DECmate

VT78 Video Data Processor: a PDP-8 built into a VT52 body DECmate was the name of a series of PDP-8-compatible computers produced by the Digital Equipment Corporation in the late 1970s and early 1980s. All of the models used an Intersil 6100 (later known as the Harris 6100) or Harris 6120 (an improved Intersil 6100) microprocessor which emulated the 12-bit DEC PDP-8 CPU. They were text-only and used the OS/78 or OS/278 operating systems, which were extensions of OS/8 for the PDP-8. Aimed at the word processing market, they typically ran the WPS-8 word-processing program. Later models optionally had Intel 8080 or Z80 microprocessors which allowed them to run CP/M. The range was a development of the VT78 which was introduced in July 1977.

VT78 Video Data Processor: a PDP-8 built into a VT52 body]] DECmate was the name of a series of PDP-8-compatible computers produced by the Digital Equipment Corporation in the late 1970s and early 1980s. All of the models used an Intersil 6100 (later known as the Harris 6100) or Harris 6120 (an improved Intersil 6100) microprocessor which emulated the 12-bit DEC PDP-8 CPU. They were text-only and used the OS/78 or OS/278 operating systems, which were extensions of OS/8 for the PDP-8. Aimed at the word processing market, they typically ran the WPS-8 word-processing program. Later models optionally had Intel 8080 or Z80 microprocessors which allowed them to run CP/M. The range was a development of the VT78 which was introduced in July 1977. == PDP-8 compatibility== The DECmates were acceptable for word-processing, but due to various hardware quirks, were somewhat incompatible with many existing PDP-8 programs, largely eliminating one potential advantage of the DECmate series over the IBM PC systems. The I/O interfaces worked slightly differently, which meant that most existing user and system programs could not detect Control-C and exit reliably. Every program, both user and system, had to be patched to fix this anomaly. Additionally, the CPU and screen update speeds were noticeably slower than the older PDP-8 systems. ==References== ==External links== PDP-8 models, at faq.org DECmates at Columbia University DECmate I, Trailing Edge website DECmate II ROM contents, decoded and disassembled by Charles J. Lasner

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