What ever happened to Tandem and NonStop OS 2098

Precisely. That's what OEM's did. I earned quite a good living doing exactly that on a small scale. There was Intergraph, and Systime, and Olivetti, and Plessey... Lots of people made general purpose computers and specialised hardware using smaller than complete systems, such as the various SBCs with J-11 and LSI-11 chipsets.

Eric, your head is wedged. What difference does it make if the computer (sub)system was 1cc or 1 cubic metre? There is more support stuff on-chip or near-chip on today's toy computers than on most VAXes ever built, no matter how many rooms they filled.

Nobody with more than one brain cell ever used 'maxi'. It is worse than pluralising VAX to VAXen. It means precisely nothing.

VAX was a mini, pure and simple. VMS was-is a mini-computer operating system, pure and simple. You could use it as a workstation, but just like the unix workstations of its day, each were mini-computers having a quiet time on holiday.

Like you, I'm really sorry DEC went breasts-up. I wish I understood why and how. I would have been a far better businessman if I did.

I used to work there, when Ken was god. It was the fairest, most competent company on the planet for a while.

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