#fm towns

[retrocgads]

USA 1993

[pikiseal]

renders of fin fin from Oh!FM Towns 1995-11

[90sfantasyanimestuff]

Die Gekirin, FM Towns. Source

[foone]

Fucking Gorgeous FM-Towns model 2F on craigslist near me. I don't have money or the knowledge to use this thing, but god it's amazing.

The FM Towns was a Fujitsu computer introduced in 1989 in Japan. It's built around an Intel 386, but it's not a fully PC compatible system. It ran Windows 3.x and Towns OS, which was built on top of MS-DOS and ran in 32-bit mode using an extender.

It didn't require a hard drive, booting the OS off the CD-ROM drive. It uses a custom graphics chip that's not VGA compatible, supporting sprites and overlays, with full kanji in ROM.

Audio-wise, it used a Yamaha OPN2, so it sounds much like a Sega Megadrive/Genesis.

Later systems added DOS/V (a version of MS-DOS designed for Japanese users) support, making it more like a MS-DOS computer.

There was also the FM Towns Marty, which made it into more of a console, looking less like a PC. This kept compatibility, however.

(This is, by the way, the only console to ship with a floppy drive standard)

Anyway these machines are neat and rare, but part of why they're rare is that they didn't sell very well. They're full computers so they're pretty expensive, and the FM Towns series was getting beaten by NEC's PC98 at first and then DOS/V clones later. They just didn't have the compatibility with DOS/V software to really justify them being a viable choice over the much cheaper DOS/V clones, and they had a smaller library than the much more popular PC98 series.

Still, they're very nifty machines.

Fun fact: They're called "FM Towns", right? FM is Fujitsu Micro, but "Towns" is the codename. They were named after the physicist Charles H. Townes, who did some of the fundamental work in the development of the maser, a predecessor to the laser, for which he shared a Nobel Prize in 1964.

You'll note his name is "Townes", but the system is "Towns". Futjitsu changed the spelling so that people would pronounce it correctly, rather than potentially pronounce it "tow-nes".

[nyaa]

FM Towns Ad マイコン BASIC May 1989

[arcadebroke]

[doyouknowthisgame]

[luckydaikon]

Article from PCエンジェル 1993年06月号 - D.O.R. Best Selection

[megamifantasia]

[mingos-commodoreblog]

RECOIL 6.4.0 - Retro Computer Image Library decodes Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Apple II, Atari 8-bit, Atari Portfolio, Atari ST/TT/Falcon, BBC Micro, Commodore 64, Commodore 16/116/Plus4, Commodore 128, Electronika BK, FM Towns, HP 48, Macintosh 128K, MSX, NEC PC-80/88/98, Oric, SAM Coupe, Sharp X68000, Tandy 1000, Timex 2048, TRS-80, TRS-80 Color Computer, ZX81 and ZX Spectrum picture formats. The project contains a simple viewer, plug-ins for general-purpose image viewers and editors, and an everything-to-png converter.

[retrocgads]

USA 1993

[pikiseal]

photos of a prototype smart sensor from Oh!FM Towns 1995-8

[90sfantasyanimestuff]

Branmarker

[oldcomputerhardware]

hello I read your blog.

I born is 2006 but I think old computer is very interested designs.

my favorite designs is Fujitsu's FM-TOWNS.

Have nice day!

Thank You mate! The FM-Towns is indeed a gorgeous piece of kit, especially the Marty. For me it is the Amiga 500, I think it is a gorgeous looking computer. Fingers crossed they release a full size replica to go along with my A500 mini :-)

[arcadebroke]

[doyouknowthisgame]