Time-sharing system evolution

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Main article: time-sharing

The following tables provide links to major early time-sharing operating systems, showing their subsequent evolution.

• To avoid listing every multi-user system ever built (including virtually every system in use today), the goal here is to list:
  • Influential systems
  • Built between 1960-1990
• For clarity, the direct successors of these systems are also included, as well as several important interactive systems that, although not multi-user, had an impact on user interface design.
• Family relationships have been shown where practical, to help structure the tables. However, the intent is to provide a simple, compact set of links to all these systems – not to illustrate every relationship. See each system's main article for further details; all had many direct and indirect influences.

About the term time-sharing:

In the 1960s, time-sharing was a new concept, a departure from the batch processing approach previously used with computers. The idea of an individual user being able to initiate a computer job at a particular time, and to see results immediately, was regarded as strange – and probably wasteful. Computers were very expensive, and individual users had to conform to the computer's schedule, not vice versa. Time-sharing systems were thus a major change and, for a generation, represented a distinct category of operating system. Famous political battles were waged at IBM and elsewhere over this issue. Today, of course, virtually all operating systems are time-sharing systems.

[edit] Time-sharing system families

See details and additional systems in the table below. Relationships shown here are for the purpose of grouping entries and do not reflect all influences (e.g. OS/2 was more influenced by VAX/VMS than by MS-DOS, but its legacy is as an x86 platform).

Family tree of major time-sharing operating system families
Influences:    → derivation    >> strong influence    > some influence/precedence

CTSS >
	Major IBM mainframe time-sharing systems
	CP-40/CMS → CP[-67]/CMS →	VM/370 → VM/XA versions → VM/ESA → z/VM
		VP/CSS
	TSS/360
	OS/MVT-TSO → OS/VS2-TSO → MVS-TSO → z/OS-TSO
	Transactional systems: CICS, TPF → z/TPF
	Third party platforms: MTS, MUSIC/SP
	The MULTICS/UNIX family
	MULTICS >> UNIX family >> Linux
	Major DEC time-sharing systems
	TOPS-10 > TENEX >> TOPS-20
	RSTS/E
	RSX-11M >> VAX/VMS → VMS → OpenVMS
	x86 interactive platforms
	CP/M >> QDOS → MS-DOS →	Windows 3.x	→ Microsoft Windows
		OS/2

[edit] System descriptions and relationships

Important time-sharing and interactive systems, 1960-1990 (and successors); listed alphabetically

