Digital Equipment Corporation's founders and many of its engineers came from the post-war computing research environment of Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Ken Olsen and Harlan Anderson founded Digital Equipment Corporation (or DEC) in 1957, setting up shop in a converted 19^th century woolen mill in Maynard, Massachusetts. Their financing came from the American Research and Development Corporation, a firm set up by Harvard Business School Professor Georges Doriot with the goal of finding ways to commercialize the scientific and technical innovations that came out of World War II research projects. Digital's first products were Laboratory and Systems Modules, but in 1960 they came out with the first interactive computer, the PDP-1. Digital became the first and the largest manufacturer of minicomputers in the world.

Ken Olsen and Harlan Anderson founded Digital Equipment Corporation and set up shop in an old woolen mill in Maynard, Massachusetts.

Digital opened for business with three employees and 8,500 square feet of production space in this converted 19^th century woolen mill.

The company's first product is Laboratory Modules.

Laboratory Modules were intended to sit on an engineer's workbench or be mounted in a scientist's equipment rack. To simplify the construction of logic systems, the modules were connected by simple cords with banana plugs.

System Modules or "Digital Building Blocks" supplemented Laboratory Modules and were later incorporated into the PDP-1 computer. Many different types of system modules were developed and used for computers, memory testers, and other complex systems of logic.

General Georges Doriot (left) with Ken Olsen. General Doriot headed one of the first venture capital firms in America, American Research and Development (AR&D). To Digital, he was best known as the man who loaned Ken Olsen $70,000 in 1957 to start a new company.

February
Digital's second product, Systems Modules, goes on the market.

Systems Modules or "Digital Building Blocks" were identical in circuitry, signal levels and speed range to Laboratory Modules but had a higher packing density and fixed backplane wiring. They were used for computers, memory testers and other complex systems of logic.

July
By the end of its first fiscal year, Digital sells $94,000 worth of Laboratory and Systems Modules and has 60 employees.

Here, Quality Control technicians test Laboratory and Systems Modules.

Ben Gurley worked at Lincoln Laboratory, and was the designer of the TX-0 cathode-ray tube display and light pen, which allowed the operator to interact directly with the program as it was running. Gurley left Lincoln Labs in 1959 to become one of Digital's first employees. There he designed the PDP-1, which incorporated many of the TX-0 architectural and circuit innovations.

The PDP-1, or Programmed Data Processor-1, was Digital's first 18-bit computer. Digital brought the prototype PDP-1 to demonstrate at the Joint Computer Conference in Boston in December of 1959. Bolt, Beranek and Newman (BBN), a computer consulting firm, was so impressed with the low-cost, interactive machine that they bought the prototype right off the floor. The PDP-1 featured short word length (18 bits) and high speed (5-microsecond cycle time), which made it attractive for laboratory and scientific control applications.

From a Digital technical report dated March 1960:
"DEC1500 series memory testers -- complete systems for testing coincident current core memories under simulated computer conditions. DEC memory testers will test planes up to 64 by 64 with several patterns of information quickly and completely in a single operation."

The 3000 series Laboratory Modules ran at 500 kHz. The 4000 series Systems Modules ran at 1 MHz and were principal components in the PDP-4 and PDP-5. Shown here are the modules in place in a PDP-4.

Spacewar!, developed in 1960 by Steve Russell, J.M. Graetz, and Wayne Wiitanen of MIT and played on a PDP-1, was an icon of interactive computing.

Digital's 5000 and 6000 series Modules were made possible by the arrival of a new series of transistors. This second generation of modules ran at 10 MHz, compared to the first generation Modules which ran at 5 MHz.

The Logic Handbook was an early project of Barbera Stephenson, the first woman hired as an engineer at Digital . The Logic Handbook was the first in a long series of handbooks that worked both as textbooks and promotional tools. Digital sent them to every customer and handed them out at trade shows.

The monitor for the PDP-1 is a Type 30 point scope which measures 21"x17"x27" and weighs 120 pounds. A stylized version of the monitor became the icon for the Digital Equipment Computer Users Society (DECUS), which met for the first time in 1961. DECUS was founded on the idea of open exchange of information between user and manufacturer, and it evolved because engineers needed a forum to share information and computer programs for Digital's first computer.

The PDP-4 was aimed at applications with not many calculations, but rather the single manipulation of input and output, such as controlling a bakery or fleet of elevators. "As computers [like the PDP-4] become smaller and less expensive," said Bell, "they will take over some special system types ... then the computer becomes a 'module' of the system."

Ken Olsen is pictured here unveiling the PDP-1 at BBN. The PDP-1 sale to BBN led to the development of shared computing time. The BBN timesharing system began operation in September of 1962.

July
Shipments begin of the PDP-4, Digital 's second 18-bit computer.

Similar in structure to the PDP-1, the PDP-4 used slower memory and different packaging to achieve a lower price of $65,000. Approximately 54 PDP-4s were sold in application areas as diverse as nuclear physics, production and stock control.

September
The PDP-1 operating system, the world's first timesharing system, is written by engineers at MIT and BBN for the PDP-1.

The PDP-1 operating system's timesharing ability made interactive access to computers economically viable by allowing various users to share the computer simultaneously. Shown here is the PDP-1 installation at BBN.

Gordon Bell begins design work on the architecture for
the PDP-5.

The 8000 series Modules are introduced.

The 8000 series Modules, also known as VHF modules, ran at 30 MHz. The modules were used to build high performance systems. The technology developed in the VHF modules was used in the timesharing capabilities of the PDP-6. Shown here is a PDP-6 during testing.

Digital 's first 12-bit machine, the PDP-5, is announced.

The PDP-5 was innovative in replacing the radial structure of earlier designs with an I/O bus. By allowing peripheral equipment to be added incrementally -- rather than pre-allocating space, wiring and cable drivers -- the I/O bus design lowered the base costs of the system and simplified the configuring of machines in the field.

Digital has 12 field service engineers who work together to cover a territory that includes the U.S. and installations in Germany and England.

Flip Chip modules are developed.

Flip Chip modules were built of discrete transistors, diodes, resistors and capacitors. The series was designed so that backplanes could be wire-wrapped automatically, reducing costs and increasing production line throughput. Flip Chips became the basis for the PDP-8.

July
The first European Customer Training Center opens in Reading, England.

October
Digital unveils its first 36-bit computer, the PDP-6.

Digital's first large computer, the PDP-6, was designed to be a powerful, timeshared machine oriented to scientific use. It was the first commercially available computer with manufacturer-provided software for general purpose applications. Ultimately, 26 PDP-6 systems were installed.

Tops 10 is developed as the major user software interface for Digital's 36-bit machines.

Tops 10 was developed from a 6-K word monitor for the PDP-6. It included user files and I/O device independence, a command control program and multiprocessing capabilities. Here an operator programs a PDP-6 using paper tape.

December
The PDP-7, Digital's third 18-bit computer, is introduced.

A successor to the PDP-4, the PDP-7 used smaller, more conventional system units and was well received in laboratory and data acquisition applications. The machine featured Digital's first mass storage-based operating system (DECsys for DECtape). Ultimately, 120 PDP-7s were produced and sold.

DECtape is introduced concurrent with the PDP-7.

DECtape was a random access, block addressable medium for storing information on small magnetic tape. For the first time, tape was divided into sectors so that it could be used as an I/O storage system that was both interactive and inexpensive.

December
Digital is issued its first patent, for magnetic core memory. The inventors are Ken Olsen and Dick Best.

By 1971, Digital was the largest consumer of magnetic core memories other than IBM. Digital built its own magnetic core manufacturing business and by the mid-1970s was producing 30 billion magnetic cores per year.

The PDP-7A is introduced.

