MULTICS

views updated May 23 2018

MULTICS Trademark A multiaccess operating system designed in project MAC to provide a MULTiplexed Information and Computing Service. The MULTICS system made extensive use of “rings” of hardware protection of access to memory in order to achieve management of a very large virtual memory. Users operating on files move their entire file into memory in order to operate on it. The MULTICS system was implemented on specially commissioned hardware constructed by General Electric, and the entire project was later taken over by Honeywell Computer Systems.

Multics

views updated Jun 11 2018

MULTICS

Multics (Multiplexed Information and Computing Service) was a general purpose computing system developed by MIT, Bell Labs, and General Electric. The system was meant to support hundreds of timesharing users, which was a significant innovation at that time. Although the system was not a commercial success, its operating system introduced significant concepts in computer design.

Multics

views updated Jun 11 2018

Multics (ˈmʌltiks) Trademark multiplexed information and computing service

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