[Info-vax] Continued development of PDP-10 architecture [was Re: Hard links on VMS ODS5 disks]

[terry-...@glaver.org]

On Thursday, July 27, 2023 at 4:20:25 PM UTC-4, Rich Alderson wrote:
> The follow-on, codenamed 
> "Jupiter", was supposed to be 2.5x a KL-10, but never got to even 2x in prototype. 
> 
> All of this was going on while the middle management in the VAX world was 
> promoting Bell's "one architecture for everything" dream, pulling personnel and 
> funding from the other product lines, contributing to the delays which were the 
> nominal reason for the cancellation of Jupiter. 

The Dolphin (KM-10 or KXF10 at various times) had hopes of being both a
KL-10 and a VAX: "Dolphin is an advanced computer system based on a new 
generation CPU incorporating Macro Cell Array technology. It is the logical 
successor to the KL-10 based PDP-10/20 system, and may well become the
high-end VAX system." That seems like an odd idea - the additional 4 bits in
registers, data paths and main memory would seem to be an unnecessary
expense in VAX mode. 

Later, LCG had 2 irons in the fire - Jupiter and Venus. Venus was closer to
getting out the door even though it didn't meet its design goals WRT perfor-
mance. It was released as the VAX 8600 (although somewhere around here 
I have a "VAX-11/790" masthead). The design got quite close to being able 
to meet its original performance goal - the 8600 -> 8650 upgrade only 
changed 2 boards and the console disk pack. The planned "mid-life kicker" 
(which would likely have been the VAX 8670) never happened. In fact, none 
of the 8x70 systems saw daylight, although someone supposedly had a field
test 8370.

LCG kept steaming on, full speed ahead, until it ran into an iceberg with the VAX
9000. Rumor had it that by then, the number of people in LCG who had been
there long enough to get a first-pass product out the door had dwindled to a
very small percentage of the people in the group. 

I remember being at a DECUS symposium where LCG had a mostly-empty
exhibit. I asked "So, what are you people up to, anyway?" and got a behind-
the-curtain view of a Multi-Chip Unit from an unspecified forthcoming
product. The packaging was truly bizarre and nothing at all like previous
DEC designs. It actually looked like something IBM would do.