The PDP-7A, a second version of the PDP-7, used the newly announced R series Flip Chip modules. The machine pictured was built for Concord Control Corporation.

April
Introduction of the PDP-8, the world's first mass-produced minicomputer.

PDP-8 Specifications:
Word Length: 12 Bits
Speed: 1.5 microsecond cycle time
Primary memory: 4K 12-bit word core memory
Secondary memory: 32K maximum
Instruction set: 3-bit op code, 1 indirect bit; 8 bits of address
Input/Output: teletype (ASR-33) includes paper-tape reader and punch
Power: 780 watts
Price: $18,000

November
In what is believed to be the earliest example of around-the-world networking, a link is made by operating a PDP-6 in Perth, Australia from Boston via a telex link.

The PDP-6 was operated and programmed from Boston using a 12,000 mile, 5 hole telex code. It proved very difficult to generate a Control C in 5 hole code. At one point in the session, Robin Frith in Perth asks Alan Kotok in Massachusetts, "Do you think you could let us poor Aussies have a bit of core?" Pictured is Alan Kotok seated at a PDP-6 while Gordon Bell looks on.

August
The PDP-9, Digital 's fourth 18-bit computer system, ships.

The PDP-9 featured a speed increase of approximately twice that of the PDP-7. The PDP-9 was also one of the first small or medium scale computers to have a keyboard monitor system based on Digital 's own small magnetic tape units (DECtape).

The PDP-8/S is introduced as an economical alternative to the "classic" PDP-8.

The size of a file-cabinet drawer, the PDP-8/S model's cost reduction came from implementing the PDP-8 instruction set serially.

The LINC-8 is introduced.

The LINC-8 was based on a previous design from Lincoln Labs to penetrate the emerging biomedical computer market. The computer incorporated both the LINC (Laboratory Instrument Computer) processor and the PDP-8 processor unit.

September - The PDP-10 debuts.

The 36-bit PDP-10 was program-compatible with the PDP-6 and approximately twice as powerful. Designed to perform conversational timesharing, batch-processing and real-time operations equally well and simultaneously, the PDP-10 achieved great popularity with the commercial timesharing utilities, university computer centers and research laboratories.

K series Flip Chip modules are introduced.

The new, noise-immune K series Flip Chip module line was used for control applications in industrial computers.

By 1975, Digital produced approximately 200 different types of K series modules.

The first generation of M series Flip Chip modules is introduced.

M series modules were used in the first redesign of the PDP-8, called the PDP-8/I, and were used in the first PDP-11 (PDP-11/20), the second PDP-10 processor (KI10) and the PDP-8/E. M series modules were Digital 's first logic cards to use integrated circuits.

July
There are more than 50 sales and services offices in 11 countries all over the world.

August
The PDP-8/I is Digital 's third 12-bit computer system and the first to be implemented with integrated circuits.

The PDP-8/I was more expandable (and expensive) than the PDP-8/S. Introduced at the same time was the PDP-8/L, a smaller OEM version of the 8/I. (The PDP-8/I is pictured.)

EDUsystems are introduced.

PDP-8 based EDUsystems, using the BASIC language developed at Dartmouth College, brought computers into elementary and secondary schools. EDUsystems were designed to start small and expand as the school's computing requirements increased.

The TYPESET-8, the pioneer of the "turnkey" computer system, is introduced.

The TYPESET-8 hardware and software package originally sold with the classic PDP-8 as its CPU and functioned as a computerized typesetting system for use in hot metal and photo composition typesetting.

March
The PDP-14 is delivered.

The PDP-14:
K series modules were used to develop noise-immune I/O units for this completely new, solid state controller that controlled operations by solving Boolean equations. Applications in the relay-logic marketplace included an automatic racking and stacking system, control of machine tools and sequencing.

The PDP-12, successor to the LINC-8, is introduced.

The PDP-12 was used in applications such as chemistry, applied psychology, patient monitoring and industrial testing. The machine incorporated the PDP-8/I and LINC-8 instruction sets, making it compatible with LINC-8 software. In addition to a display-based operating system, software packages were included for data acquisition and display, Fourier analysis and spectrometry.

The PDP-15, successor to the PDP-9 and 9/L, is introduced.

The PDP-15 was Digital's last 18-bit computer system and the only one implemented with integrated circuits. The new machine was faster and less expensive than its predecessors and had the added sophistication of a separate I/O processor to the CPU. Over 400 of these machines were ordered in the first eight months of production.

FOCAL version 1.0 is issued.

The name FOCAL stood for FOrmula CALculator and was the company's first registered international trademark. FOCAL was the only language that ran on every Digital computer at the time.

PDP-8/E, successor to the PDP-8/I, is introduced (shown here with contemporary footwear).

The PDP-8/E featured the OMNIBUS -- a patented synchronous bus that handles bi-directional communication between system elements. A single OMNIBUS contained enough slots to handle up to 32K words of core memory, or up to 10 peripheral controllers. Shortly after the introduction of the PDP-8/E, Digital installed its 10,000^th computer system.

Digital introduces the TU10 magnetic tape unit.

The TU10 DECmagtape unit was available in eight different models. Each model incorporated a transport mechanism, head assembly, read/write electronics, motor control circuits, power supply, and cabinet. Bit packing densities of 200, 556, and 800 bits per inch (bpi) were program selectable. A single capstan drove the tape in the forward or reverse direction at a speed of 45 inches per second (ips).

April
The PDP-11/20, the first of Digital's 16-bit family of machines, is delivered.

The PDP-11/20 was the first minicomputer to interface all system elements -- processor, memory and peripherals -- to a single, bi-directional, asynchronous bus. The UNIBUS enabled fast devices to send, receive or exchange data without intermediate buffering in memory. The PDP-11 became the world's most successful family of minicomputers.

Digital introduces three new peripherals: the LA30 DECwriter, the TU10 magnetic tape unit and the VT05 alphanumeric keyboard terminal.

The VT05 was the first video terminal manufactured by Digital .

MUMPS software for the PDP-15 is introduced.

MUMPS was developed as a general purpose data management language at Massachusetts General Hospital; it allowed up to twenty-two users to simultaneously access a database held on disk. MUMPS-15 systems were used extensively in such areas as hospital information and stock and warehouse control.

June
The first annual customer satisfaction survey is taken.

RSTS-11, a timesharing operating system for the PDP-11, is introduced.

RSTS-11, in use here at Boston Telephone in 1975, was the first general purpose small computer operating system with generalized device handling. RSTS-11 was particularly well suited to commercial applications because of its sophisticated file handling and protection capabilities.

The DECsystem-10 is introduced, marking a change in the marketing philosophy of the PDP-10 group.

The entire DECsystem-10 line used the same basic monitor system to give users unequaled expansion capability. The first DECsystem-10s, the 10/40 and 10/50, used the proven KA10 processor which was developed for the PDP-10 in 1967.

The PDP-11/45, the most powerful PDP-11 family member to date is introduced. The PDP-11 was featured in Garry Trudeau's Doonesbury comic strip.

The PDP-11/45 was an excellent computational tool for large multi-user, multi-task installations. Through memory management, memory could be expanded to 128K, which included a combination of bipolar and MOS memory. Other features included a greatly expanded floating point processor.

The RTM (PDP-16) is introduced.

The RTM (Register Transfer Module) began a new concept in small computers and digital controllers. Announced initially as the PDP-16, this series of printed circuit modules could be tailored to any application and made to operate with or without programs. In terms of cost, the RTM closed the gap between small logic modules and the smallest general purpose computer.

The PDP-16/M is introduced as the first "sub-minicomputer" developed by Digital.

The PDP-16/M combined the programmable capability of a minicomputer with the proven reliability of the PDP-16 controller (RTM). The machine incorporated a programmable read-only memory and a variety of options to make a versatile device for the OEM, educator and systems designer.

