1977
The introduction of semiconductor memory in the early 1970s, and especially dynamic RAM shortly thereafter, led to dramatic reductions in the price of memory as the effects of Moore's Law were felt. Within years, it was common to equip a machine with all the memory it could address, typically 64 KB on 16-bit machines.
This led vendors to introduce new designs with the ability to address more memory, often by extending the address format to 18 or 24 bits in machines that were otherwise similar to their earlier 16-bit designs. In contrast, DEC decided to make a more radical departure. In 1976, they began the design of a machine whose entire architecture was expanded from the 16-bit PDP-11 to a new 32-bit basis. This would allow the addressing of very large memories, which were to be controlled by a new virtual memory system, and would also improve performance by processing twice as much data at a time. The system would, however, maintain compatibility with the PDP-11, by operating in a second mode that sent its 16-bit words into the 32-bit internals, while mapping the PDP-11's 16-bit memory space into the larger virtual 32-bit space.
The result was the VAX architecture, where VAX stands for Virtual Address eXtension (from 16 to 32 bits). The first computer to use a VAX CPU was the VAX-11/780, announced in October 1977, which DEC referred to as a superminicomputer. Although it was not the first 32-bit minicomputer, the VAX-11/780's combination of features, price, and marketing almost immediately propelled it to a leadership position in the market after it was released in 1978. VAX systems were so successful that in 1983, DEC canceled its Jupiter project, which had been intended to build a successor to the PDP-10 mainframe, and instead focused on promoting the VAX as the single computer architecture for the company.
Supporting the VAX's success was the VT52, one of the most successful smart terminals. Building on earlier less successful models, the VT05 and VT50, the VT52 was the first terminal that did everything one might want in a single inexpensive chassis. The VT52 was followed by the even more successful VT100 and its follow-ons, making DEC one of the largest terminal vendors in the industry. This was supported by a line of inexpensive computer printers, the DECwriter line. With the VT and DECwriter series, DEC could now offer a complete top-to-bottom system from computer to all peripherals, which formerly required collecting the required devices from different suppliers. The VAX processor architecture and family of systems evolved and expanded through several generations during the 1980s, culminating in the NVAX microprocessor implementation and VAX 7000/10000 series in the early 1990s.
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 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.
1978
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 V 1.0.
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 development 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.
1979
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.
1980
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.
1981
Last update 19-09-2026 ... to be continued ...
