minicomputer

computer A computer built between about 1963 and 1987,

smaller and less powerful than a mainframe, typically about

the size and shape of a wardrobe, mounted in a single tall

rack.

Minicomputers were characterised by short word lengths of 8

to 32 bits, limited hardware and software facilities and

small physical size. Their low cost made them suitable for a

wide variety of applications such as industrial control, where

a small, dedicated computer which is permanently assigned to

one application, is needed. In recent years, improvements in

device technology have resulted in minicomputers which are

comparable in performance to large second generationcomputers and greatly exceed the performance of firstgeneration computers.

The processor was typically built using low integration logic

integrated circuits - TTL or maybe ECL, thus

distinguishing it from a microcomputer which is built around

a microprocessor - a processor on a single (or maybe a few)

ICs.

DEC's PDP-1 was the first minicomputer and their PDP-11

was the most successful, closely followed (in both time and

success) by the VAX (which DEC called a "superminicomputer").

Another early minicomputer was the LINC developed at MIT in

1963.

Other minicomputers were the AS/400, the PRIME series, the

AP-3, Olivetti's Audit 7 and the Interdata 8/32.

[Others?]