DEC Hardware & Software Timelines

Here's a timeline of machines & software produced by DEC upto the mid 90's (from Digital At Work, 1992 and other sources):

18-Bit Family Timeline

1960 PDP-1, Digital's first 18-bit computer

1963 PDP-4

1964 PDP-7, uses flip chip modules, used by Ritchie and Thompson to develop UNIX

1966 PDP-9, program compatible with PDP-7

1972 MUMPS-15 (Massachusetts General Hospital Utility Microprogramming System), PDP-15 based timesharing system designed to handle medical records, still in use

1979 PDP-1 with working Spacewar! game installed at The Computer Museum, Boston

1988 A PDP-1 system (serial no. 44) is saved from a barn in Wichita, Kansas, and donated to the Digital Historical Collection

 

12-Bit Family Timeline

1962 Laboratory Instrument Computer (LINC) developed at MIT

1963 PDP-5, Digital's first 12-bit computer

1965 "Classic" PDP-8, world's first mass-producted minicomputer

1966 LINC-8 combines LINC and PDP-8 processors

1967 PDP-8 systems manufactured in Reading, England. Annual sales: $38 million

1968 LAB-8, small, general-purpose laboratory package. TS/8 timesharing software. PDP-8/i, integrated circuit version of the PDP-9. PDP-8/L

1969 PDP-12, third member of the LINC family

1970 PDP-8/E features OMNIBUS synchronous bus for bidirectional communications between system elements. TABS-8 newspaper application

1971 PDP-8/M, OEM version of 8/E

1972 PDP-8/F

1974 PDP-8/A miniprocessor. PDP-8/A package allows OEMs choice of memory type and quantity

1976 PDP-8/A 600 series. WPS-8 word-processing software. CMOS-8 chip

1977 VT78, complete PDP-8 system in a terminal, uses the CMOS-8 chip, anticipating the DECmate series. WS 102, multiuser WPS

1982 DECmate II word processor

1984 DECmate III

 

36-Bit Family Timeline

1964 PDP-6, Digital's first large, 36-bit computer

1966 PDP-10 succeeds PDP-6. Model KA10, first Digital large system in production

1971 First DECsystem-10

1972 DECsystem-10 line offers unrivaled expansion. KI10 model offers high performance in scientific and real-time applications. TOPS-10 operating system

1975 KL10 introduced as two new DECsystem-10 models, 1080 and 1090

1976 DECSYSTEM-20, lowest-priced commercial timesharing system. DECsystem-1088 and DUAL 1080, most powerful Digital systems to date

1977 DECsystem-2050 and fill line of peripheral systems. TOPS-20 operating system

1983 Digital stops developing DECsystem-10 and DECsystem-20 systems. Continues support by converting users to VAX -based solutions

 

PDP-11 Family Timeline

1970 PDP-11/20, first of the PDP-11 series of compatible systems, first UNIBUS product

1972 PDP-11/05, better price/performance for OEM low-end utilisation. PDP-11/10, end-user version of 11/05, for data acquisition and industrial control applications. PDP-11/45, fastest in its price range, uses three types of primary memory

1973 PDP-11/40, PDP-11/35

1974 PDP-11/04

1975 PDP-11/03, LSI-11, "computer on a board" incorporates Large Scale Integration (LSI) technology. PDP-11/70 internal cache-memory design

1976 PDP-11/34, PDP-11/55. PDP-11/150, Programmable Data Terminal, first terminal-based PDP-11 system, based on the LSI-11 board

1977 LSI-11/2: LSI-11 in half the size. PDP-11/60, PDP-11/74

1978 PDT-11/110, /130, packaged inside the new VT100 terminal

1979 F-11 chip set. MicroPDP-11/23, minicomputer performance and software in micro-sized package, runs RSX-11M operating system. PDP-11/44

1981 PDP-11/24, entire computer central processor on single 8x10 circuit board. GIGI, low cost-graphics generator uses the LSI-11 board. T-11 chip, first chip-level PDP-11

