Office Computer OS

Brief History｜ Makers｜

year/month Timeline
1961　 Unoke Electronic Industries completed the USAC 3010 and 5010, the first USAC branded office computers, which came with a machine-language programming language (with symbolic instructions) and functions that supported paper-tape-based data processing
1968/01 Mitsubishi Electric included the COOL programming environment on its first office computer, the MELCOM 81
1968/04 Toshiba announced software for the TOSBAC-1100E, the first domestic ultra-small computer that used diode-transistor logic ICs
1970/04 Fujitsu announced SPIRAL, the firm’s first operating system for small computers, together with the FACOM 230-15; SPIRAL offered a paging function that utilized an internal magnetic drum unit
1970　 Hitachi announced software for the HITAC-1, a full-featured billing machine
1973/01 Toshiba announced software for the TOSBAC-1350, which featured a magnetic disk drive
1973/08 NEC announced the NEAC System 100 office computer, started shipping the office computers in October 1973, and started shipping the NEAC System 100 COBOL with a program loader, application development tools, and various utilities in February 1974
1973　 Hitachi announced software for the HITAC 5 and 55, which were based on magnetic cards
1974/04 Toshiba announced software for the TOSBAC-1150 System VI sheet-file system, the first domestic office computer based on floppy disk drive
1974/08 Fujitsu announced UNIOS/F1, the first version of the UNIOS operating system for the FACOM V series; UNIOS/F1 covered a broad range of applications including batch processes, billing processes, data entry processes, and online processes
1974/09 Mitsubishi Electric completed AOS, the company’s first office-computer operating system for the MELCOM 80 Model 31
1975/12 Fujitsu announced BMOS, the operating system for the FACOM Bm small office computer; BMOS emphasized compactness and billing processing performance as a standalone machine and offered the functionality to be a billing computer, a branch computer, or a terminal computer
1976/08 Oki Electric announced the OKITAC System 9 models 3, 5, and 7 that were loaded with the BOS/F and BOS/D operating systems
1977/01 Fujitsu announced UNIOS/F2 and UNIOS/F4 as more advanced versions of UNIOS/F1 in keeping with more powerful FACOM V series machines; UNIOS/F2 could run two simultaneous jobs, and UNIOS/F4 could run four simultaneous jobs
1977/05 Toshiba announced MIGHTY, which systematically made considerations for a man-machine interface that emphasized user-friendliness by using a CRT display, data files that incorporated a database concept, online functions that supported distributed processing and wide-area information processing, languages that supported these features, file management, and program generation
1977/09 Mitsubishi Electric announced DPS, a multitasking operating system for the MELCOM 80 Model 38
1977/12 NEC started shipping the OS-4 multiwork system, an operating system capable of multiprocessing, which provided file and printer sharing functions necessary for billing processes and which could run programs larger than the physical memory by rolling application program fields in and out of the internal disk
1977　 Hitachi announced the L-320/PS, which supported Record Format Descriptor (RFD), a simplified programming language for data entry and form generation processes
1978/05 Mitsubishi Electric completed DPS II, an operating system with a virtual address space for the MELCOM 80 models 18, 28, and 38
1978/05 Toshiba added a kanji-character processing function to MIGHTY at the operating system level to create Japan’s first kanji-enabled office computer
1978/08 Toshiba implemented a network-based database function and DPNET, which made it possible to access computer resources on a network without requiring any network configurations, and divided programming from print and screen report formats, on a computer that had both the functions of a multitasking office computer and of an intelligent terminal connectable to any host
1978/09 NEC announced ITOS, the first domestic interactive operating system, started shipping ITOS with full Japanese language functionality to serve the broadening needs for Japanese language in February 1980, and created a family of ITOS operating systems in April 1981 in order to cover small and medium-sized systems as demand from internal departments grew for system size variations
1979/04 Fujitsu announced CPS80, the operating system for FACOM System 80, a series of small computers with enhanced networked workstation features; CPS80 focused on simplifying task processes done in actual offices and offered both Japanese language support and display-based menu operation
1979/05 Oki Electric announced enhanced OKITAC System 9 functionality and the pen touch series, which developed into the kanji-character series in 1980
1980/03 Mitsubishi Electric announced DPS III, a Japanese language operating system for the MELCOM 80 models 18, 28, and 38
1982/10 Oki Electric announced OKITAC System 9 models 200, 300, 500, and 700 loaded with CROS, an operating system with improved real-time performance
1982/10 Mitsubishi Electric completed DPS IV, which expanded the program execution space to 1 MB, for the MELCOM 80 Model 48
1982/11 Mitsubishi Electric announced DPS 10, the first UNIX-based office-computer operating system, for the Model 500, a 32-bit machine in the MELCOM 80 series