The PDP-11/40 is introduced.

The PDP-11/40 offered approximately twice the processing power of the earlier PDP-11/20. A floating point package was offered as an option, making the cost slightly lower than the 11/20.

Digital introduces the PDP-11/05 and PDP-11/10 as the first "inexpensive" PDP-11s.

The central processors for the PDP-11/05 and 11/10 were identical. The 11/05 was offered for the Original Equipment Manufacturer, while the 11/10 was designed for the end user. Both machines offered features not available on the earlier PDP-11/20, such as 4-level priority interrupt and multiple accumulators.

May
The KI10 processor is introduced for the DECsystem-10/70.

The KI10 processor was faster than its predecessor, the KA10, and was Digital's first 36-bit processor to incorporate integrated circuits. The lights on the KI10 were later used to represent a futuristic computer in George Lucas' landmark film, THX1138.

May

RSX-11D, a real-time operating system for online data acquisition, monitoring and control on the PDP-11, is introduced.

RSX-11D was aimed at the sophisticated end-user and included a real-time executive, on-line program development, complete device handling capabilities and total system protection. Typical applications were in the lab, industrial, computation and OEM markets.

July

RT-11, a real-time operating system for monitoring and control, is introduced.

RT-11 signaled Digital 's entrance into the low end of the real-time market. With its single-job monitor and F/B monitor, RT-11 was designed for the single user involved in program development and/or real-time applications, providing fast, simple, on-line access to any PDP-11 processor with at least 8K of memory and mass storage.

September

Digital develops DEC Data Communications Message Protocol (DDCMP) as a standard for its future computer-to-computer communications.

DDCMP, which was used to develop Digital 's Network Architecture (DECnet), was based on peer-to-peer communications where information is managed by members of the networks itself; communication is from processor to processor, rather than from processor to terminal.

April
MPS, Digital's first microprocessor, is introduced.

MPS represented Digital's first entry into LSI (Large Scale Integration) technology. MPS modules were designed to supply users with reliable, low-cost microprocessor systems that could be used in process control and data formatting or preprocessing applications.

RSX-11M, a real-time operating system for online control, is introduced for use on the PDP-11.

RSX-11M was a real-time, multi-programming, program-development system with a disk-based operating system supporting both synchronous and asynchronous communications hardware. RSX-11M concepts were precursors to those in the VMS operating system.

Digital announces the LA36 DECwriter II

The LA36 DECwriter II was the company's first commercially successful keyboard terminal and became the de facto market standard.

The KL10 processor is introduced in the DECsystem-10/80 and 10/90

Twice as fast as its predecessor, the KI10, and four times faster than the earlier KA10, the KL10 processor featured 386 microprogrammed instructions, emitter coupled logic (a state-of-the-art technology) and a 125 nanosecond access time cache or buffer memory. One of the more significant features of the KL10 was the Console Diagnostic Computer, which used a PDP-11/40 to perform those functions.

February
LSI-11, Digital's first 16-bit microcomputer, is introduced.

Directed toward OEMs and large volume end users, whose applications required the computer to be buried inside the final applications product, the LSI-11 was a complete computing system (CPU, memory and I/O) on one board.

February
The powerful PDP-11/70 is added to the PDP-11 family.

The PDP-11/70 represented the high end of PDP-11 architecture with the capacity for supporting the speed, addressing range and bandwidth required in large systems applications. It was the first PDP-11 to use cache memory.

April
Introduction of Digital's Network Architecture (DECnet).

DECnet architecture evolved from one focused on the RSX family of operating systems to an architecture that encompasses large, open, distributed networks. Unlike competitors' network offerings, DECnet was not a terminal network but a true computer-to-computer capability for distributed computing systems.

April
The VAX architecture committee meets for the first time.

The VAX Architecture Committee began work on a computer with 32-bit architecture; the goal: to build a machine which was culturally compatible to the PDP-11-- but with increased address space. The result: VAX, the "Virtual Address eXtension" of the PDP-11's 16-bit architecture to 32-bit architecture. The new computer required a new operating system so VMS, the "Virtual Memory System" was developed simultaneously. Shown here is an inside view of the first VAX model (the VAX-11/780).

September
The VT52, Digital's first commercially produced video terminal is announced.

The VT52 was designed to sell into programming, time sharing and text editing applications. The terminal included a 19-key numeric cluster pad for data entry plus four cursor control keys and three unlabeled function keys which could be used by the customer to define special functions.

The PDP-11/34 is delivered.

The midrange PDP-11/34 was Digital's most successful PDP-11 in terms of unit volume. The 11/34 featured a CPU so compact that the entire CPU logic was contained on two circuit boards. This provided greater flexibility during later system expansion by making additional chassis space available.

Ken Olsen, CEO of Digital, is on the cover of Business Week, April 26, 1976

January
Introduction of the 36-bit DECSYSTEM-20, the lowest-priced general-purpose timesharing system on the market.

The DECSYSTEM-20 was based on the non-cache KL-20 processor, 64 to 256K 36-bit core memory and included RP04 moving head disk drives, TU45 tapes, a line printer, a card reader and 8 to 64 terminal lines.

January
TOPS-20, a new virtual memory operating system, is introduced for use with the DECSYSTEM-20.

TOPS-20 (the direct descendant of TOPS-10) was implemented with upgraded facilities based on multi-process operating system advances including concurrent interactive timesharing and multi-stream batch. TOPS-20 was also available with a variety of unbundled higher level language compilers and application tools such as FORTRAN, COBOL, BASIC, ALGOL, CPL, APL and Data Base Management.

Digital enters the word-processing market with the WPS-8.

The WPS-8 was a stand alone, single terminal, single word processing system, the first in a series of products designed to address the needs of "sophisticated" users of text editing equipment.

March
Digital announces a new mid-range price/performance system, the PDP-11/60.

The PDP-11/60 offered a combination of unique attributes, which were normally found in larger, more expensive computers at the time. Designed around the proven UNIBUS architecture, the PDP-11/60 included user control store features previously unavailable from Digital as well as several 11/70 class features such as cache memory and RAMP.

May
Digital announces its newest computer, the DECstation, a family of components centered around the VT78 Video Data Processor.

The DECstation was a complete PDP-8 computer system implemented in large scale integration technology so that it could be packaged inside the shell of a display terminal. Designed for an interactive environment, the primary emphasis was on system capability, hence the large 16K (32Kb) memory and the array of I/O controllers.

October
Introduction of the VAX-11/780, the first member of the VAX computer family.

VAX-11 architecture was designed to alleviate the PDP-11's most severe limitation: an address space that was too small for many applications. The Virtual Address eXtension (VAX) increased the address from 16 to 32 bits. The number of general registers also doubled from 8 to 16. The instruction set had both two and three operand formats for many common operations with either a register or memory operand allowable.

Digital opens the Digital Diagnosis Center (DDC) in Colorado Springs, Colorado. It is the industry's first facility for computerized remote diagnosis.

Digital is the first computer company to connect to the ARPAnet. The connection is made via a PDP-10.

In 1969, the U.S. Defense Department’s Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA) began to construct a resource sharing computer network among its contractors. This network became known as the ARPAnet, a wildly successful wide-area packet switching network that later evolved into the Internet. By 1970, the initial four-node configuration was complete, consisting of UCLA, UC Santa Barbara, Stanford Research Institute and the University of Utah. From these four sites, the network expanded to thirteen by January 1971 and twenty-three by April 1972. By the time that Digital joined as the first computer company in 1977, there were approximately 60 nodes in operation.

February
V1.0 of the VMS operating system ships.