1982 Professional 300, 325, 350 personal computers, the "Personal PDP-11". J-11, a PDP-11/70 in two microprocessor chips

1983 MicroPDP-11/73

1984 PDP-11/84, Professional 380

1985 MicroPDP-11/83

1986 MicroPDP-11/53

1987 MicroPDP-11/53+

1990 MicroPDP-11/93, MicroPDP-11/94

 

PDP-11 Software Timeline

1970 RSTS-11, timesharing operating system

1971 MUMPS-15. DOS-11

1972 MUMPS-11. Typeset-11. timesharing application for typesetting

1973 RSX-11D, real-time system for online data acqusition, monitoring, and control. RSTS/E, timesharing operating system for educaction and computation centre environments. FORTRAN-11

1974 RSX-11M, real-time operating system for data acqusition and control. RT-11. IAS, Interative Application System

1978 DSM-11

1979 RSX-11 M-PLUS

1982 MicroPower/Pascal

 

VAX Timeline

1975 Digital's 32-bit system first proposed

1976 VAX program office established. Starlet (VMS) project begins

1977 Digital's first 32-bit computer, the VAX-11/780

1979 Venus, VAX 8600 project begins

1980 VAX-11/750, the industry's first 32-bit minicomputer, uses Large Scale Integration (LSI) technology

1981 Gemini/Nautilus (VAXBI) project begins. VAX-11/782, first dual-processor VAX

1982 VAX-11/730, first single-cabinet VAX

1983 VAXcluster systems, loosely linked multiprocessor concept. MicroVAX I, VAX-11/725

1984 VAX-11/785, most powerful VAX to date. 25,000 VAX computers shipped. VAX 8600, first new-generation VAX, Digital's highest-performance system to date. VAXstation I

1985 MicroVAX II, industry's most powerful superminicomputer, and VAXstation II extend VAX power to single-chip personal-size systems. VAX 8650. VAXstation 500

1986 VAXBI-based systems: 8200, 8300, 8800. VAX 8800, most powerful Digital system to date. Digital's first ECL multiprocessor. VAXmate. VAXstation II/GPX. VAX 8500, VAX 8550, VAX 8700

1987 VAX 8978, with up to 50 times the power of VAX-11/780. VAX 8974. 100,000 VAX computers shipped. VAXstation 2000. MicroVAX 2000. VAX 8250. VAX 8350. VAX 8530. MicroVAX 3500/3600. VAXstation 3200/3500

1988 VAX 8840, first 4-processor VAX runs symmetric multiprocessor (SMP). VAX 6200 series: VAX 6210, VAX 6220, VAX 6230, VAX 6240 - first small system to run SMP.

1989 VAXstation 3100. MicroVAX 3800/3900. MicroVAX 3100. VAX 6000, -200, -300, -400 series. VAX 9000 series

1990 MicroVAX 3100e, VAXstation 3100-76, VAX 4000-300, VAX 6000, -400, -500 series. VAXft Model 310, fault-tolerant VAX. VAX 9000 series expands by 10 servers.

1991 Four new VAXft models extend high availablity. VAX 4000 triples previous model's performance. VAX 6000 Model 600 doubles previous model's performance. 15,000 VAX 6000 systems sold.

 

VAX/Alpha Software Timeline

1977 V1.0 of VMS released

1978 VMS Version 2.0 released

1982 VMS Version 3.0 released

1984 Digital introduces ULTRIX-32, the first native UNIX from DIGITAL for the VAX family of systems.

1984 VMS V4 ships

1985 VMS V4.4 ships

1988 VMS V5 is released

1989 VMS V5.2 ships with DECwindows

1990 VMS V5.4 ships

1991 VMS V5.5

1992 OpenVMS/AXP V1.0 released as part of its Alpha family of products

1993 DIGITAL ships OSF/1 UNIX for Alpha systems

1993 OpenVMS/VAX V6.0 shipped

1994 OpenVMS/VAX V6.1 & OpenVMS/Alpha V6.1 ships. OSF/1 V3.0 ships.

1995 OpenVMS/VAX V6.2 & OpenVMS/Alpha V6.2.

1995 OpenVMS/VAX V7.0 & OpenVMS/Alpha V7.0 released.

1996 Digital UNIX Version 4.0.

1996 OpenVMS/VAX V7.1 & OpenVMS/Alpha V7.1 released.