Hyper Micro: Three computer architectures combined to give the best advantages of each

In the olden days of computing, i.e. the 1970s, there were essentially three types of computers: room-sized mainframes like IBM's 360, refrigerator-sized minicomputer systems like DEC's PDP-11, and finally desk-top microcomputers like the Commodore PET or Apple II. 

The first two types were multi-user in that there was one box with the processing power and users connected via dumb terminals, sharing resources like memory and printers. They often - especially mainframes - operated on a time-sharing basis. 

Micros on the other hand were generally one per user - they were, after all "personal computers" - and came with their own disks, printers, keyboards and so on. There was little timesharing or indeed resource-sharing of any type at all.

As memory and processors got cheaper and more powerful, micros started blurring the lines and eating into the territory of minis and even mainframes, so even regular desktop computers could support a few - often up to four - terminals plugged in to them. 

It was this commoditisation of multi-user sytems that was said to have led to the death of Digital/DEC.

[picture: bromcom_praccomp_dec87.webp|Bromcom's later QC system - a four-user plug-in-and-go multi-user micro. From PRAC, December 1987]

Although variations of this architecture had been around since the 1970s, it seemed to get particularly popular with the release of the [!80286] processor, as this was the first Intel chip to offer protected memory, which made it much easier to run multiple processes for different users on the same processor at the same time. 

Even before that, it was common to find microcomputers with multiple processors in them supporting multiple users - often featuring a processor with memory per user as a plug-in card - where even Intel's less-popular [!80186] found a home, as its on-board memory management made it simpler to host multiple CPUs in the same computer.

This whole sideline seemed to reach its zenith with this - Bromcom's Hyper Micro - a machine based on the 80186 and which revels in the fact it has bought together multi-processing - having multiple processors handling groups of users, multi-tasking - each processor running multiple processes for one or more users, and some sort of time sharing, just like a mainframe.

Bromcom Computers was initially known as Bromley Computer Consultancy, with Bromcom being a trading name for its micros, the first of which - the SuperStar multi-user system - launched at the beginning of 1984.

It was formally founded as a computer company in July 1986 - initially as Shoebox Limited - by computer consultant Ali Guryel, with its name being changed to Bromcom Computers Ltd towards the end of that year[source: https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/02040690/filing-history?page=6]. 

In 1989, the company switched focus from producing systems for business to building hardware specifically for schools - a move triggered by the Education Reform Act of 1988 which, amongst other things, allowed schools to opt out of Local Education Authority control when it came to computer purchasing decisions.

This meant that it was now possible to buy micros from companies other than [@Acorn], [@Research Machines] or [@Sinclair], with the first school to opt out - Skegness Grammar - purchasing several IBM clones from [@Opus][source: "News", Popular Computing Weekly, 2nd March 1989, p. 5].

Bromcom's first foray into the schools market was with a multi-user multi-processor system[source: email submission, 14th May 2026] - possibly derived from its Hyper-Micro - with the company becoming successful enough in its new market to float as a public company in 1994. 

By 2005 it had launched its own complete Management Information System for schools, and was still in business as of 2026[source: https://bromcom.com/milestones], when it celebrated its 40th anniversary.

Meanwhile, Bromcom's Hyper Micro system could support up to 32 users running on Concurrent DOS 4.1. 

CDOS, from Digital Research, was a version of its earlier Concurrent CP/M operating system with some extensions added to provide a "PC Mode", which was necessary to run MS-DOS software. Concurrent CP/M was itself a multi-user version of the venerable CP/M operating sytem that was the de-facto standard in the 1970s.

Oh, and then you could network more Hyper Micros together, using ARCnet or Digital Research's DR-Net, to add even more users - with up to 255 32-user nodes (8,160 users in total) in the one network.

There's no price on the main advert, but Bromcom's later QC four-user system retailed for £4,495 + VAT, which is [[5744|1987]] in [[now]], or [[1436|1987]] per user.