AES-286 Personal Computer
Title
AES-286 Personal Computer
Subject
hardware: desktop computer
Description
AES-286 Personal Computer
(by Z. Stachniak)
In 1967, Stephen Dorsey founded Automatic Electronic Systems (AES) in Montreal to develop electronic devices for industrial remote-control applications. Over the six years, AES developed, among other products, its own minicomputers (the AES-80 and AES-80C) and the world’s first all-in-one programmable word processor — the AES-90. Until the mid-1980s, digital word processors remained the company's main line of business, sold around the world.
In the 1960s, office document-writing equipment was still dominated by various types of typewriters, ranging from purely mechanical to electric models, including those with digital storage for recording typed text, such as the best-selling IBM MT/ST (Magnetic Tape/Selectric Typewriter), which recorded edited documents on magnetic tape. These devices lacked displays and offered only limited word-processing functionality. None of them could be upgraded to newer versions; they could only be replaced with more advanced models as they became available.
It all changed in the early 1970s, when several companies introduced dedicated text-editing equipment with displays for on-screen document editing and external storage. In 1972, Linolex Systems introduced its Model A while Lexitron offered the Videotype 911. In the following year, AES released its AES-90 Word Processor, and Vydec began selling its Vydec Text Processor. Although all these systems provided on-screen editing and external storage, several unique features of the AES-90 set new trends in the design of cost-effective text editing equipment. The most important of these was the AES-90 architecture and its software upgradability. The AES-90 was a standalone system that featured a CRT display, a keyboard, and two 8-inch floppy disk drives connected to a central processor.
However, unlike the “hard-wired” solutions used in other early on-screen text-editing systems, the AES-90 processor was built around a general-purpose minicomputer (the AES-90C) running dedicated text-editing software. This design allowed for software updates, bug fixes, and adaptation to changing requirements without the need to purchase a new processor and discard the outdated one. For this reason, the ACS-90 was promoted as a programmable word processor and “a giant step into a new era of cost-effective written communication.” Within a few years, the office equipment market was flooded with similar video-screen text-editing products from companies worldwide—the Toshiba JW-10 Japanese Language Word Processor, announced in 1978, is one notable example—revolutionizing office operations.
Although orders for AES-90 processors were piling up, AES faced significant difficulties with cash flow and attracting investor interest. Ultimately, the company came under the control of Innocan Investments Ltd., a Canadian financial organization specializing in venture capital for new and expanding firms, particularly those in high-technology industries. The Canadian Development Corporation owned 40% of Innocan, while other shareholders included the Air Canada Pension Fund, the Bank of Nova Scotia, and several well-established investment groups. Difficult relationship with AES financial backers led Dorsey to leave the company in 1975. Walter F. Steel, previously hired by Innocan as CEO, became AES’s new president. The company also adopted a new name: AES Data Limited.
In 1975, the AES manufacturing plant in Montreal employed 135 people. That year, the plant delivered over 300 AES-90 units, bringing the total number of installations in Canada to more than 400. The company also operated branches in Calgary, Montreal, Ottawa, Quebec City, Toronto, and St. Albans, Vermont.
In 1976, AES signed an agreement with Lanier Business Products to sell and service AES word processors in the U.S., with Lanier becoming a minority shareholder in the company. AES also partnered with the Swedish office electronics distributor Scribona to distribute a multilingual variant of the ACS-90 designed for Western Europe. This European model featured character sets and keyboards supporting eight languages: English, French, German, Swedish, Swiss-French, Italian, Dutch, and Danish-Norwegian. That same year, the company reached a new financial milestone, achieving sales of over $1 million per month.
By 1978, AES operated four plants in Montreal, a manufacturing and research facility in Mississauga, Ontario, and sales and service offices across Canada, employing more than a thousand people. AES also established similar sales, service, and software support groups in Europe.
In August 1978, the Canadian Development Corporation (CDC) purchased AES as well as Wordplex Corporation of California, which was subsequently merged into AES (Wordplex continued to operate as a division of AES until 1981, when CDC established it as a separate operating company). Headquartered in Toronto, the CDC was created and partially owned by the Canadian federal government, with a mandate to expand investment opportunities for Canadian-controlled companies through both public and private funding.
Despite intense market competition, AES maintained strong positions in the North American and European markets, with rapid sales growth and dominance of the Canadian word-processing equipment market continuing until the early 1980s. The new AES C-20 series, introduced in late 1979, offered a sophisticated line of word-processing equipment and software.