VMS (Virtual Memory System) was developed in parallel with the VAX, allowing complete integration of hardware and software. The overall aim during development was to achieve compatibility between systems so that information and programs could be shared. V1.0 featured FORTRAN IV and DECnet, a 64 megabyte memory limit, an event driven priority scheduler, process swapper, process deletion/creation/control, I/O post processing and AST delivery. At left is the team that delivered V1.0.

March
Digital ships the first DECsystem-2020.

The DECsystem-2020 was introduced as "the word's lowest cost mainframe computer system." It was Digital's least expensive and last 36-bit computer system. The system's low cost was made possible by a state-of-the-art packaging technology that allowed the entire system to fit in a single cabinet measuring five feet high by two feet wide by three feet deep. At left is the DECsystem-2020 manufacturing team.

August
The VT100 terminal is introduced.

The VT100 was Digital's first ANSI-compliant video terminal. It became the industry's best selling terminal and the de facto market standard.

September
Gordon Bell, Craig Mudge and John McNamara publish Computer Engineering: A DEC View of Hardware Systems Design.

In Computer Engineering: A DEC View of Hardware Systems Design, Bell and his co-authors provide a case study of computer design at Digital within the context of prevailing goals and constraints. For the first time, the computer industry was examined from an evolutionary perspective.

March
The F-11 microprocessor is announced.

The F-11 was Digital's second 16-bit -- and first internally designed -- microprocessor. The F-11 shipped in the LSI-11/23 board.

March
The PDP-11/23 is introduced.

The PDP-11/23 was positioned between the low-end PDP-11/03 and the PDP-11/34 in order to round out Digital's 16-bit product line and bridge the gap between existing microcomputers and mid-range systems.

November
The RL02 disk drive is announced.

The RL02 disk drive featured twice the capacity of the RL01 drive and low ambient noise levels for office use.

November
The PDP-11/44 ships.

The PDP-11/44 incorporated the complete PDP-11/70 instruction set and memory expansion into 1MB in a lower-cost package. The PDP-11/44 was the last PDP-11 implemented in discrete logic.

February
Introduction of DECnet Phase III -- the most advanced networking in the computer industry.

DECnet products made it possible to build networks of over 200 nodes, considered very large in 1980. Phase III was supported on seven operating systems and three hardware families.

April
VMS version 2.0 is released.

VMS version 2.0 offered the industry's largest array of languages on one system including VAX-11, FORTRAN, BASIC, PASCAL, COBOL-74 and PL/I, DSM and PDP-11 CORAL 66/VAX.

June
Digital, Intel and Xerox cooperate in Ethernet local area network project.

The Digital LAN products that built on Ethernet technology allowed minicomputer, terminal servers and network devices to be connected with ease. Here, Dave Cleveland of Data Communications displays an Ethernet transceiver.

October
Introduction of the VAX-11/750.

The VAX-11/750 was the second member of the VAX family and the industry's first Large Scale Integration (LSI) 32-bit minicomputer.

October
The RM80 disk is introduced.

The medium-capacity RM80 disk drive was Digital's first product based on Winchester technology, incorporating advanced microprocessor control and industry leadership RAMP features.

March
PDP-11/24 is introduced.

The PDP-11/24 was a fourth generation PDP-11 system designed to increase Digital's penetration of the technical and commercial OEM markets. The new machine featured Large Scale Integration, 1 MB memory capacity and the PDP-11 UNIBUS.

July
Digital announces the VT125 Graphics Terminal, the newest member of the VT100 family.

The VT125 was an enhanced VT100 alphanumeric terminal with data plotting extensions which combined bit map graphics architecture, automatic vendor and general curve generation, as well as alphanumeric features to produce a state-of-the-art terminal suitable for business graphics and technical applications.

July
Digital announces the DECmate "Work Processor."

With the DECmate, Digital integrated an array of functions such as word processing, communications, financial planning, budgeting support and engineering calculations in a single marketing focus. The DECmate was based on the VT278 computing terminal, which combined video output and keyboard input with a powerful programmable CPU and peripheral interfaces all on one module. At left is the DECmate engineering team.

October
VAX information architecture is introduced.

VAX information architecture consisted of a family of information management software products including VAX-11 FMS, DATATRIEVE, CDD, RMS and DBMS. The key to the products was an integrated architecture that allowed functions to be added as they were needed.

April
VMS V3 ships.

VMS V3 supported three new processors: the VAX-11/750, VAX-11/725, VAX-11/782. V3 features included asymmetric multiprocessing (ASMP) for VAX-11/782, support for new architectures, protocols and busses, system communication architecture (SCS), mass storage control protocol (MSCP), lock management system services, and MONITOR utility for performance monitoring.

April
The VAX-11/730 is the third -- and at the time, lowest cost -- member of the VAX family.

The VAX-11/730 was the smallest VAX to date. The machine was the first VAX processor to fit on three Hex boards and the first VAX to fit in a 10.5" high, rack mountable box. The 11/730 was also the first 8-user, DECnet VAX/VMS system complete in one 42" high cabinet.

May
Digital introduces a range of new personal computers.

Digital's new personal computer line included the Professional 300 series based on the PDP-11, the Rainbow 100 based on the Intel 8086, and the DECmate II based on the PDP-8. Here, marketing vice president Andy Knowles and Ken Olsen introduce the new machines.

May
ALL-IN-1, a new concept in integrated office software, is introduced.

Back in 1977, Skip Walter and John Churin began work on integrated office software that would run on a network and could mix and match custom applications such as word processing, mail, calendars and databases. The result was ALL-IN-1.

June
Announcement of the RA60 and RA81 disk drives and Digital Storage Architecture puts Digital at the forefront in storage technology.

The RA60 provided 205 megabytes of removable media disk capacity and the RA81 supplied 456 megabytes of Winchester fixed disk capacity in rack mounted 10.5" high drives -- both industry firsts.

November
The Customer Support Center in Colorado Springs pilots Remote Fault Isolation Technology for software support in the VMS and TOPS support groups.

Digital establishes Internet connectivity. Initial e-mail, FTP archive and USENET news hub are established.

Digital launches its first multi-vendor customer service program, designed to provide customers -- from small businesses to Fortune 500 organizations -- with a full range of service and support for both Digital and non-Digital products.

May
Digital announces VAXclusters.

VAXclusters tied VAX processors together in a loose processor coupling that allowed VAX computers to operate as a single system, extending the characteristics of VAX to high capacity and high availability applications.

May
Digital ships the HSC50 controller, its first intelligent disk subsystem.

The HSC50 contained local intelligence capable of managing the physical activity of the drives, optimizing subsystem throughput, detecting and correcting physical errors, and performing local functions such as diagnostic execution without host intervention.

August
Digital ships the J-11 chip in the LSI-11/73 board.

The J-11 chip was Digital's last 16-bit microprocessor and the first executed in CMOS technology. The LSI-11/73, shown here, brought PDP-11/70 functionality to a microcomputer on the Q-Bus by offering PDP-11/70 memory management, an 8K byte cache and FP11 floating point operations.

October
Digital starts the industry's first remote delivery of software updates from its Colorado Springs facility.

October
DECnet Phase IV is announced.

DECnet Phase IV significantly increased the number of nodes possible in a network from hundreds to many thousands. Phase IV began the migration from old point-to-point networks to the new multi-point Ethernet. Concepts developed in DECnet architecture were incorporated in international standards.

December
DECtalk, a text-to-speech system that allows computers to talk, is announced.

DECtalk was a new type of output device that accepted ASCII text from an RS232C terminal port and spoke the text rather than printing it. It was the first such device offered by any major computer manufacturer. Entertainer Stevie Wonder introduced DECtalk at the Park Plaza Hotel in Boston.

February
Digital announces the TK50 cartridge tape drive.

The TK50 cartridge tape system was developed by Digital as the first tape drive to use CompacTape. CompacTape was the industry's first standard 1/2 inch tape cartridge, allowing for the free interchange of recorded data.

