OpenVMS , previously known as VAX-11/VMS, VAX/VMS or VMS, is a computer server operating system that runs on VAX, Alpha and Itanium-based families of computers. Contrary to what its name suggests, OpenVMS is not open source software; however, the source listings are available for purchase...
operating system.
The ALPHABOOK 1 1.2 Gb disk drive was IDE, linked with an IDE-SCSI2 adapter; this is because 2.5-inch SCSI drives did not exist at that time. A fully working Alphabook One was displayed at the recent VMworld 2011 conference, to the amazement of some, and surprise of many of the older attendees. The Alhabook 1 was manufactured in Cambridge, England.
During the early 1990s, a PowerPC
PowerPC
PowerPC is a RISC architecture created by the 1991 Apple–IBM–Motorola alliance, known as AIM...
-based laptop was also produced. The classic Tadpoles were designed for SPARC, PA-RISC, DEC ALPHA and POWER (AIX). They are even now, reassuringly expensive (see: ebay history), and won favour as a method to show corporation's proprietary software (IBM/HP/DEC) on a self-contained portable device on a client site in the days before remote connectivity and ports to a Linux x86 operating system. The demonstrator would also bring along a portable SCSI tower of disks (e.g. BA356) on which the proprietary software would be loaded.
If looking to use an Alphabook 1 today, only the original and exact 3com PC Card network peripheral will be recognised by the OpenVMS operating system. Although OpenVMS 7.2-1 was the last 'officially' supported OpenVMS version [ref: http://h71000.www7.hp.com/doc/732final/6668/6668pro_012.html], the Alphabook 1 does run 7.2-1.
Company history
In 1998, Tadpole acquired RDI Computer Corporation of Carlsbad, CaliforniaCarlsbad, California
-2010:The 2010 United States Census reported that Carlsbad had a population of 105,328. The population density was 2,693.1 people per square mile . The racial makeup of Carlsbad was 87,205 White, 1,379 African American, 514 Native American, 7,460 Asian, 198 Pacific Islander, 4,189 from other...
for $6 million.
In August 2005, Tadpole was acquired by General Dynamics
General Dynamics
General Dynamics Corporation is a U.S. defense conglomerate formed by mergers and divestitures, and as of 2008 it is the fifth largest defense contractor in the world. Its headquarters are in West Falls Church , unincorporated Fairfax County, Virginia, in the Falls Church area.The company has...
.