The decline of AES began in 1982. With Lanier losing interest in AES, CDC secured a new U.S. distribution channel by acquiring a majority stake in the successful American photocopier manufacturer Savin. However, intense competition in the office automation market from major companies such as AT&T, DEC, Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Olivetti, Wang, and Xerox, combined with a shift toward using microcomputers for text editing, and Savin’s own financial difficulties, led to a decline in AES product sales. The percentage of AES units installed in Canada dropped from 33% in 1981 to 19% in 1983. AES was also falling increasingly behind in both technology and marketing. The company saw only one path to recovery: shifting from developing its own innovative products to assembling and distributing products from other manufacturers, including IBM-compatible desktop computers such as the AES-286.
Poor operating results at AES Data and Savin continued in the following years. In early 1987, dissatisfied with AES's performance, CDC announced that it was selling both AES Data and Savin. In September of that year, AES was acquired by Kinburn Technology Corporation, which already owned another office information systems subsidiary, XIOS Systems Corp. Shortly thereafter, Kinburn merged AES with XIOS to form XIOS Systems Corporation Europe. The merger, followed by the closure of XIOS in 1990, effectively brought an end to AES — the company that had helped pioneer cutting-edge text-editing technology.
The entire industry of dedicated text-editing hardware collapsed soon after, under pressure from the rapidly growing office automation personal computer market, which offered multifunctional solutions for office operations, from advanced text-editing software, electronic spreadsheets and mail to financial and actuarial packages, databases, and administration software.
The AES-286
Not much is known about this computer, except that it was an IBM AT–compatible model manufactured by AES Data in the late 1980s, a time when countless companies around the world were producing IBM PC, XT, and AT–compatible machines.
Technical specifications
AES-286 Personal Computer, model number 286, serial number 100309;
(by Z. Stachniak)
In 1967, Stephen Dorsey founded Automatic Electronic Systems (AES) in Montreal to develop electronic devices for industrial remote-control applications. Over the six years, AES developed, among other products, its own minicomputers (the AES-80 and AES-80C) and the world’s first all-in-one programmable word processor — the AES-90. Until the mid-1980s, digital word processors remained the company's main line of business, sold around the world.
In the 1960s, office document-writing equipment was still dominated by various types of typewriters, ranging from purely mechanical to electric models, including those with digital storage for recording typed text, such as the best-selling IBM MT/ST (Magnetic Tape/Selectric Typewriter), which recorded edited documents on magnetic tape. These devices lacked displays and offered only limited word-processing functionality. None of them could be upgraded to newer versions; they could only be replaced with more advanced models as they became available.
It all changed in the early 1970s, when several companies introduced dedicated text-editing equipment with displays for on-screen document editing and external storage. In 1972, Linolex Systems introduced its Model A while Lexitron offered the Videotype 911. In the following year, AES released its AES-90 Word Processor, and Vydec began selling its Vydec Text Processor. Although all these systems provided on-screen editing and external storage, several unique features of the AES-90 set new trends in the design of cost-effective text editing equipment. The most important of these was the AES-90 architecture and its software upgradability. The AES-90 was a standalone system that featured a CRT display, a keyboard, and two 8-inch floppy disk drives connected to a central processor.
However, unlike the “hard-wired” solutions used in other early on-screen text-editing systems, the AES-90 processor was built around a general-purpose minicomputer (the AES-90C) running dedicated text-editing software. This design allowed for software updates, bug fixes, and adaptation to changing requirements without the need to purchase a new processor and discard the outdated one. For this reason, the ACS-90 was promoted as a programmable word processor and “a giant step into a new era of cost-effective written communication.” Within a few years, the office equipment market was flooded with similar video-screen text-editing products from companies worldwide—the Toshiba JW-10 Japanese Language Word Processor, announced in 1978, is one notable example—revolutionizing office operations.
Although orders for AES-90 processors were piling up, AES faced significant difficulties with cash flow and attracting investor interest. Ultimately, the company came under the control of Innocan Investments Ltd., a Canadian financial organization specializing in venture capital for new and expanding firms, particularly those in high-technology industries. The Canadian Development Corporation owned 40% of Innocan, while other shareholders included the Air Canada Pension Fund, the Bank of Nova Scotia, and several well-established investment groups. Difficult relationship with AES financial backers led Dorsey to leave the company in 1975. Walter F. Steel, previously hired by Innocan as CEO, became AES’s new president. The company also adopted a new name: AES Data Limited.
