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Windows NT grandaddy OpenVMS taken out back, single gunshot heard

  • 10-06-2013 02:49PM
    #1
    Capt'n Midnight
    Moderators, Recreation & Hobbies Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators Posts: 96,067 Mod ✭✭✭✭


    VMS, add a letter and you get WNT = Windows NT
    Microsoft

    I'm still upset that windows doesn't have support for file versions in the same way that VMS did back in the 80's. The nearest is Previous Versions which doesn't come close.


    http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/06/10/openvms_death_notice/
    VAX-11/VMS started out in 1977 as "Starlet", a new OS for DEC's new 32-bit minis, the VAX range, codenamed "Star". VAX was a 32-bit upgrade to the 16-bit PDP-11 to give it virtual memory capabilities, and VMS derived from RSX-11M, the multiuser version of the PDP's real-time OS.
    ...
    It also ran LAN Manager, the basis of Windows NT networking, in the form of DEC's Pathworks suite to act as a server to PC networks.
    ...
    Microsoft built its own i860 workstations for the development effort, based around the i860XTR and consequently nick-named the "N-Ten". The initials of these – NT – is where the eventual name for Cutler's finished OS: Windows NT.

    In a way, this brought the family full-circle, as the original progenitor of MS-DOS was Digital Research's CP/M, itself also inspired by a DEC OS – TOPS-10 for the PDP-10. This is where DOS and Windows get command names such as "DIR" and "SET" and their original eight-dot-three-letter filenames from, along with file types such as ".TXT" and ".EXE".

    more history here http://www.roughlydrafted.com/2009/07/30/readers-write-how-microsoft-got-windows-nt/


Comments

  • #2
    GreenWolfe
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,731 ✭✭✭GreenWolfe


    Maybe someone else will get the rights to sell and support OpenVMS software, like eComStation did with OS/2. Seeing as you can still get new VAX machines (i.e. NuVAX) maybe there will be enough demand for continued support in some way. I guess the only drawback is the supply of Itanium processors and chipsets, and whether Intel would service such a low-demand market is unlikely, imho.


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