1983/04 Hitachi announced MIOS3, which could be used in conjunction with MIOS7 depending on the office size
1983/04 Hitachi announced MIOS7, which supported interactive processes from workstations and program-less report processing
1984/04 NEC began shipping ITOS-4(V) with the ITOS-RDB relational database, and upgraded the integrated office system in ITOS-4(V) in October 1985
1984/05 Fujitsu announced two new operating systems — CSP/F1 (for small machines) and CSP/F3 (for medium-sized machines) — along with the announcement of the FACOM K series; CSP/F5 was added later for large machines; the three operating systems supported a wide range of office tasks, from standalone configurations to host connectivity, against the backdrop of the client-server era
1984/12 Toshiba announced the “total OA processor,” which aimed to sweepingly automate offices while covering both small and large applications with a single architecture; the operating system offered full-fledged image processing, with image processing workstations and facsimile communications control, in addition to office automation functions (tabulations, document creation, graphing, etc.)
1986/10 Hitachi announced MIOS7/ES, an operating system that supported office automation integrated with multimedia, vertical distribution with host computers, and horizontal distribution between office computers
1986/10 Hitachi announced MIOS3/ES, the successor to MIOS3 and designed for routine task processing, and MIOS/PC, designed for office automation tasks
1987/05 NEC started shipping ITOS-VX, an operating system that maintained user program consistency from standalone systems to large-scale systems (with up to 240 terminals), enhanced its PC Server data connectivity function between office computers and client computers in May 1988 as client computers (MS-DOS machines) became more widespread, and enhanced its PC-RDB Server data connectivity function in December 1988
1987/09 Toshiba launched a series of 32-bit-architecture multipurpose computers with multiple CPUs, and high-speed disk controllers for company-wide high-speed information processing (core business systems); the operating system supported VNET — a horizontal/vertical distributed processing function, RDB/V — a relational database, and OSI, among other functions, offered improved software development tools, and used micro-mainframe linkage with a J-3100 laptop computer as a terminal
1988/04 Hitachi announced MIOS3/ES2, which combined MIOS3/ES and MIOS/PC
1988/10 Fujitsu announced UNIOS/F2 and UNIOS/F4 as more advanced versions of UNIOS/F1 in keeping with more powerful FACOM V series machines; UNIOS/F2 could run two simultaneous jobs, and UNIOS/F4 could run four simultaneous jobs
1989/11 Hitachi announced MIOS7/AS, which supported autonomous distribution, intelligent form recognition, and image processing
1989/11 Hitachi announced MIOS3/AS, which supported multiple workstations and remote workstations
1990/03 Toshiba was able to cover a wide performance range with a single operating system architecture and, using a cluster configuration called an add-on enhancement, was able to achieve a 50-times performance range; the company also made it possible to expand systems at the user’s premises as task volumes and database capacities increased (field upgrades) and realized an OLTP function that distributed transaction processes between computers on a network
1990/10 NEC started shipping A-VX, an operating system that could be used to construct large-scale (up to 640 terminals) strategic information systems (SIS), and provided a LAN Manager server function (LM/A-VX) for communicating with the LAN Manager network operating system
1992/10 Fujitsu announced two new operating systems — CSP/F1 (for small machines) and CSP/F3 (for medium-sized machines) — along with the announcement of the FACOM K series; CSP/F5 was added later for large machines; the three operating systems supported a wide range of office tasks, from standalone configurations to host connectivity, against the backdrop of the client-server era
1993/05 NEC started shipping A-VX II, an operating system that met the needs of even larger systems (up to 2,400 terminals)
1993/12 Hitachi announced MIOS7/AS2, which supported distributed development of client-server applications
1994/07 Mitsubishi Electric announced DP-UX, an operating system for the RX7000 solution servers, which greatly enhanced the client server functions of the MELCOM 80 series
1995/07 NEC started shipping A-VX III, an operating system that provided connectivity with Windows NT application software while maintaining user assets from previous office servers, to meet the growth of open platforms
1996/04 Toshiba made it possible for users to select hardware components to construct the optimal system configuration for their business processes
1997/10 NEC started shipping A-VX IV, an operating system that provided connectivity with Windows NT application software while continuing to use office server assets, enhanced the Database Replicator, which made a copy of A-VX relational databases in open database formats (Oracle or SQL servers), in November 1998, and enhanced the Open Database Access kit, which enabled legacy applications to directly access open database formats (Oracle or SQL servers), in July 2000

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