In 1975, the AES manufacturing plant in Montreal employed 135 people. That year, the plant delivered over 300 AES-90 units, bringing the total number of installations in Canada to more than 400. The company also operated branches in Calgary, Montreal, Ottawa, Quebec City, Toronto, and St. Albans, Vermont.
In 1976, AES signed an agreement with Lanier Business Products to sell and service AES word processors in the U.S., with Lanier becoming a minority shareholder in the company. AES also partnered with the Swedish office electronics distributor Scribona to distribute a multilingual variant of the ACS-90 designed for Western Europe. This European model featured character sets and keyboards supporting eight languages: English, French, German, Swedish, Swiss-French, Italian, Dutch, and Danish-Norwegian. That same year, the company reached a new financial milestone, achieving sales of over $1 million per month.
By 1978, AES operated four plants in Montreal, a manufacturing and research facility in Mississauga, Ontario, and sales and service offices across Canada, employing more than a thousand people. AES also established similar sales, service, and software support groups in Europe.
In August 1978, the Canadian Development Corporation (CDC) purchased AES as well as Wordplex Corporation of California, which was subsequently merged into AES (Wordplex continued to operate as a division of AES until 1981, when CDC established it as a separate operating company). Headquartered in Toronto, the CDC was created and partially owned by the Canadian federal government, with a mandate to expand investment opportunities for Canadian-controlled companies through both public and private funding.
Despite intense market competition, AES maintained strong positions in the North American and European markets, with rapid sales growth and dominance of the Canadian word-processing equipment market continuing until the early 1980s. The new AES C-20 series, introduced in late 1979, offered a sophisticated line of word-processing equipment and software.
The decline of AES began in 1982. With Lanier losing interest in AES, CDC secured a new U.S. distribution channel by acquiring a majority stake in the successful American photocopier manufacturer Savin. However, intense competition in the office automation market from major companies such as AT&T, DEC, Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Olivetti, Wang, and Xerox, combined with a shift toward using microcomputers for text editing, and Savin’s own financial difficulties, led to a decline in AES product sales. The percentage of AES units installed in Canada dropped from 33% in 1981 to 19% in 1983. AES was also falling increasingly behind in both technology and marketing. The company saw only one path to recovery: shifting from developing its own innovative products to assembling and distributing products from other manufacturers, including IBM-compatible desktop computers such as the AES-286.
Poor operating results at AES Data and Savin continued in the following years. In early 1987, dissatisfied with AES's performance, CDC announced that it was selling both AES Data and Savin. In September of that year, AES was acquired by Kinburn Technology Corporation, which already owned another office information systems subsidiary, XIOS Systems Corp. Shortly thereafter, Kinburn merged AES with XIOS to form XIOS Systems Corporation Europe. The merger, followed by the closure of XIOS in 1990, effectively brought an end to AES — the company that had helped pioneer cutting-edge text-editing technology.
The entire industry of dedicated text-editing hardware collapsed soon after, under pressure from the rapidly growing office automation personal computer market, which offered multifunctional solutions for office operations, from advanced text-editing software, electronic spreadsheets and mail to financial and actuarial packages, databases, and administration software.
The AES-286
Not much is known about this computer, except that it was an IBM AT–compatible model manufactured by AES Data in the late 1980s, a time when countless companies around the world were producing IBM PC, XT, and AT–compatible machines.
Technical specifications
- CPU: Intel 80286, 16-bit;
- RAM: 512KB;
- hard drive: NEC D3126, 20MB; Data Technology Corp. DTC 5290C2 floppy disk drive and hard drive controller card;
- floppy diskette drive: 5.25 inch; Data Technology Corp. DTC 5290C2 floppy disk drive and hard drive controller card (NEC NEC D765AC floppy drive controller chip);
- display: SPEGA VGA/EGA video card with chipset consisting of 4 Chips and Technologies ICs: 82C431 graphics controller, 82C432 sequencer, 82C433 attributes controller, and 82C434 CRT controller;
- ports: com1, com2, printer;
- expansion slots: 8;
- power supply: Tiger Power, Lead Year Enterprise Co., Ltd;
- BIOS: AWARD V2.07, Award Software International Inc. ;
- operating system: IBM PC DOS 3.30.
AES-286 Personal Computer, model number 286, serial number 100309;
Creator
AES Data, Montreal
Type
hardware: microcomputer
Identifier
H.102
Coverage
North America, late 1980s
Files
Citation
AES Data, Montreal, “AES-286 Personal Computer,” York University Computer Museum Canada, accessed December 10, 2025, https://museum.eecs.yorku.ca/items/show/200.