| History of computing |
| Hardware before 1960 |
| Hardware 1960s to present |
| Hardware in Soviet Bloc countries |
| Artificial intelligence |
| Computer science |
| Operating systems |
| Programming languages |
| Software engineering |
| Graphical user interface |
| Internet |
| Personal computers |
| Laptops |
| Video games |
| World Wide Web |
Timeline of computing
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The history of computing hardware in the former Soviet Bloc is somewhat different from that of the Western world. As a result of the CoCom embargo, computers could not be imported in a large scale from capitalist countries. All computer hardware produced in the socialist countries was either designed locally or had been illegally[1] copied from Western models by the intelligence agencies, tacitly studied, and reproduced. This redevelopment led to some incompatibilities with IEC and IEEE standards, such as Integrated circuit pins on 2.5 mm (0.098 in) spacing instead of 2.54 mm (0.100 in) spacing. This made Soviet chips unsalable on the world market outside the Comecon, and made test machinery more expensive.[2]
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List of Soviet Russian made CPU's & Support Chips
BESM (БЭСМ) is the name of a series of Soviet mainframe computers built in 1950-1960s. The name is an acronym for "Bolshaya Elektronno-Schetnaya Mashina" ("Большая Электронно-Счётная Машина"), literally "Large Electronically Computing Machine". The series began as a successor to MESM ("Malaya Elektronno-Schetnaya Mashina", "Small Electronically Computing Machine"). MESM was built between 1948 and 1951 and was one of the first electronic computers produced in the continental Europe.
ES EVM (ЕС ЭВМ, Единая система электронных вычислительных машин, meaning "Unified System of Electronic Computers") was a series of clones of IBM's System/360 and System/370 mainframes, released in the Comecon countries under the initiative of the Soviet Union since the 1960s. Production continued until 1998. The total number of ES EVM mainframes produced was more than 15,000.
In the period from 1986 to 1997, there were also produced a series of PC-compatible desktop computers, called ПЭВМ ЕС ЭВМ (Personal Computers of ES EVM series); the newer versions of these computers are still produced under a different name on a very limited scale in Minsk.
The first universally programmable electronic computer in continental Europe was created by a team of scientists under the direction of Sergei Alekseyevich Lebedev from the Kiev Institute of Electrotechnology in the Soviet Union (now Ukraine), at Feofaniya. The computer was known as MESM (МЭСМ, Малая Электронно-Счетная Машина, Small Electronic Calculating Machine), and became operational in 1950. It had about 6,000 vacuum tubes and consumed 25 kW of power. It could perform approximately 3,000 operations per minute.[3]
Elbrus (Russian: Эльбрус, named after Mount Elbrus) is a series of Soviet supercomputer systems developed by Lebedev Institute of Precision Mechanics and Computer Engineering (ITMiVT) since the 1970s. Since 1990s the development continued by MCST (Moscow Center of SPARC Technologies, ru:МЦСТ), a spin-off of the ITMiVT.
The Strela computer 1953–1956, used 43-bit floating point words, with a signed 35-bit mantissa and a signed 6-bit exponent.
Seven Strelas were manufactured in Moscow by a factory in the Ministry of Instrument Making and Automation Means of the USSR; they were the primary debugging platforms for computing, and the most productive computers in the Soviet Union during this period. Strelas could process 2000 instructions per second. The last version of Strela used a 4096-word magnetic drum, rotating at 6000 rpm.
Other computers include, BESM-6, Ural, Setun, ES EVM, Minsk, and Elbrus.
Workstations built in the Soviet Union include the SM EVM, ES-1845, and DVK.
Personal computers include the Agat computer, Korvet, Elektronika BK, UKNC, Mikrosha, Raduga, Poisk, Iskra, Irisha, and Dubna 48K.
The Micro-80 was the first DIY home computer in the Soviet Union. Schematics and information were published in the popular local DIY electronic magazine Radio in 1983. It was complex, using an Intel 8080-based system which contained about 200 ICs. This system gained low popularity, but set a precedent in getting attention of hobbyist for DIY computers, and later other DIY computers were published by Radio and other DIY magazines.
The Radio-86RK was the second DIY computer featured in Radio magazine, in an edition published in 1986. It was more popular than the Micro-80 because it was much simpler (29 IC's, i8080 @1.78 MHz with i8257 and i8275 based CRT terminal). Many factories started production of home computers based on this design (such as the Apogey BK-01, Mikrosha, Krista, Partner 01.01, and the Spektr-001). These computers had limited compatibility with the original software, although their schematics were very close to the original.
