32-bit Timeline

|  | Information Research Services | Updated: 18 September 1997

|  |  |  |  |  |  |  | April 1975: The VAX architecture committee meets for the first time.
|  |  |  |  |  |  |  | October 1977: Introduction of the VAX-11/780, the first member of the VAX computer family.
|  |  |  |  |  |  |  | February 1978: V1.0 of the VMS operating system ships.
|  |  |  |  |  |  |  | April 1980: VMS version 2.0 is released.
|  |  |  |  |  |  |  | October 1980: Introduction of the VAX-11/750.
|  |  |  |  |  |  |  | October 1981: VAX information architecture is introduced.
|  |  |  |  |  |  |  | April 1982: The VAX-11/730 is the third -- and at the time -- the lowest cost member of the VAX family.
|  |  |  |  |  |  |  | May 1983: DIGITAL announces VAXclusters.
|  |  |  |  |  |  |  | April 1984: DIGITAL announces the Rdb relational database management system.
|  |  |  |  |  |  |  | April 1984: Introduction of the VAX-11/785, the most powerful single computer to date in DIGITAL's VAX family.
|  |  |  |  |  |  |  | June 1984: DIGITAL introduces ULTRIX-32, the first native UNIX from DIGITAL for the VAX family of systems.
|  |  |  |  |  |  |  | October 1984: 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.
|  |  |  |  |  |  |  | October 1984: Introduction of the VAXstation I, the company's first 32-bit single-user workstation.
|  |  |  |  |  |  |  | January 1985: DIGITAL introduces VAX ACMS (Application, Control and Management System).
|  |  |  |  |  |  |  | May 1985: DIGITAL introduces the MicroVAX II.
|  |  |  |  |  |  |  | May 1985: The MicroVAX chip is announced for the MicroVAX II.
|  |  |  |  |  |  |  | December 1985: Introduction of the VAXstation II/GPX, DIGITAL's first technical workstation for the UNIX marketplace.
|  |  |  |  |  |  |  | January 1986: Introduction of the top-of-the-line VAX 8800 and the midrange VAX 8300 and VAX 8200.
|  |  |  |  |  |  |  | September 1986: Introduction of the VAXmate, a networked personal computer combining the resources of the VAX-VMS and MS-DOS operating systems.
|  |  |  |  |  |  |  | November 1986: DIGITAL introduces Local Area VAXcluster systems, extending distributed computing to the work group.
|  |  |  |  |  |  |  | January 1987: 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 1987: The VAXstation 2000 is introduced.
|  |  |  |  |  |  |  | September 1987: 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.
|  |  |  |  |  |  |  | April 1988: DIGITAL introduces the VAX 6000 system platform, based on the CVAX chip.
|  |  |  |  |  |  |  | April 1988: VMS version 5.0 is released.
|  |  |  |  |  |  |  | January 1989: Introduction of the VAX 6300 systems, DIGITAL's most powerful and expandable VAX systems in a single cabinet.
|  |  |  |  |  |  |  | October 1989: The VAX 9000 mainframe is introduced.
|  |  |  |  |  |  |  | February 1990: Adding fault-tolerant technology to the VAX family, DIGITAL introduces the VAXft 3000 system.
|  |  |  |  |  |  |  | October 1990: The Mariah chip set ships in the VAX 6500.
|  |  |  |  |  |  |  | October 1990: DIGITAL announces its intention to " open VMS".
|  |  |  |  |  |  |  | November 1991: The NVAX chip, DIGITAL's fourth VAX microprocessor, is implemented in 0.75-micrometer CMOS technology and ships in the VAX 6600.
|  |  |  |  |  |  |  | July 1992: DIGITAL announces the VAX 7000.