Influences:    → derivation    >> strong influence    > some influence/precedence
System	Platform	Dates in use	Developer	Description	Influences: from→   →to
ACP	S/360 and S/370	1965-1979	IBM	High-performance mainframe transaction platform used in SABRE and PARS	→TPF→z/TPF
APL ("A Programming Language," also "Iverson's Language")	System/360, others later	1964-present	Kenneth Iverson	Mathematically-oriented language and interactive environment, noted for incredible terseness and powerful set processing operators
CP-40/CMS	customized S/360-40	1967-1972?	IBM's Cambridge Scientific Center	First implementation of full virtualization	CTSS > →CP-67
CICS	S/3x0	1969-present	IBM	Ubiquitous mainframe transaction platform; often used with 3270 terminals and COBOL
CP-67/CMS	IBM System/360-67	(1967-1975?)	IBM's Cambridge Scientific Center	Influential precursor to IBM's VM series, widely distributed as open source	CP-40→ →VP/CSS →VM/370
CP/M	Intel 8080 and related processors	1976-1989?	Gary Kildall	A widely used pre-MS-DOS microcomputer system	TOPS-10 > CP/CMS > >> QDOS → MS-DOS
CTSS ("Compatible Time Sharing System")	modified IBM 7094	1961-1973	MIT Computation Center	First-generation "grandfather" of time-sharing systems	FMS > >> CP-40 >>Multics >>ITS > [numerous other systems]
DTSS ("Dartmouth Time Sharing System")	GE 200	1964-1999	Dartmouth College	Early time-sharing system running Dartmouth BASIC and other tools; the first commercial time-sharing system	FMS > >> CP-40 >>Multics >>ITS > [numerous other systems]
ITS ("Incompatible Timesharing System")	PDP-6, PDP-10	1968?-1990	MIT Artificial Intelligence Laboratory	"Subversive" operating system developed to counter direction of CTSS, the original platform for TECO (parent of EMACS, Macsyma, and other important applications	CTSS > > [numerous later systems]
Linux	ubiquitous	1991-present	Linus Torvalds, GNU project, open source	Operating system dominating current open source activities	UNIX >> minix>> > [numerous other systems]
LISP systems	ubiquitous	1958-present	John McCarthy, many others	Important platform used to build many interactive environments	→ [InterLISP]] >>Scheme >> [numerous other systems]
Microsoft Windows	x86, IA64, others	1985-present	Microsoft	Ubiquitous GUI operating system	MS-DOS >> OS/2 >> VMS >> Smalltalk >>
MS-DOS	x86, IA64, others	1981-2000 (but still in use)	Microsoft	Ubiquitous command-line operating system, delivered as PC-DOS on IBM PC computers	QDOS → CP/M >> >> FreeDOS
MULTICS	GE 645	1969-2000	Project MAC	Rich, important system	CTSS >> >> UNIX >> [many other systems]
MVS/TSO	System/370 and successors	??-??	IBM	Probably the most widely-used version of TSO	CTSS > TSS/360 >
NOS	most CDC platforms	??-??	Control Data Corporation	System used on most CDC machines	KRONOS >>
ORVYL	IBM 9672	1967-??	Stamford University	Early time-sharing system; source of the WYLBUR editor later used on System/370 platforms
OS/2	x86	??-present	IBM/Microsoft	Joint OS effort, now moribund	VMS >> → Windows NT
OS/8	PDP-8	??-??	DEC	Simple minicomputer OS
ROSCOE	System/360 and successors	1967?-??	Applied Data Research (ADR)	Early time-sharing editor environment, often used as an alternative to TSO[1]
RSTS/E	PDP-11	??-??	DEC	General-purpose time-sharing for the PDP-11
RSX-11M	PDP-11	??-??	DEC	Real-time operating system for the PDP-11	>> VMS
Smalltalk	Xerox Alto, later made portable	1972-present	Xerox PARC, successors	Seminal system for experimental programming, responsible for many modern user interface concepts	>> Apple Lisa >> Apple Macintosh >> Microsoft Windows >> [all GUI platforms]
TENEX	PDP-10	??-??	Bolt Beranek and Newman	Influential system widely used at research and government sites	>> TOPS-20 >> VMS
TOPS-10	PDP-10	??-??	DEC	Widely used at research and academic sites	> TENEX >> CP/M
TOPS-20	DECsystem 20	??-??	DEC	Successor to TOPS-10 but more like TENEX	TENEX > TOPS-10 >
TPF	S/3x0	1979-present	IBM	High-performance mainframe transaction platform, successor to ACP	ACP→ →z/TPF
TSS/360	IBM System/360-67	1967-1971	IBM	IBM's original "official" time-sharing system; not a success	CTSS >
UNIX and derivative systems	ubiquitous	1969-present	Bell Laboratories and successors	Ultimately dominated operating system thought, in both proprietary and open-source descendants	Multics >> >> Linux
VM/370 (1972-1988):	System/370	1972-1988	IBM	Proprietary reimplementation of CP/CMS	CP-40→CP-67→ →VM/ESA→z/VM
VMS and OpenVMS	VAX/VMS, Itanium, DEC Alpha	??-??	DEC	Popular DEC operating system	TENEX> RSX/11M >>Windows NT >>OS/2
VP/CSS	IBM System/360-67, System/370 and successors	1968-1986?	National CSS	Proprietary fork of CP/CMS developed by a time-sharing vendor	CP/CMS→
WYLBUR	System/370 and successors	??-??	Stamford University	Popular editor system originally from ORVYL, used under OS/VS as an alternative to TSO
z/TPF	z/Series	2005-present	IBM	IBM's latest incarnation of TPF	ACP→TPF→
z/VM	zSeries and successors	2000-present	IBM	IBM's latest incarnation of CP/CMS/VM	CP-40→...→VM/ESA→
z/OS-TSO	z/Series and successors	??-??	IBM	The current implementation of TSO	MVS/TSO →

[edit] References

See also History of CP/CMS for many period details and sources.