3 ms·

This is a good answer to another question: what is the oldest computer family/architecture still in use? I'm sure there are other contenders out there, especial

This is a good answer to another question: what is the oldest computer family/architecture still in use? I'm sure there are other contenders out there, especially with modern descendants of old architectures and different interpretations of the question. I'd be interested in hearing about others as well. I believe my employer's PDP-11 ran RSTS/E or some variant, and the software was written in BASIC by my current boss. There were a lot of operating systems available for the PDP-11 for a lot of different contexts (including UNIX).

paulmd 5y ago
Depending on how you delineate the families, the origins of x86 date back to 1972 (Intel 8008) and obviously x86 itself dates to 1978 ;) Z80 also dates back a really long time, and there is a ton of stuff that still uses Z80-family processors in many embedded applications (microwaves, calculators, etc). I realize neither of those are probably the absolute oldest, but this is going to hinge on what each commenter's exact definition of "families" and "still in use" are. Active development/new chips being released? Still in widespread legacy use? One-off legacy systems still hanging on in an industrial installation somewhere? In terms of what is the absolute oldest - again depending on your exact definition of "family", z/System is arguably the oldest computer family, you can trace a direct lineage back to punchcard tabulation programs, which date back into the 1880s. z/OS systems can run programs originally compiled for System/360, which was designed to be directly ported from plugboard programs for programmable tabulators, so in a "ship of theseus" sense that is likely the oldest computer family.
- klelatti 5y ago
  The 8008 ISA comes from the Datapoint 2200 which was released in 1971 - although work started earlier. Intel (and TI) were asked to develop single chip implementations which CTC never used. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Datapoint_2200 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Datapoint_2200

paulmd 5y ago

Depending on how you delineate the families, the origins of x86 date back to 1972 (Intel 8008) and obviously x86 itself dates to 1978 ;) Z80 also dates back a really long time, and there is a ton of stuff that still uses Z80-family processors in many embedded applications (microwaves, calculators, etc). I realize neither of those are probably the absolute oldest, but this is going to hinge on what each commenter's exact definition of "families" and "still in use" are. Active development/new chips being released? Still in widespread legacy use? One-off legacy systems still hanging on in an industrial installation somewhere? In terms of what is the absolute oldest - again depending on your exact definition of "family", z/System is arguably the oldest computer family, you can trace a direct lineage back to punchcard tabulation programs, which date back into the 1880s. z/OS systems can run programs originally compiled for System/360, which was designed to be directly ported from plugboard programs for programmable tabulators, so in a "ship of theseus" sense that is likely the oldest computer family.

klelatti 5y ago
The 8008 ISA comes from the Datapoint 2200 which was released in 1971 - although work started earlier. Intel (and TI) were asked to develop single chip implementations which CTC never used. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Datapoint_2200 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Datapoint_2200