The machine came with three
operating systems:
MS-DOS 2.11 / 3.1,
Concurrent DOS and
UCSD p-System. with a 10 MB model advertised by Olivetti, as well as "LAN economica", ostensibly Acorn's Econet. To use a standard "full size" expansion card, an external expansion box could be attached to the left-hand side of the computer by four machine screws. This add-on was available in two different versions, one of which being able to provide power to the system in a colour monitor configuration, With only two internal expansion slots available, Olivetti incorporated various standard interfaces, specifically a serial port and Centronics parallel port together with the video circuitry and connectors, onto the motherboard itself, avoiding the need to dedicate up to three slots to provide such functionality. Other expansion and upgrade options included a mouse interface, television adapter for SCART-equipped televisions, and a "dual speed kit" offering a 8088 CPU with an operating frequency of 4.77 MHz or 8 MHz selectable by the user. Paul Maynes, a technician at
HBH Computers (one of Olivetti's dealerships in
Durban) designed, and
SA Signals Manufacturing (also of Durban) produced a
bus extension card with a 90-degree bend (purportedly a world-first) that could accommodate a
Seagate hard drive controller card. This allowed the second floppy drive to be removed and a 20 MB (later 40 MB) full-height hard drive installed in its place. == M19 based word processors ==