Associazione Archivio Storico Olivetti - Olivetti personal computer "M 20"

The M20 is the first European personal computer presented by Olivetti in 1982. The project is headed by Enrico Pesatori, head of the Distributed Computing Group, who relies on the project team of the OATC (Olivetti Advanced Technology Center), located in Cupertino, in the Californian Silicon Valley, and led by Enzo Torresi. The result is technologically very valid: the PICOS operating system and the 16-bit Z8001 microprocessor, provided by Zilog, offer excellent performance, but the machine does not comply with the (Intel and Microsoft) standards that are establishing themselves in the market, and therefore cannot use the already available application software. To remedy this, the M20 is supplied with emulators and an MS-DOS co-processor. The new Olivetti PC is positively received, also thanks to the beautiful design by Ettore Sottsass, Antonio Macchi Cassia, and George Sowden.