April
Digital announces the Rdb relational database management system.

The two new relational database products, VAX Rdb/VMS and VAX Rdb/ELN, were implemented in a common architecture, spanning the full range of VAX processors -- from the MicroVAX I to the VAX-11/785.

April
Introduction of the VAX-11/785, the most powerful single computer to date in Digital's VAX family.

CPU cycle time in the VAX-11/785 was 133ns, 50% faster than the 200ns cycle time of the VAX-11/780. The accelerated cycle time allowed all CPU operations to run up to 50% faster, resulting in higher throughput, faster response time and the ability to support more users.

June
Digital introduces ULTRIX-32, the first native UNIX from Digital for the VAX family of systems.

ULTRIX-32 was an interactive, timesharing operating system derived from VM/UNIX Version 4.2BSD developed at the University of California at Berkeley. ULTRIX-32 combined all the features of 4.2BSD with enhancements for serviceability, documentation and the ability to tailor the kernel without sources.

September
VMS V4 ships.

VMS V4 supported the new VAX 8600 processor, MicroVAX I and II, and VAXstation I and II. V4 features included VAXclusters, connection manager, distributed lock manager, distributed file system (F11BXQP), security enhancements, command line editing and command recall, local area terminal server, implementation of access control lists, cluster wide operator control and variable prompt strings.

October
Announcement of the VAX 8600, the first of a new generation of computers within the VAX family and, at the time, the highest performance computer system in Digital's history.

The VAX 8600, shown here during assembly, offered up to 4.2 times the performance of the industry standard VAX-11/780 and increased I/O capacity, while maintaining I/O subsystem compatibility with the VAX-11/780 and the 11/785 Synchronous Backplane Interconnect (SBI). The VAX 8600 was the first VAX implementation in ECL technology and the first to include macropipelining.

October
Introduction of the VAXstation I, the company's first 32-bit single-user workstation.

The VAXstation I was the first in a new family of MicroVAX-based technical workstations. It was a powerful, single-user computing system sold in packaged form, supporting the professional user.

January
Digital introduces VAX ACMS (Application, Control and Management System).

VAX ACMS was Digital's first transaction processing product. It provided an environment for creating and controlling on-line transaction processing applications on VMS.

VMS V4.4 ships.

VMS V4.4 supported eight new VAX processors: the VAX 8200, 8250, 8300, 8350, 8500, 8550, 8700 and 8800. V4.4 features included ASMP support for VAX 83xx and VAX 88xx systems, cluster packages for VAX 8974 and 8978, disk volume shadowing and HSC support.

May
Digital introduces the MicroVAX II.

The MicroVAX II was based on a single, quad-sized 32-bit processor board and contained the MicroVAX chip (which included memory management). The machine featured a floating-point coprocessor chip, 1MB of onboard memory, Q22-bus interface, Q22-map for DMA transfers, interval timer, boot and diagnostic facility, console serial line unit and time-of-year clock.

May
The MicroVAX chip is announced for the MicroVAX II.

The MicroVAX chip was Digital's first 32-bit microprocessor and the first manufactured with internally developed semiconductor technology. The revolutionary "VAX-on-a-chip" had the highest level of functionality of any 32-bit processor in the industry. With the MicroVAX chip, Digital became the first company to register a new semiconductor chip under the Semiconductor Protection Act of 1984.

September
Digital is the first computer company to register an Internet domain.

dec.com was established as a "class B" TCP/IP network. Digital also created the first corporate Internet mail gateway, giving every email user in Digital full access to the Internet.

November
Introduction of the MicroPDP-11/83, the most powerful Q-bus 16-bit wordlength computer in Digital's history.

Key features of the MicroPDP-11/83, included the new high-performance central processing module (the KDJ11-BF) and a Private Memory Interconnect (PMI) Bus.

December
Introduction of the VAXstation II/GPX, Digital's first technical workstation for the UNIX marketplace.

The VAXstation II/GPX was a MicroVAX II-based workstation featuring hardware-enhanced, high-performance color graphics. The workstation incorporated the new GPX chip set, a graphics co-processor for the MicroVAX, which extended the low-cost/high-performance advantage of the MicroVAX II to color graphics.

Digital creates the first Internet firewall and establishes http://gatekeeper.dec.com as a major FTP site on the Internet.

January
The VAX 8800, VAX 8300 and VAX 8200 were the first VAX systems to support dual processors. Each machine incorporated a new high-performance I/O bus, the VAXBI. The high-performance VAX 8800 achieved application throughput of two to three times the VAX 8600.

February
Announcement of DECconnect wiring strategy and related products and services extends Digital's networking leadership.

Standard Network Packages combined hardware, software and services into a complete package that provided a simplified way of solving customer interconnect and networking problems. Shown here is the DECconnect exhibit at DECworld '86.

April
Digital occupies its first built-for-remote services facility in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The building was designed with redundant power supplies, battery backup, emergency generators and multiple telephone lines to ensure the highest level of customer service availability.

September
Introduction of the VAXmate, a networked personal computer combining the resources of the VAX-VMS and MS-DOS operating systems.

The VAXmate was Digital's second-generation personal computer and pioneered the concept of a disk-less, network-connected PC.

November
Digital introduces Local Area VAXcluster systems, extending distributed computing to the work group.

Local Area VAXcluster systems extended VAXcluster technology to Ethernet, bringing the software advantages of the VAXcluster environment to the MicroVAX II and VAXstation II systems.

January
Introduction of the VAX 8978 and VAX 8974, Digital's most powerful systems to date, offering up to 50 times the power of the industry-standard VAX-11/780.

February
The VAXstation 2000 is introduced.

The VAXstation 2000 was designed as a low cost, single-user VAXstation based on the MicroVAX CPU and FPU chip set. It was Digital's first workstation with a cost of less than $5,000 and became the highest volume workstation in the industry.

September
Digital unveils a new generation of its MicroVAX computer family with the introduction of the MicroVAX 3500 and MicroVAX 3600. Both machines are powered by the new CVAX chip.

The MicroVAX 3500 and MicroVAX 3600 were introduced as the higher end complement of the MicroVAX family. The new machines featured more than 3 times the performance of the MicroVAX II and supported 32 MB of ECC main memory (twice that of the MicroVAX II). The performance improvements over the MicroVAX II resulted from the increased operating speed of the CVAX microprocessor (90ns) plus a two-level, write-through caching architecture.

January
Digital extends its Network Applications Support (NAS) facilities to integrate MS-DOS, OS/2 and UNIX systems into the open DECnet/OSI network environment.

Network Application Support was a distributed, enterprise-wide computing capability, allowing users to integrate a mixed set of systems and resources into a single, unified whole. NAS extended Digital's desktop solutions of networked VAXservers and desktop products by allowing integration of UNIX, MS-DOS, OS/2 and Macintosh.

April
Digital introduces the VAX 6000 system platform, based on the CVAX chip.

The first offering in the VAX 6000 series was the midrange VAX 6200, which was built on three key technologies: the Digital CMOS VLSI VAX processor (the CVAX chip), a symmetric multiprocessing hardware and software environment, and the VAXBI I/O interconnect.

April
VMS version 5.0 is released.

Digital released VMS version 5.0 in concert with the VAX 6200. VMS V 5.0 included symmetric multiprocessing, which provided a high degree of parallelism and more effective use of multiprocessors.

July
DECtp is introduced.

DECtp was a systems environment that integrated the functions required to build large-scale transaction processing applications, effectively enabling Digital systems to process up to 100 transactions per second.

Digital Storage System Interconnect (DSSI) is introduced for MicroVAX 3300/3400 and higher systems.

DSSI provided a high capacity storage interface similar to the Computer Interconnect (CI) used in VAXcluster systems but at lower cost and in packages suitable for office environments. DSSI became the precursor to the SCSI standard.

