Dick Hustvedt - VMS

VMS

OpenVMS, originally called VMS (Virtual Memory System), was first conceived in 1976 as a new operating system for the then-new, 32-bit, virtual memory line of computers, eventually named VAX (Virtual Address eXtension). The first VAX model, the 11/780, was code-named "Star", hence the code name for the VMS operating system, "Starlet", a name that remains to this day the name for the system library files (STARLET.OLB, etc.). VMS version X0.5 was the first released to customers, in support of the hardware beta test of the VAX-11/780, in 1977. VAX/VMS Version V1.0 shipped in 1978, along with the first revenue-ship 11/780s.

OpenVMS was designed entirely within Digital Equipment Corporation. The principal designers were Dave Cutler and Dick Hustvedt, with a wide variety of other contributors. OpenVMS was conceived as a 32-bit, virtual memory successor to the RSX-11M operating system for the PDP-11. Many of the original designers and programmers of OpenVMS had worked previously on RSX-11M, and many concepts from RSX-11M were carried over to OpenVMS.

OpenVMS VAX is a 32-bit, multitasking, multiprocessing virtual memory operating system. Current implementations run on VAX systems from HP and other vendors.

OpenVMS Alpha is a 64-bit multitasking, multiprocessing virtual memory operating system. Current implementations run on Alpha systems from HP, and other vendors.

OpenVMS IA64 is a 64-bit multitasking, multiprocessing virtual memory operating system. Current implementations run on Itanium 2 systems from HP, and other vendors.

In March 1975, a small aggressive development task force was formed to propose a 32-bit PDP-11 architecture. The team included representation from marketing, systems architecture, software, and hardware. The company formed a group that became known as “The Blue Ribbon Committee” that included three hardware engineers: Bill Strecker, Richie Lary, and Steve Rothman, and three software engineers: Dick Hustvedt, Dave Cutler, and Peter Lippman.