Phoebe (computer)

The Phoebe 2100 (or Risc PC 2) was to be Acorn Computers' successor to the Risc PC, slated for release in late 1998. However in September 1998 Acorn cancelled the project as part of a restructuring of the company.

Specification

Processors running at 300 MHz were being sampled by Acorn in September 1998, with 360 MHz versions also expected.

Development

In November 1996, the design of what was to become Phoebe 2100 was started. The design took into account a number of perceived weaknesses of the Risc PC design, a slow memory architecture, limited I/O capability, limited expansion, and not adhering to industry standards. To overcome these weakness a number of design objectives were created; Harness the full potential of the StrongARM CPU, support multiple processors, add support for PCI expansion, offer the best possible graphics, run existing RISC OS applications and to provide enhanced RISC OS functionality. An additional design objective of reusing the same case as the Risc PC was dropped due to power supply requirements and electrical interference problems.