January
The DECstation 3100 is among the broadest set of desktop solutions announced by Digital to date.

Digital's new desktop offerings included DECwindows, its X-based windowing system (shown here); the VAXstation 3100 based on the CVAX chip and the DECstation 3100.

Based on ULTRIX and the MIPS processor, the DECstation 3100 was the first RISC workstation built by Digital and, at the time, the world's fastest UNIX workstation.

January
Introduction of the VAX 6300 systems, Digital's most powerful and expandable VAX systems in a single cabinet.

Both the VAX 6300 series and the MicroVAX 3800-3900 were based on the CVAX+ chip, manufactured in 1.5-micrometer CMOS technology. Shown here is the VAX 6320.

July
The Rigel chip set is introduced.

The Rigel chip, Digital's third 32-bit microprocessor design, was manufactured in 1.5-micrometer CMOS technology. The chip shipped in the VAX 6400 system and, somewhat later, in the VAX 4000 system. Rigel was the first implementation of the vector extensions of the VAX architecture.

October
The VAX 9000 mainframe is introduced.

The VAX 9000 incorporated numerous technological advances, including high-density ECL macrocells, multi-chip module packaging and heavily macropipelined architecture. The VAX 9000 was Digital's last system not based on microprocessor technology.

Digital software engineers begin to participate in USENET newsgroups such as comp.sys.dec to provide informal customer support over the Internet.

February
Adding fault-tolerant technology to the VAX family, Digital introduces the VAXft 3000 system.

The VAXft 3000 was the first fault-tolerant system in the industry to run a mainstream operating system (VMS) and the first system in which every component, including the backplane, was mirrored. In the event of a power failure, the complete in-cabinet system was kept operational for up to fifteen minutes by its own built-in power supply. The VAXft 3000 development team included (left to right) Clem O'Brien, George Hoff, Frernando Colon Osorio, Rich Whitman and Bob Glorioso.

March
An operations center is opened in Berlin to prepare for the opportunities created by a unified German marketplace.

March
Digital delivers the first integrated hardware/software premium support service tailored to the availability and responsiveness needs of Mission Critical customers. This service, packaged with the VAX 9000 mainframe class machine, was the fundamental start for future premium services.

May
The 20^th anniversary of the first PDP-11 computer is marked by the introduction of two new PDP-11 systems: the MicroPDP-11/93 and the PDP-11/94.

Both the MicroPDP-11/93 and the PDP-11/94 offered a performance increase of up to 40% over the previous high-end PDP-11 systems. The new machines were the latest members of the longest-lived family of general-purpose computers. At this point, the series included over 20 members; more than 600,000 had been installed.

May
Digital begins shipment of its second-generation LAN products.

October
The Mariah chip set ships in the VAX 6500.

The Mariah chip set, an improvement on the Rigel chip set, was manufactured in 1.0 micrometer CMOS technology. The VAX 6500 processor delivered approximately 13 times the power of a VAX-11/780 system, per processor. The 6500 systems (shown here) implemented a new cache technique called write-back cache, which reduced CPU-to-memory traffic on the system bus, allowing multiprocessor systems to operate more efficiently.

October
Digital announces its commitment to open standards for VMS.

With OpenVMS, VMS now supported the widely accepted POSIX standards of the IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers). The VMS operating system was also "branded" by X/Open, the nonprofit consortium of many of the world's major information system suppliers.

October
VMS V5.4 ships.

VMS V5.4 supported the VAX 6000-510 and 520 processors and featured a vector processing option for VAX 6000-4xx, DCL commands for Fault Tolerant (VAXft) systems, TPU enhancements, DECwindows enhancements, MSCP load balancing and preferred path, and password history, dictionary and site specific password filters.

Digital is the first in the industry to offer an Internet tunnel product.

The EZ5x family of Solid State Disks (SSDs) extended the power and performance of the technology to encompass SCSI-based systems. SSDs used the speed of DRAMS (the storage media) to provide the fastest access to storage subsystem data by eliminating the latency inherent with magnetic disk. Offering an access time of less than 1ms, EZ5x Solid State Disks maximized systems utilization by balancing the power of the processor with high performance I/O.

June
Digital announces Open Advantage, a worldwide corporate strategy to establish Digital as the industry leader in developing open solutions that give customers the freedom to choose and the power to use the highest-quality applications available at the best price.

Digital's Network Application Support (NAS) helped end users achieve the "Open Advantage" of multivendor interoperability. NAS enabled them to use new and existing applications to share information and resources with each other, regardless of which systems they were using.

June
Digital introduces DECnet Phase V, which supports OSI standards and networks of essentially unlimited size.

Digital's fifth-generation "ADVANTAGE" networks integrated OSI, TCP/IP and DECnet network protocols. DECnet Phase V expanded and opened the Digital environment by supporting many vendors' equipment in a unified network, while retaining flexibility and backward compatibility with DECnet Phase IV.

September
The industry's first implementation of an object request broker is shipped under the name Application Control Architecture (ACA) services.

Application Control Architecture (ACA) was later renamed ObjectBroker. Digital subsequently made significant contributions to the Object Management Group's Common Object Request Broker Architecture (COBRA).

November
The NVAX chip, Digital's fourth VAX microprocessor, is implemented in 0.75-micrometer CMOS technology and ships in the VAX 6600.

The NVAX incorporated the pipelined performance of the VAX 9000 and was the fastest CISC chip of its time. The VAX 6610 system (shown here) delivered 83 transactions per second, boasting better performance than RISC based systems from IBM or HP.

November
Digital and Microsoft announce an alliance allowing Microsoft Windows to retrieve and exchange data with local area network servers running Digital PATHWORKS software.

The Digital and Microsoft development work ensured seamless integration between selected office technologies such as Microsoft Word, Excel, Visual Basic, TeamLinks, PATHWORKS and ALL-IN-1 Mail.

November
Digital releases VMS V5.5.

VMS V5.5 supported the MicroVAX 3100, VAX and VAXserver 6000-6xx series, VAX 4000 and VAXstation 4000 (shown at left). V5.5 features included new queue manager, new licensing features, LAT enhancements, host based shadowing, cluster wide tape service (TMSCP), and new RTLs (DECthreads and BLAS fast-vector maths library).

February
Digital announces Alpha, its program for 21^st-century computing.

Alpha was a totally new, open, 64-bit RISC architecture, addressing the needs of a broad range of computer users, engineered to support multiple operating systems and designed to increase performance by a factor of 1000 over its anticipated 25-year life. The first Alpha chip was the 21064, which provided record-setting 200-MHz performance.

May
Digital provides computer systems and software to the America3 Foundation racing team for its defense of the Americas Cup in San Diego, California.

In addition to designing engineering and performance analysis applications, Digital provided a speech recognition system to communicate with the computer on board America3, allowing navigators to spend more time on the race and less time accessing critical data.

July
Digital announces the VAX 7000.

The VAX 7000 model 600 data center system was Digital's most powerful VAX system to date. It was the high-end successor to Digital's VAX 6000 data center systems, the most expandable data center system ever, and was field-upgradable to the Alpha 64-bit processor.

September
Digital introduces the DECpc LP series, the company's first internally designed, internally manufactured, industry-compatible PCs.

The new DECpc LP series PCs were based on the Intel 386 and 486 processors and featured SVGA video performance with GUI acceleration, 128KB of writeback cache, 70ns memory and 512KB of video RAM (VRAM).

November
Digital introduces Alpha 64-bit computing with five new workstations and servers, the OpenVMS operating system, multiple compilers and networks, and new open business practices.

The first generation Alpha systems included the DEC 3000 Model 400 and Model 500 Workstations, the DEC 4000 Distributed/Departmental System, the DEC 7000 Data Center System and the DEC 10000 Mainframe-Class System.

