Jupiter Cantab Jupiter Ace: 23 TOSEC (2009-09-08) Sets.

"The Jupiter Ace was a British home computer of the early 1980s, produced by a company, set up for the purpose, named Jupiter Cantab. The Ace differed from other microcomputers of the time in that it used FORTH instead of the traditional BASIC.

FORTH systems combine high performance and code compactness with the programming benefits of high-level programming languages. The designers had the courage to deliver FORTH's many advantages to the public, education and industry.

Jupiter Cantab was formed by Richard Altwasser and Steven Vickers. Both had been on the design team for the Sinclair ZX Spectrum. Altwasser did some work on the development of the ZX-81 and in the design of the hardware of the Spectrum. Vickers adapted and expanded the 4K ZX-80 ROM to the 8K ZX-81 ROM and wrote most of the ROM for the Spectrum. The Jupiter Ace was named after the early British computer, the ACE. The name was chosen to emphasize the "firsts" of using the FORTH language and resulting performance.

FORTH is a threaded code programming language that also acted as operating system. The system was adapted to the disk-less tape-using home computer hardware. On average, and for similar programs, ACE's FORTH was 5 times faster and needing half the RAM (RAM was an expensive luxury at the time) of an equivalent program written in interpreted BASIC. ACE's FORTH made it a very fast microcomputer and simultaneously one that promoted both well structured code and modular programming. Forth programs usage tends to be more RAM efficient as the bigger programs are, the more they reuse previously-defined code.

The Jupiter ACE is often compared with ZX81 due to its similar size, low cost, and similar form factor, although internally it is an independent design. The ZX81 used 75% of its Z80 CPU time to drive the video. In ACE the Z80 CPU was fully used for running programs. The ACE used dedicated video memory of 2 KB, leaving the 1 KB main memory free for user programming.

The Jupiter-Ace was new to the market and the designers couldn't afford to use an ULA - which were common in other computers (such as the ZX 81) to reduce component count - because these weren't economical in small quantities. Instead they reduced the number of chips required by using clever design.

Like the Spectrum, the Ace used black rubber keys. Audio capabilities were CPU controlled with programmable frequency and duration. Sound output was through a small built-in speaker. A television was needed as a display - which was in black and white only.

Programs and data storage was by means of a common cassette tape, which was typical of home computers of the time." (Wikipedia)


Download the following Jupiter Ace sets:

Jupiter Cantab Jupiter Ace - Applications - [ACE] (TOSEC-v2009-09-08)
Jupiter Cantab Jupiter Ace - Applications - [TAP] (TOSEC-v2009-09-08)
Jupiter Cantab Jupiter Ace - Applications - [WAV] (TOSEC-v2009-09-08)

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=UNNZQKG1

Jupiter Cantab Jupiter Ace - Compilations - Applications - [ACE] (TOSEC-v2009-09-08)
Jupiter Cantab Jupiter Ace - Compilations - Applications - [TAP] (TOSEC-v2009-09-08)
Jupiter Cantab Jupiter Ace - Compilations - Applications - [WAV] (TOSEC-v2009-09-08)
Jupiter Cantab Jupiter Ace - Compilations - Demos - [ACE] (TOSEC-v2009-09-08)
Jupiter Cantab Jupiter Ace - Compilations - Demos - [DSK] (TOSEC-v2009-09-08)
Jupiter Cantab Jupiter Ace - Compilations - Demos - [TAP] (TOSEC-v2009-09-08)
Jupiter Cantab Jupiter Ace - Compilations - Demos - [WAV] (TOSEC-v2009-09-08)
Jupiter Cantab Jupiter Ace - Compilations - Games - [ACE] (TOSEC-v2009-09-08)
Jupiter Cantab Jupiter Ace - Compilations - Games - [TAP] (TOSEC-v2009-09-08)
Jupiter Cantab Jupiter Ace - Compilations - Games - [WAV] (TOSEC-v2009-09-08)

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=24BTBZJ7

Jupiter Cantab Jupiter Ace - Demos - [ACE] (TOSEC-v2009-09-08)
Jupiter Cantab Jupiter Ace - Demos - [TAP] (TOSEC-v2009-09-08)
Jupiter Cantab Jupiter Ace - Demos - [WAV] (TOSEC-v2009-09-08)

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=YUNHBOUS

Jupiter Cantab Jupiter Ace - Educational - [TAP] (TOSEC-v2009-09-08)
Jupiter Cantab Jupiter Ace - Educational - [WAV] (TOSEC-v2009-09-08)

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=8XPA93P6

Jupiter Cantab Jupiter Ace - Games - [ACE] (TOSEC-v2009-09-08)
Jupiter Cantab Jupiter Ace - Games - [TAP] (TOSEC-v2009-09-08)
Jupiter Cantab Jupiter Ace - Games - [WAV] (TOSEC-v2009-09-08)

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=EYO6NYYF

Jupiter Cantab Jupiter Ace - Sources - [ASM] (TOSEC-v2009-09-08)
Jupiter Cantab Jupiter Ace - Sources - [TXT] (TOSEC-v2009-09-08)

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=IYTGMZL7