Interdata 7/32 and 8/32

The Model 7/32 and Model 8/32 were 32-bit minicomputers developed by Interdata, Inc. of Oceanport, New Jersey during the 1970s. They are primarily remembered for being the first 32-bit minicomputers, and the first non-PDP computers to run Unix. The 8/32 was a more powerful machine than the 7/32.

After the commercial success of the microcoded, mainframe IBM 360-series of computers, startup companies arrived on the scene to scale microcode technology to a smaller platform, thus developing the minicomputer. Among these companies were Prime Computer, Microdata, and Interdata. Interdata used microcode to faithfully clone the IBM 360 instruction set. The DOS-type real-time serial/multitasking operating system was called OS/32.

The 7/32 and 8/32 were clean, fast and powerful machines. As such they became the computers of choice in large scale embedded systems, such as FFT machines used in real-time seismic analysis, CAT scanners, and flight simulator systems. They were also often used as non-IBM peripherals in IBM networks, serving the role of HASP workstations and spooling systems, so called RJE (Remote Job Entry) stations. For example, the computers behind the first Space Shuttle simulator consisted of thirty-six 32-bit minis inputing and/or outputting data to networked mainframe computers (both IBM and Univac), all in real-time. The 8/32 was also employed by MAGI to produce the vast majority of the 3D computer-generated imagery (CGI) in the 1982 movie "Tron". While CGI had been used during the 1970s for minor segments of film work (titles, etc.), "Tron" was the first movie by a major producer that made extensive use of CGI.

The success of the Interdata 32-bit minis in these markets made the company attractive to Perkin-Elmer Corporation, a large, Norwalk, Connecticut-based scientific instruments and optics manufacturer with a large presence in the defense and aerospace industries. Perkin-Elmer was also a primary competitor of Varian, a company marketing its own computer systems. Interdata was acquired by Perkin-Elmer in 1973, and brought under the corporate name in 1976 as the Computer Systems Division (CSD), one of several divisions in P-E's newly formed Data Systems Group (DSG). In 1985 the DSG was broken apart and the CSD was sold to Concurrent Computer Corporation, who yet produce a vastly enhanced 3200-series of machines.

By 1976, Interdata (Perkin-Elmer) computers were being used by the Architecture Machine Group and Joint Computer Facility at MIT, using FORTRAN and PL/1, but not Unix. Some are still in use today. Interdata also produced a series of 16-bit based computers, such as their Model 3, Model 4, Model 70, and Model 7/16.