I watched a promo VM/370 movie at Portland state at a nerd fest in 1975. 64 Meg was not believable in 1975. We had 32K on our IBM 1130. Oregon S/W / OMSI Barry White said, When core gets to $1 a byte, Computers will take off. It's funny now.
On Sat, Feb 7, 2026 at 1:36 AM David Wade via cctalk <[email protected]> wrote: > > > On 07/02/2026 03:51, Steve Lewis wrote: > > Dave, > > > > Page 439 of that document you linked has a nice chart of "integrated > > emulators that run execute under VM/370" - now I do recall one of the > > "famous" things about the prior S/360 was it could emulate 1401 and > > other IBM systems. Then later on, more systems to emulate would be > > the 709-series. Ok, so VM/370 is more like what we might today > > call a Hypervisor? So the "it looks like whatever you want" comment > > makes sense. > > > You don't need VM to emulate a 1401, I believe the 1401 emulator ran > under MVS as well, or I think on some S/360 machines you could load 1401 > microcode. > So yes VM itself is what today we would call a hypervisor. It creates > virtual machines and each virtual machine is pretty much totally isolated. > But CMS was provided as source code, and in the early days it was very > limited so sites made many modifications. > > > I suppose what I'm after is more a visual on the usage of CMS, DOS/VS > > or OS/VS1 ( OS's that one would only use on an S/370 ? ) > > > > There was also MTS and MUSIC plus a few other TSO and CICS replacements. > > > I put a couple reference images here on what I have about CTSS and > > TOPS-10 (CTSS is from a modern-day emulators, TOPS-10 is from one of > > their manuals so its from in 1970). I see how you mean VM/370 isn't > > quite the same nature (not "just an OS" but an enterprise thing like > > for airlines, banks, financial brokers -- and the virtualization > > helped in testing/deploying new systems -- that maybe had newer OS's > > -- without disrupting operational systems?) > > > > https://github.com/voidstar78/OS_NOTES > > > OK I can do something similar for VM and CMS but got a busy day here:- > > https://www.scienceandindustrymuseum.org.uk/whats-on/meet-baby > > (yes thats me, the rest of the team are camera shy) > > > > > - Steve > > > > > > > Dave > > > > On Fri, Feb 6, 2026 at 10:00 AM David Wade <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > > > > > On 06/02/2026 14:55, Steve Lewis wrote: > > > Thanks Dave, the 3270 terminal screen makes sense. Or to make > > use of > > > the system and resources, you'd remote to it using a 3270. > > > So it may have been at a time no one thought to snap a > > photograph of > > > any of those 3270s in use (not just a "room full of 3270's" kind of > > > photo - but of the actual screen, showing whatever it was they were > > > doing; managing tape/disk resources, files, users, or running > > APL or > > > something. That's more what I was looking for, when you "used > > VM/370 > > > {or remoted into it}, this is what it looked like." > > Generally thats not what you did with VM/370. You edited, > > compiled, and > > ran programs.... > > > > > > > > There had to be some kind of installer? Or maybe I'm viewing it > > wrong > > > - they (a business) didn't just buy a S/370 then decide what OS to > > > install. But rather it was a packaged prepared by IBM, so maybe it > > > was pre-installed with VM/370 and configured to whatever the > > > arrangement/contract was? > > > > For VM you usually got a "starter system" on a tape. There was a > > different tape for each disk type. The first file on the tape is the > > standalone disk dump and restore program, DDR. So you IPL (boot) from > > this tape, and use DDR to restore the starter system to DASD (disk). > > You usually needed three packs. The first time you IPL the restored > > starter system it asks you some basic config questions, and you then > > have a working system that you can use to restore the rest of the > > VM/370, load and apply service (fixes) , and configure to your exact > > hardware set-up. > > > > I expect at 522 pages this manual which covers install and > > congigureis a > > tad bigger than the one for other systems... > > > > > https://bitsavers.org/pdf/ibm/370/VM/370/Release_6/GC20-1801-10_VM370_Sysgen_Rel_6_Jan80.pdf > > > > > > > Or a way to say "when someone used a S/370 {or CMS}, this is > > what the > > > console content looked like" (printed, or by that time yea probably > > > more likely a CRT). > > > > > > > It looked like whatever you wanted. The samples in the previous > > e-mail > > are typical... > > > > > > > “The Origin of the VM/370 Time-Sharing System” – R.J. Creasy > > gives a > > > little bit of a description on those components CP, CMS, and RSCS. > > > But no photo/image yet of a terminal with content to identify > > "yeah, > > > see they are using a S/370 there" (maybe its listing disk packs, > > > tapes, memory resources, etc?) I got something like this for the > > > earlier CTSS and TOPS-10. > > > > > pass me what you have for that so I can see what a VM Equivalent > > might > > be. The definitive thing on a users 3270 is the status bottom right > > which on a pukka system which usually reads "VM READ VM/370" but can > > also start "RUNNING", "HOLDING" "CP READ". > > > > > -Steve > > > > > > > > Dave > > >
