The museum thread
Why this brand matters
Acorn's importance exceeds the number of machines currently emulated here. The BBC Micro became a British education standard and a model of disciplined 6502 system design; its performance requirements helped push Acorn toward a new RISC processor project that became ARM.
Archimedes and later Risc PC therefore belong in the same story as the BBC Micro and modern handhelds: the processor lineage that began as a solution for Acorn computers eventually escaped the desktop and reshaped mobile computing.
Major machines and families
This is a historical map of the machines relevant to this museum's story, not merely a list of the models currently emulated.
| Period | Machine / family | Why it belongs in the story | Museum status |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1979 | Acorn System 1 | Early 6502 development system | Not yet emulated |
| 1980 | Acorn Atom | Compact 6502 home computer and precursor to the BBC Micro | Not yet emulated |
| 1981 | BBC Micro Model A / B | Education-focused 6502 machine with fast I/O, teletext modes and broad expansion | Playable: Model B |
| 1983 | Acorn Electron | Lower-cost home version of the BBC Micro concept | Not yet emulated |
| 1986 | BBC Master | Expanded successor preserving BBC Micro software and interfaces | Not yet emulated |
| 1987 | Acorn Archimedes | First major personal-computer family built around Acorn's ARM processor | Not yet emulated |
| 1994 | Risc PC | Modular ARM desktop extending the RISC OS platform | Not yet emulated |
Continue the story
Acorn in context
Brand histories overlap: CPUs, operating systems, standards, classroom adoption and software ecosystems routinely crossed manufacturer boundaries.
Technical specifications and chronology on this manufacturer page are intended to remain traceable to original documentation and established archives. See the source path for this family →