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Ontario Unisys Icon Terminals x3 with server , tons of software and manuals

Ontario
N

nomiszzz

New Member
Joined
Jul 16, 2019
Messages
5
I inherited 3 Unisys Icon 2 terminals with lexicon server and a boxes of software and manuals. I don't know how to setup the systems but I did power on the server and it boots up but need the HDD to be configured through bios. Lots of software and manuals in boxes as well

If someone is interested I am located in Toronto Canada for pickup
 
Can you post pictures of these? Especially the software & manuals if it shows anything interesting. I went to school in Ontario and have vague memories of using them in the classroom, but literally haven't seen one since they got removed from the schools in the '90s. I had no idea a complete setup with the server still existed! Hope someone gives them a good home.
 
Shoot, can't find it now, although there's a good run-down of the Icon 2 here

I take it that the Icon terminals were fairly popular in Canada.

I suspect that many Uniscopes have been savaged for the keyboards.
 
Chuck(G) said:
I take it that the Icon terminals were fairly popular in Canada.
Click to expand...

As far as I know, they were only used in Ontario high-schools (maybe a few elementary schools). After they were pulled out of the schools, most were destroyed. Now they're unbelievably rare - especially the original Burroughs Icon with the brown keys. After decades of searching, I have never seen any original Icon for sale.
 
nomiszzz said:
I inherited 3 Unisys Icon 2 terminals with lexicon server and a boxes of software and manuals. I don't know how to setup the systems but I did power on the server and it boots up but need the HDD to be configured through bios. Lots of software and manuals in boxes as well
Click to expand...

PM sent. I would love a shot at this and to try to get the system running again.

Edit: You can also contact me at my website noted below.
 
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Mr.Amiga500 said:
As far as I know, they were only used in Ontario high-schools (maybe a few elementary schools). After they were pulled out of the schools, most were destroyed. Now they're unbelievably rare - especially the original Burroughs Icon with the brown keys. After decades of searching, I have never seen any original Icon for sale.
Click to expand...

My elementary school had them, well into the '90s so they may have been hand-me-downs from a high school that upgraded. :P I distinctly remember the one in my grade 5 or 6 class being an Icon 1.

There are a few of them out there, but virtually all of the photos you see of them are turned off - probably because an Icon on its own is a lot easier to get hold of than the server & any of the software! AFAIK the desktop machines had no local storage at all - everything was on the server, so without that they don't do much.

I would absolutely love to see a web page or video that goes deeper into the software that was available on these. I think there was a fairly big library for them back in the day, but it's been really poorly preserved. I don't even think they've been emulated yet. Hundreds of thousands of schoolkids grew up messing with them so I'd figure there'd be at least a fair bit of interest.

If anyone here gets this (Snuci!) please figure out a way to dump the disks!
 
xjas said:
If anyone here gets this (Snuci!) please figure out a way to dump the disks!
Click to expand...

I have a Kryoflux so I'll be able to archive the disks. I will definitely try to get it going and put it up on my website if I am able to acquire the lot. As I work in higher education, the intersection of Canadian vintage computing and education is important for me to preserve.
 
xjas said:
My elementary school had them, well into the '90s so they may have been hand-me-downs from a high school that upgraded. :P I distinctly remember the one in my grade 5 or 6 class being an Icon 1.
Click to expand...

Are you saying your elementary school in B.C. had them?? If so, that would be very weird. (maybe you were in Ontario then)

I used a Burroughs Icon for one high school computer class in 1987 (and wrote a game that was quite popular). I never saw (or heard of) the later Icon versions until decades later.
 
Icon Software - English

Icon Software - English

Ambience Map Manoeuvre
Mathrace (re-release)
Mathville (2 disks)
Measuring II (2 disks)
Melody Manipulations (re-release)
Menulay II (2 disks)
Micro News (re-release)
Mind Your Own Business
Musica
Musicland (re-release)
Music Toolkit
New Frontiers (2 disks)
New Kid In Town
The Number Place (re-release)
Ambience Offshore Fishing
On My Way (5 disks)
Putting Yourself Together
Puddles to Pondwater
QSPREAD
Ambience Queues
Quiz 'N Art
The Rebels
Refugees in the Wilderness
Robot R & D
Subdicion Planner
Time Manager
Tour of the Universe
Ambience Treasure of Ile Madame
Ambience Two-file Merge
Ambience United We Stand
Ambience Upstairs-Downstairs
OESS The Voyages of Columbus (2 disks)
Watfile/Plus
What is Weather (2 disks)
Wpro
Yes and No
Ambience The Academy (2 disks)
Adventure Ontario (4 disks)
Animals/Garbage Watfile Databases
OESS Art Treasures; Unusual Countries
Ambience Array Game
Astronomy
A Week in the Life of … (2 disks)
Ambience B.C. Lumbering
Build a Land Bird
Build a Shore Bird
Canadian Shield Railway
Ambience Cargo Sailer
OESS Cattle; Contributing Canadians
Choices Jr.
Cloze Encounters Unlimited (4 disks)
Computer Type
Ambience Data Classification
Dynamap (2 disks)
Eco-Island
English 1 (5 disks)
Explorer
Finding Our Way
Foodfare (2 disks)
From The Apple to The Moon
Geometry Mart
OESS Get Ready For Math
Greenhouse (re-release)
Greenhouse 3 / LA Serre 2
The Golden West (2 disks)
Imagine (re-release)
Ambience Infoschool
Interail (5 disks)
Ipaint II+
Italk
Jobs for You
OESS Know Your Numbers
OESS Know to Add
OESS Learn to Count
OESS Learn to Subtract
OESS Learning Game Generator
Life in New France
Longhouse (2 disks)
Conduct - Camp System Diskette
Conduct - QNX Version
Conduct - Ambience Version
Choices Jr (DOS Version) (2 disks)
Computer Architecture (re-release) (2 disks)
Chemistryland (re-release) (2 disks)
Decide Your Excellency
Intuitrig (re-release)
Ipaint II
Let There be Light (2 disks)
Keep It Running - Rally
Keep It Running - Garage
Lemming Count
The Sheridan Prewriter
Ambience Sequential Search
Storymate
Resort Development Simulator
Mathville (re-release ) ( 2 disks)
Money Market
Mindflight Bundle Admin and Utilities
Mindflight Bundle (6 disks)
Mindflight Bundle Tools for Schools
OESS Moving Words
Cadtutor Update
Alice: The Personal Pascal
Electric Chemistry Building, Phase II (3 disks)
OESS Casi Accounting
Function Worshop (2 disks)
Electric Chemestry Building (2 disks)
QNX CADTutor
Electric Chemistry Building, Phase III (4 disks)
Business Development Simulation (2 disks)
Unisys Icon System Software Release 2.25 Rev 3
 
Oh wow! I really would like to get my hands on these and all of that software.

I want to make sure these are preserved for future generations. We should upload images of all of those disks to the internet archive at archive.org!
 
An update for this please. We need to backup all that software up. Especially the OS. Also if possible, someone needs to make an emulator for that system.
 
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Ok thank you Alex. Such a shame since these computers are rare. Many were destroyed. We need to save history.
 
Wow I just came across this while randomly deciding to google for Unisys Icon.. I live near Toronto and would be very interested in this.
 
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