Editing ICL VME (section)

== Origins ==
The development program for the [[ICL 2900|New Range]] system started on the merger of [[International Computers and Tabulators]] (ICT) and [[English Electric Computers]] in 1968. One of the fundamental decisions was that it would feature a new operating system. A number of different feasibility and design studies were carried out within ICL, the three most notable being:

* VME/B (originally System B), targeted at large processors such as the 2970/2980 and developed in [[Kidsgrove]], [[Staffordshire]] and [[Gorton|West Gorton]], [[Manchester]]
* VME/K (originally System T), targeted at the mid-range systems such as the 2960 and developed at Bracknell after the original design for these small processors, System D, was dropped. VME/K was developed and introduced to the market but was eventually replaced by VME/B
* VME/T, which was never actually launched, but warrants a mention as it was conceived to support "fault tolerance", and predated the efforts of the successful American startup company [[Tandem Computers]] in this area.

The chief architect of VME/B was [[Brian Warboys]], who subsequently became professor of software engineering at the [[University of Manchester]].  A number of influences can be seen in its design, for example [[Multics]] and ICL's earlier [[GEORGE (operating system)|George 3]] operating system; however it was essentially designed from scratch.

VME/B was viewed as primarily competing with the [[System/370]] [[IBM mainframe]] as a commercial operating system, and adopted the [[EBCDIC]] [[character encoding]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.fujitsu.com/uk/Images/openvme.pdf |title=Fujitsu OpenVME Costs Compared to IBM Mainframe Costs |author=Barry J Graham |publisher=Fujitsu Services |year=2002 |access-date=28 January 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140201203429/http://www.fujitsu.com/uk/Images/openvme.pdf |archive-date=1 February 2014}}</ref>