[Info-vax] Final Orace release on VMS.

[Arne Vajhøj]

On 11/15/2020 8:35 PM, Bill Gunshannon wrote:
> On 11/15/20 8:15 PM, Arne Vajhøj wrote:
>> On 11/15/2020 7:53 PM, Bill Gunshannon wrote:
>>> On 11/15/20 12:37 PM, Scott Dorsey wrote:
>>>> Phillip Helbig (undress to reply) <helbig at asclothestro.multivax.de> 
>>>> wrote:
>>>>> In article <i1cslrF4e2jU1 at mid.individual.net>, Bill Gunshannon
>>>>> <bill.gunshannon at gmail.com> writes:
>>>>>
>>>>>> Laugh if you will, but, actually, there is a business case for 
>>>>>> desktop
>>>>>> to data-center.
>>>>>
>>>>> Back when DEC used that slogan, it were a very successful company.
>>>>
>>>> This is true, but they were also selling totally different and 
>>>> incompatible
>>>> systems for the desktop and the data center.  In fact, they had 
>>>> several totally
>>>> incompatble desktop systems competing against one another, which I 
>>>> suspect
>>>> is why it stopped being so successful.
>>>>
>>>> They were not promoting one system from desktop to data center, just 
>>>> one
>>>> vendor.
>>>
>>> Huh?  Big VAX in the datacenter running VMS. VS3100 on the desktop
>>> running VMS?  It's what I had working at the University.  As well
>>> as X-terminals connecting to the big VAX for the students.  The same
>>> could be done with Alpha, probably Itanium (I  have never used one
>>> so I won't say for sure) and x86-64 when it gets here.  But, we all
>>> know it won't.  Just saying it was done and it could be done again.
>>
>> He may have been referring to the fact that DEC sold:
>> * VAX stations
>> * X terminals
> 
> Selling the items below doesn't remove the functionality of
> the items above.

True.

But it shows that DEC was not just pushing the same OS from
data center to desktop - they were pushing all sorts of stuff
on desktop.

>> * DECMate II/III
>> * PRO
>> * Rainbow
>> * DECPC (rebranded Olivetti PC)
>> * Digital PC
> 
> What killed it was DEC deciding to not keep the GUI components
> of VMS as up to date as they were trying to do with VMS.

I suspect that both the price tag and the lack of common
software also played a role.

> Just out of curiosity, I wonder at what version of VMS the last
> serious update to X-11 and DECWindows actually occurred.

Will obviously depend on what is considered serious.

But CDE in VMS 7.1 in 1996 comes to my mind.

I doubt anything has happened in this millennium
(I do not count the I64 port).

Arne