The "Specialist" was the first DIY computer which was published in a magazine other than Radio; it was published in Modelist-Konstructor, a DIY magazine which was not exclusively focused on electronics. The computer was named the Specialist, and the magazine detailing its specifications was published in 1987, although it was developed by one hobbyist two years earlier. It was much more advanced than previous DIY computers, because it had a higher graphical resolution (384x256) and a "transparent" video system, which did not slow down the CPU when both the CPU and the video system tried to access the RAM simultaneously. It gained limited popularity with hobbyists, though some factories produced DIY kits (Lik for example).
Yunij Technik (Young Engineer) magazine released details for one DIY home computer, the UT-88, which was published in 1988. It was a step back to the Micro-80 conception but was much simpler and used very widespread elements, which made it available for less skilled hobbyists. It was divided to few blocks, starting from single board microcomputer with LED display and HEX keyboard, and later adding more RAM, TV interface, and complete keyboard.
The Orion-128 was the last DIY computer published in Radio magazine and the last i8080-based DIY computer in Russia. It used the same concepts as the Specialist and had similar specifications, with both advances and flaws. It gained more popularity because it was supported by a more popular magazine, though it was never produced by factories in any form. Much of the software for the Orion-128 was ported by hobbyists from the Specialist and the ZX Spectrum.
One of the last Soviet-designed, 8-bit home computers was the Vector-06C with an i8080 CPU clone which ran at 3 MHz, which is still used by some enthusiasts. It had color graphics (16 colors) with programmable palette, few resolutions. Some games were ported from MSX and ZX Spectrum computers (converting original code from Z80 to 8080 and replacing graphics output code).
In East Germany (German Democratic Republic), the main manufacturer of computer hardware was VEB Robotron. They were involved in the ESER (ES EVM) and SKR (SM EVM) development of a standard across Comecon countries.
Another important Kombinat beneath Robotron was the Kombinat Mikroelektronik Erfurt. It manufactured integrated circuits—e.g. microprocessors U880 (Z80-clone), U80601 (80286-clone) and U80701 (MicroVAX 78032-clone)—and also some series of home computers (KC85/2-KC85/4).
Some of the earliest computers created in Poland were the first Odra computers. They were manufactured at the Elwro manufacturing plant in Wrocław, (the brand name comes from the Odra River that flows through the city of Wrocław) and exported to other communist countries. The production started in 1959–1960.
The last series of Odra computers—the Odra 1300—consisted of three models: the Odra 1304, 1305, and the 1325. Although the hardware was developed by Polish teams, the software for the above machines was provided by the British company ICL (that is, the Odra was ICL 1900 compatible).
K-202 was 16-bit minicomputer built by Jacek Karpiński. It was faster and cheaper than the most of the world's production at this time, but the production was shunned because of political reasons; it was not compatible with the ES EVM standard.
Mazovia was a Polish clone of IBM PC/XT.
From 1959 till 1975, several types of general-purpose computers had been developed in Byelorussia. These machines had become a basis for the Soviet fleet of computers, and their large-scale production was organized.
The "Minsk" family of computers Minsk 1, 2, 3 etc. are Soviet mainframe computers of the 60-ies, which compared very well with their Western analogs. At the end of 1960s, Soviets started manufacturing of the IBM-compatible computers in Minsk, and later Brest, Belarus. These computers were known as EC-1020, EC-1022, EC-1035, EC-1036, EC-1130. The EC-1060, EC-1061 and EC-1066 computers, developed in Moscow, were also manufactured in Belarus. The EC-1840,1841, 1842, 1863 - analogs of IBM PC - were developed in Belarus in the 80-ies.
In the 1980s, Bulgaria manufactured computers according to an agreement within the COMECON:
For example, the Pravetz-8M featured two processors (primary: Bulgarian-made clone of 6502, designated SM630 at 1.018 MHz, secondary: Z80A at 4 MHz), 64KB DRAM and 16KB EPROM.
The largest computer factory was some 60 km (37 mi) from Sofia, in Pravetz. Another big facility was the plant "Electronika" in Sofia. Smaller plants throughout the country produced monitors and peripherals, notably DZU (Diskovi Zapametyavashti Ustroistva — Disk Memory Devices) — Stara Zagora made hard disks for mainframes and personal computers.
At its peak, Bulgaria supplied 40% of the computers in COMECON. The electronics industry employed 300,000 workers, and it generated 8 billion rubles a year (US$13.3 billion). Since the democratic changes in 1989 and the subsequent chaotic political and economic conditions, the once blooming Bulgarian computer industry almost completely disintegrated.
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