This mini forum is intended to provide a simple means of discussion about the ICL  OPD - One Per Desk computer. If you want to share your own experience or memories, or add relevant information about this system: post a message!

I am looking to buy a working (or not) OPD or Tonto. Can anyone point me to a source?

So this listing has a slight bug. It says "The system, as did the QL, had basic task-switching - not real multitasking (background tasks didn''t run)..." I didn''t own an OPD but the QL had a true preemptive multitasking OS (i.e. QDOS) and indeed you could exec(ute) a program and it would keep running in the background while you worked in the foreground and you could have many programs running in the background (it was a cool demo to give).

Contrast that with the Mac which started with basic task switching and up until OS X moved the Mac to BSD Unix had a kernel that did cooperative multitasking (i.e. the difference is in preemptive the kernel keeps control and slices up time for each program but in cooperative the kernel gives up control to each program and hopes it gets it back).

I was part of a team evaluating the OPD for ICL before release and we recommended that it not be released until the software worked properly and several ergonomic issues be resolved. The board released it anyway. My personal one burst into flames one day in1988

I have compiled some useful information on the OPD / Tonto, which can be found on the QUANTA web site.

QUANTA supports QL and related systems, and I am responsible for maintaining the societies web site. If anyone would like to donate their OPD / Tonto to QUANTA, or would like to support, documentation or advice, please get in touch.

We can offer a small sum for surplus OPD / Tonto hardware and accessories, which we donate to the Red Cross. We are trying to establish an OPD / Tonto support network, so that enthusiasts can swap software, trade hardware and keep this machine alive.

We are in the process of scanning in manuals and documentation for the OPD, establishing an OPD software library and list of frequently asked questions (FAQs). FAQs will include : where to obtain OPD software, tips for repairing damaged monitors, suggestions for troubleshooting hardware faults and advice on exchanging files with a PC or Sinclair QL

I worked at ICL as a summer student in 1992, and OPDs were still in active use on every department manager's desk. Presumably they didn't know what to do with all the thousands of OPDs they couldn't sell!