November
Digital releases OpenVMS/AXP V1.0 as part of its Alpha family of products.

OpenVMS/AXP V1 supported the first generation of Alpha processors including DEC 3000, DEC 4000, and DEC 7000. The new operating system was based on VAX/VMS V5.4 and featured DECmigrate for translating VAX images, and the Macro-32 compiler.

Digital installs the industry's first commercial Internet firewall.

Digital announces StorageWorks, a new generation of storage solutions.

StorageWorks was a new generation of storage solutions designed to meet requirements for open, flexible data storage based on the industry's widely accepted SCSI-2 (Small Computer System Interface-2) standard. StorageWorks modular architecture made it easier than ever to add the storage subsystem that meets all application needs - from the desktop to the datacenter.

MCS and Digital Consulting Services announce ten new services designed to help customers plan, implement and maintain reliable open client/server systems worldwide.

New MCS offerings included: System Healthcheck, System Management Support, Remote System Management, Asset Management, and Software Publishing. New Digital Consulting Services included: DECathena Management Services, Workgroup/End User Services, Information Architecture Planning, Client/Server Distributed Application Planning, and Rapid Application Prototyping.

March
Digital ships OSF/1 UNIX for Alpha Systems.

Digital's native 64-bit DEC OSF/1 UNIX product for Alpha supplied greater address space and extremely high-speed RISC processing, which provided the ability to run current applications faster. OSF/1 for Alpha was also designed to support emerging applications such as multimedia, realtime Manufacturing Resource Planning (MRP) and multi-year simulations.

March
In an example of meeting Mission Critical customer needs, Digital delivers its first computer-assisted proactive patch using the PROpatch tool.

June
Digital ships OpenVMS/VAX V6.0.

OpenVMS/VAX V6 supported the VAX 7000 model 650/660 and VAX 10000 model 650/660 and featured rationalized and enhanced security (level C2 compliance), multiple queue managers across cluster, a HELP/MESSAGE utility, support for ISO 9660 CD-ROM format, Adaptive Pool Management, SYSMAN cluster wide SHUTDOWN and startup logging, cluster wide I/O cache and extended physical and virtual addressing.

September
Digital and Microsoft ship the Windows NT operating system for Alpha systems.

Digital began shipping Windows NT preloaded on the DECpc AXP 150 personal computer just 5 weeks after Microsoft's initial release. By the end of 1993, over 500 applications from Digital and other software vendors would run on the DECpc AXP 150 under Windows NT.

September
Digital introduces the GIGAswitch/FDDI.

The GIGAswitch/FDDI was the world's first LAN backplane switch for FDDI, with more than 3 gigabits per second of bandwidth.

April
Digital unveils the Digital 2100 Alpha AXP server.

Digital's 2100 Alpha AXP server was a single-pedestal, large capacity, secure computing system, supporting up to four processors, the industry-standard PCI bus and three operating systems; it met engineers' goals of price/performance leadership.

April - May
Digital ships OpenVMS/VAX V6.1 and OpenVMS/Alpha V6.1.

OpenVMS/VAX and OpenVMS/Alpha versions 6.1 supported the AlphaServer 2100, DEC 3000, DEC 7000 and VAX 7000. V6.1 featured PCSI Product installation utility, shadowing and RMS journaling for Alpha, DECamds bundled with operating system, CLUE crash dump utility, DPML standard maths library, C++ support, and DECnet/OSI extended node names.

August
OSF/1 V 3.0 ships.

OSF/1 V 3.0 featured symmetric multiprocessing, loadable drivers, streams based local area transport, a dataless model and the first wave of cluster capability. Here, CEO Bob Palmer displays the UNIX spirit at a conference in New Hampshire in April 1994.

August
Digital describes the 21164, its newest Alpha microprocessor.

This next generation of Alpha chip, the 21164, provided peak processing power of more than one billion instructions per second. The chip was the industry's first to operate at 300 MHz; performance was estimated at 500 SPECint92 and 600 transactions per second.

September
Digital introduces the Celebris family of performance-oriented desktop PCs.

The Celebris line was tailored for business professionals who wanted a customized and more powerful computing environment that was easily and quickly adaptable to meet their advanced business applications needs including management reporting, financial analysis, accounting, market analysis and research, and desktop publishing.

October
Digital introduces the Venturis family of desktop PCs for general business use.

The aggressively priced Venturis line was aimed at the volume purchaser in medium and large organizations. The Venturis line provided an optimum balance of graphics, disk subsystems and processors for basic office applications such as word processing, transaction processing, e-mail and communications.

The Network Systems Laboratory at Digital built and deployed the State of California Election Server which delivered the first live election returns over the Internet during a statewide election.

The California election site recorded over one million hits during a 24 hour period, a record at the time. For the first time, users including TV stations and newspapers were able to get live election returns via Internet feeds on down-to-the-wire races and ballot issues.

November
Digital introduces the GIGAswitch/ATM.

With the introduction of the GIGAswitch/ATM system and the ATMworks 750 adapter, Digital had the highest performance ATM products in the industry.

December
Digital introduces the HiNote Ultra.

Only 1-inch thick and weighing less than four pounds, the HiNote Ultra was the first portable computer to combine light weight with desktop functionality. In addition to its elegant size, the HiNote Ultra featured built-in infrared for wireless transmission and business audio for sound effects.

March
Digital ships the industry's first commercial high-performance FORTRAN compiler in DEC Fortran 90.

Developed to meet the needs of scientific and technical users who must manipulate large arrays of data, DEC Fortran 90 is specifically designed to allow optimum use of parallel and clusters computing resources.

April
Digital introduces the AlphaServer 8400, its most powerful computer system to date.

The AlphaServer 8400 supports up to twelve 21164 microprocessors and 14 gigabytes of memory, creating breakthroughs in very large database performance. With a peak throughput of 6.6 GF (gigaflops), the 8400 provides a viable alternative to supercomputers and mainframes.

April
Digital outlines its plan for virtual networking and the integration of LANs, WANs and ATM.

Digital's plan for virtual networking includes enVISN (Enterprise Virtual Intelligent Switched Networks). The enVISN architecture combines virtual LAN technology, distributed routing and high-speed switching with centralized, policy-based administration to create flexible virtual networks. A primary component of enVISN architecture is the DECswitch 900, left.

May
Digital announces the Affinity Program for OpenVMS. The Program helps customers implement the complementary strengths of OpenVMS and Windows NT.

The Affinity Program is an integrated systems environment which brings the bulletproof capabilities of OpenVMS to the world of Windows NT applications. The program includes new software, tools, middleware, and services from Digital and its partners that build on the natural affinity between OpenVMS and Windows NT -- making it increasingly easier to develop, deploy, and manage applications across both platforms.

May - June
Digital releases OpenVMS/VAX V6.2 and OpenVMS/Alpha V6.2.

Open VMS/VAX and OpenVMS/Alpha V6.2 supported new models of the AlphaServer 2100, 8200 and 8400. V6.2 featured automatic foreign commands (like UNIX PATH mechanism), RAID subsystem support, new DEC TCP/IP functions, OpenVMS management station, SCSI clusters, SCSI-2 tagged command queuing, and BACKUP manager - screen oriented interface.

August
Digital and Microsoft announce a strategic alliance to meet growing customer demand for Microsoft-based solutions and support in enterprise-wide computing.

The alliance combines Microsoft client/server products with Digital's leadership in enterprise systems, service, support and systems integration, and enables customers to deploy business solutions on Microsoft operating systems with assurance of integration into the most complex business environments. At left, Bill Gates and Bob Palmer announce the alliance.

November
Digital introduces FX!32.

