CCHD@latvax8.lat.oz (Huw Davies - La Trobe University Computer Centre) (09/27/90)
I posted the following article in alt.folklore.computers. I have decided to ask the readers of comp.arch their opinions. I am more interested in comments regarding advances in architecture rather than anything else. I have left the article intact, even though some of the systems listed below were not great advances in architectural terms. Do others agree with me that the Atlas was a quantum leap forwards and that my facetious comment comparing it to a VAX might not be so far off the mark after all? Article from alt.folklore.computers: What were the most significant computers of the third generation (that is, between 1963 and 1978?)? I'm interested in anyones' opinions, but to start the ball rolling, here's a short list of computers and the reasons why I chose them... Ferranti Atlas - a Vax delivered 15 years early IBM 360 - what more can I say... DEC PDP-6, PDP-10 - the first commercially available general purpose timesharing system. DEC PDP-8 - the first low-cost lab/desktop system DEC PDP-11 - long life (20 years), general purpose system. Unix! CDC 6000 - The first supercomputer (Cray's last CDC system) Buroughs 5500 - A high level architecture (Algol based) DEC VAX-11/780 - first commercial supermini. What about some of the smaller (no longer operating) companies, such as RCA, General Electric, Honeywell, Univac etc.
davidsen@crdos1.crd.ge.COM (Wm E Davidsen Jr) (09/28/90)
In article <4713@latvax8.lat.oz> CCHD@latvax8.lat.oz (Huw Davies - La Trobe University Computer Centre) writes: | DEC PDP-6, PDP-10 | - the first commercially available general purpose timesharing | system. GE was delivering the 265 in 1966, what was the timeframe of the PDP-6? | What about some of the smaller (no longer operating) companies, such as | RCA, General Electric, Honeywell, Univac etc. GE sold to Honeywell, was #4 or #5 at the time of the sale, systems with that instruction set are still being sold. Univac merged to be Sperry-Univac, then remerged to be UNISYS. I don't know if the Univac instruction set is included in current offerings, they certainly don't seem to have merged their other lines much. -- bill davidsen (davidsen@crdos1.crd.GE.COM -or- uunet!crdgw1!crdos1!davidsen) VMS is a text-only adventure game. If you win you can use unix.
lum@clipper.cis.ohio-state.edu (Lum Johnson) (09/28/90)
In article <2696@crdos1.crd.ge.COM> davidsen@crdos1.crd.ge.com (bill davidsen) writes: >In article <4713@latvax8.lat.oz> CCHD@latvax8.lat.oz (Huw Davies - La Trobe University Computer Centre) writes: > >| DEC PDP-6, PDP-10 >| - the first commercially available general purpose timesharing system. > > GE was delivering the 265 in 1966, what was the timeframe of the PDP-6? Here's a brief excerpt from _The History of TOPS_ by Peter J Hurley, manager of software enginerring for the PDP-6/10 product line, as presented at the Spring 1984 DECUS Symposium: The PDP-6 was first shipped in June of 1964. It was followed by the KA-10 in 1967, about 1.5 times the power of the PDP-6. The KI-10, about 1.8 times the KA-10, was released in 1972. The KL-10 was introduced in 1975 [sic] for TOPS-10, about 2.5 times the KI. In 1972 [sic], the first TOPS-20 KL-10 was released. In 1978, the 2060 [KL-10 Model B], 2020 [KS-10], and 1091 came out. Maybe I should post the whole thing to `alt.folklore.computers'? Lum -- -- Lum Johnson lum@cis.ohio-state.edu lum@osu-20.ircc.ohio-state.edu "You got it kid -- the large print giveth and the small print taketh away." -------
peter@ficc.ferranti.com (Peter da Silva) (09/29/90)
In article <2696@crdos1.crd.ge.COM> davidsen@crdos1.crd.ge.com (bill davidsen) writes: > [Of Univac->Sperry->Unisys] I don't know if the Univac > instruction set is included in current offerings, they certainly don't > seem to have merged their other lines much. Sure is. We have a test-floor full of Unisys 1100 and 2200 boxes downstairs. UNISYS also continues to sell the Burroughs A-series processors, and a whole line of relabeled 680x0 and 80x86 UNIX boxes (Sequent, ARIX, CT) as well as the older Burroughs relabeled BTOS/CTOS bookshelf machines. And all run MAPPER (one of those lives-in-its-own-world-database-languages that they call 4GLs) :->. -- Peter da Silva. `-_-' +1 713 274 5180. 'U` peter@ferranti.com