Web site:
Origin: USA
Category: Workstation
Desktop environment:
Architecture: Burroughs B5000/B5500/B5700/B6500/B7500
Based on: Independent
Wikipedia: Burroughs MCP
Media: Install
The last version | Released: unknown
Burroughs MCP (now: Unisys) – the Master Control Program (MCP) for the B5000 originally runs from a drum, but starting with the B5500 it runs from a disk. It is the basis for the MCP on the B6500, B7500, and successors, and successors, including the Unisys Clearpath/MCP systems.
MCP was originally written in 1961 in ESPOL (Executive Systems Problem Oriented Language). In the 1970s, MCP was converted to NEWP which was a better structured, more robust, and more secure form of ESPOL.
The MCP was a pioneer in many areas, including: the first operating system to manage multiple processors, the first commercial implementation of virtual memory, and the first OS written exclusively in a high-level language.
In 1961, the MCP was the first OS written exclusively in a high-level language (HLL). The Burroughs Large System (B5000 and successors) were unique in that they were designed with the expectation that all software, including system software, would be written in an HLL rather than in assembly language, which was a unique and innovative approach in 1961.
In the feature film Tron, which populates the inner workings of a computer system with living protagonists representing the programs, an MCP is the despotic ruler of this computer world. As the supreme control software, it is likely based on the Burroughs product. In the film, it is overthrown by a human programmer who is sucked into the computer’s interior, thus allowing for a more free and independent interaction.
Source: Wikipedia; License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License