FX!32 is an advanced software translation and emulation technology that provides Alpha users with transparent access to 32-bit Windows applications. The new software won BYTE magazine's prestigious "Best Technology" award at Fall COMDEX '95.

December
OpenVMS/VAX V7.0 and OpenVMS/Alpha V7.0 are released.

OpenVMS/VAX V7 and OpenVMS/Alpha V7 included features such as process affinities and capabilities from DCL, HYPERSORT High Performance SORT utility (for Alpha), integrated network and Internet support, a new MAIL utility, time zone and UTC support, kernel threads, spiralog high performance file system, dump file compression (for Alpha), and Wind/U and Fast Path highly optimized I/O.

December
Digital introduces AltaVista, the Internet's first "super spider" software.

AltaVista is the most advanced information search and indexing technology available for the World Wide Web. The software conducts the most comprehensive search of the entire Web text at speeds up to 100 times faster than spiders used in conventional information search services. At left is Louis Monier, lead engineer for the project.

January
Digital announces the Prioris ZX 5133MP superserver.

The Prioris ZX 5133MP is the premier product in a new line of Symmetric Multiprocessing (SMP) enterprise PC servers. The server is targeted at enterprise-class applications, which require the highest level of performance and reliability.

February
Digital announces the SA-110 StrongARM microprocessor.

The SA-110 StrongARM is the first processor to combine the performance of a supercomputer with power dissipation low enough to run on AA batteries. The new chips will power personal digital assistants (PDAs), electronic organizers, set-top boxes and video games.

March
Digital announces a new release of its industry-leading 64-bit operating system, Digital UNIX Version 4.0.

Among the new features in Digital UNIX V 4.0 are ease-of-use enhancements, greater application portability, networking advancements and overall performance and scalability improvements.

April
Digital is the first information technology sponsor for the 100^th running of the Boston Marathon.

For the 100^th running of the Boston Marathon, Digital created and maintained the WWW site sanctioned by the Boston Athletic Association (BAA) and furnished its latest technology to create a unique information system for the race. An RF chip on every runner's shoe provided race information that was tabulated and available on the BAA's information system. Here, Digital employee Bob Johnson runs for the finish line.

May
At a worldwide customer event broadcast live via Internet audio and video, Digital announces its strategy to accelerate the growth of the Internet as the environment of choice for cyberworkers.

Digital launched its entry into the Internet software business with details on an eagerly-anticipated family of fast and powerful search products based on AltaVista -- the leading search device on the World Wide Web. The first product announced is AltaVista Mail server software. AltaVista Mail provides departments and small enterprises with powerful, low-cost Internet mail capabilities which can be added to a web server or existing electronic mail software -- including the ability to mail multimedia documents over the Internet.

July
Digital announces 500MHz and 433MHz versions of its Alpha 21164 RISC microprocessor, strengthening its four-year claim to the world's fastest and highest-performance microprocessors.

With peak execution rates of up to 2 BIPS, these top-performing Alpha 21164 chips push the performance envelope for visual computing applications such as video conferencing, 3-D modeling, video editing, multimedia authoring, image rendering and animation.

July
The General Services Administration (GSA) of the Federal Government awards Digital MCS the contract for the remarketing, recycling, and environmentally-safe disposal of approximately one million pounds of obsolete computer equipment from government agencies.

From Digital's Resource Recovery Center in Contoocook, New Hampshire, outdated electronic equipment is re-used, recycled, converted from waste to electric energy, or disposed of in an environmentally-responsible manner. Digital processes 30 million pounds of electronic materials per year. Less than one-half of one percent of that goes to landfills.

July
Digital becomes the first computer company to operate an Internet Network Access Point (NAP) when it opens the Digital Internet Exchange in Palo Alto, California.

The Digital Internet Exchange is an Internet business utility for anyone doing business on the Internet. It is a mission-critical Internet access point or NAP, a Class A co-location facility for ISP and content providers with a full-time staff to provide 24x365 service. From this center, PAIX participants offer their customers comprehensive added value services such as web hosting, firewalls, and corporate intranets. Exchange statistics: more than 44 ISPs & content providers (7 from Asia & Europe); 5 telcos with a capacity to deliver 20 Gigabits/sec of circuits; the world’s longest OC-3 circuit (155Mbps) to connect to a NAP, plus agreements to deliver Digital Internet Exchanges in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and Baranquilla, Colombia.

November
Digital unveils the new Prioris HX 6000 series of 200 MHz Pentium Pro-based application servers.

The Prioris HX 6000 series is designed to deliver unequaled enterprise-quality manageability, availability, performance and scalability at compelling new price points. The new Prioris HX 6000 series is targeted at users of value-driven, business-critical applications in departmental or geographically dispersed sites.

December
OpenVMS/VAX V7.1 and OpenVMS/Alpha V7.1 are released.

OpenVMS/VAX and OpenVMS/Alpha V7.1 supported the AlphaServer 800 models 5/333 and 5/400. Features included pipes, Windows NT affinity, PPP protocol, Internet product suite, dump off system disk for Alpha, external authentication, 100BaseT fast Ethernet support (Alpha), memory channel high performance cluster interconnect, Very Large Memory (VLM) support, BACKUP API, CDE interface for DECwindows, 64 bit system services, and scheduling system services.

January
Digital announces a 9GB disk drive for use with the company’s high-performance StorageWorks RAID arrays for OEMs. The drive, configured in a single cabinet, provides OEMs with more than a terabyte of storage in only 7.75 square feet of floor space – the industry’s highest storage density.

The 9GB drive is ideal for data-intensive applications such as data warehousing, video-on-demand, imaging and the Internet because it more than doubles the storage capacity available in the same physical space, lowering overall costs associated with large configurations. The 9GB drive is part of the "StorageWorks for OEMs" family of products that offers the most scalable storage solutions for OEMs and integrators on the market.

January
Digital announces Client Support Service, a set of unique service plans that combine hardware support, software support, and personalized information services to meet the user's complete information-related needs.

Digital's Client Support Service addresses knowledge workers' ongoing information needs and provides the technology-enabled tools they need to do their jobs. Specific service plans are available to meet the support needs of the four types of clients typically found in today's business environment -- Enterprise, Knowledge, Mobile, and Power Clients. These plans are unique because they focus on the needs of these users, not just the devices employed.

February
Digital AltaVista Internet Software, Inc. announces a major new technology enhancement to the AltaVista Search service on the World Wide Web.

The new enhancement gives users a personal search assistant that dynamically categorizes the results from an AltaVista search, making results more accurate and current than competing services.

March
Digital announces Millicent, the first cybercommerce system that will allow millions of users to buy and sell information profitably down to fractions of a cent.

Millicent represents a completely new way to buy and sell content in very small amounts over the Internet. The new system makes it possible for online publishers to sell newspapers by the article, cartoons by the strip or music by the song. Software providers can use Millicent to sell Java applets and host-based applications on a per-use basis. Pictured is Millicent business development manager Stan Hayami.

June
With more than one million Microsoft Exchange seats under contract, Digital becomes the world’s leading provider of mail and messaging solutions to large global accounts.

Key advantages offered by Digital in migrating companies to Exchange include Digital AlphaServer systems with the industry’s highest throughput, availability, and reliability for mail and messaging, and a services division with more than 1,700 specialists trained to deploy Exchange in enterprise environments.

July
Digital's Mars Landing website provides the world's first live streaming webcast to over 1,000,000 viewers.

In what the New York Times heralded as a "defining moment in Multimedia Internet history," Digital delivered audio and video coverage of the Mars Pathfinder mission. The live webcast, using video streaming technology, constituted the first large-scale introduction of video without plug-ins and all in Java.

In 1998 Digital Equipment Corporation was acquired by Compaq Computer Corporation for $9.6 billion, the largest acquisition in the computer industry.