Editing PDP-11 (section)

===Previous machines===
In 1963, DEC introduced what is considered to be the first commercial minicomputer in the form of the [[PDP-5|PDP–5]]. This was a 12-bit design adapted from the 1962 [[LINC]] machine that was intended to be used in a lab setting. DEC slightly simplified the LINC system and instruction set, aiming the PDP-5 at smaller settings that did not need the power of their larger 18-bit [[PDP-4]]. The PDP-5 was a success, ultimately selling about 1,000 machines. This led to the [[PDP-8|PDP–8]], a further cost-reduced 12-bit model that sold about 50,000 units.

During this period, the computer market was moving from [[computer word]] lengths based on units of 6 bits to units of 8 bits, following the introduction of the 7-bit [[ASCII]] standard. In 1967–1968, DEC engineers designed a 16-bit machine, the PDP–X,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/dec/pdp-x/|title=PDP-X memoranda|website=bitsavers.org|access-date=2017-07-13|archive-date=2017-09-23|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170923042101/http://bitsavers.org/pdf/dec/pdp-x/|url-status=live}}</ref> but management ultimately canceled the project as it did not appear to offer a significant advantage over their existing 12- and 18-bit platforms.

This prompted several of the engineers from the PDP-X program to leave DEC and form [[Data General]]. The next year they introduced the 16-bit [[Data General Nova]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://archive.computerhistory.org/resources/access/text/2012/07/102702207-05-01-acc.pdf|title=Oral History of Edson (Ed) D. de Castro|access-date=April 28, 2020|archive-date=2016-03-05|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305040632/http://archive.computerhistory.org/resources/access/text/2012/07/102702207-05-01-acc.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> The Nova sold tens of thousands of units and launched what would become one of DEC's major competitors through the 1970s and 1980s.