Time Sharing Operating System
Encyclopedia
Time Sharing Operating System, or TSOS, was an operating system
for RCA mainframe computer
s of the Spectra 70
series.
RCA was in the computer business until 1971. Then it sold its computer business to Sperry Corporation
; Sperry offered TSOS renaming it to VS/9
. In the mid seventies, an enhanced version of TSOS called BS2000
was offered by the German company Siemens
.
While Sperry (Unisys
after the company was renamed) discontinued VS/9
in the early 80's, BS2000, now called BS2000/OSD is still offered by Fujitsu Siemens Computers
and used on their mainframe customers primarily in Europe.
TSOS was the first operating system that supported virtual addressing of the main storage. As the name suggests, it provided time sharing features. Beyond that it provided a unique user interface for both time sharing and batch which was a big advantage over IBM
's OS/360 or their successors MVS
, OS/390
and z/OS
.
Operating system
An operating system is a set of programs that manage computer hardware resources and provide common services for application software. The operating system is the most important type of system software in a computer system...
for RCA mainframe computer
Mainframe computer
Mainframes are powerful computers used primarily by corporate and governmental organizations for critical applications, bulk data processing such as census, industry and consumer statistics, enterprise resource planning, and financial transaction processing.The term originally referred to the...
s of the Spectra 70
RCA Spectra 70
The RCA Spectra 70 was a line of electronic data processing equipment manufactured by the Radio Corporation of America’s computer division beginning in April 1965...
series.
RCA was in the computer business until 1971. Then it sold its computer business to Sperry Corporation
Sperry Corporation
Sperry Corporation was a major American equipment and electronics company whose existence spanned more than seven decades of the twentieth century...
; Sperry offered TSOS renaming it to VS/9
VS/9
VS/9 was a computer operating system available for the Univac 90/60, 90/70 and 90/80 mainframe during the late 1960s through 1980s. The 90/60 and 90/70 were repackaged Univac 9700 computers...
. In the mid seventies, an enhanced version of TSOS called BS2000
BS2000
BS2000 is a mainframe computer operating system developed by Fujitsu Technology Solutions.Unlike other mainframe systems, BS2000/OSD provides exactly the same user and programming interface in all operating modes and regardless of whether it is running natively or as a guest system in a virtual...
was offered by the German company Siemens
Siemens
Siemens may refer toSiemens, a German family name carried by generations of telecommunications industrialists, including:* Werner von Siemens , inventor, founder of Siemens AG...
.
While Sperry (Unisys
Unisys
Unisys Corporation , headquartered in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, United States, and incorporated in Delaware, is a long established business whose core products now involves computing and networking.-History:...
after the company was renamed) discontinued VS/9
VS/9
VS/9 was a computer operating system available for the Univac 90/60, 90/70 and 90/80 mainframe during the late 1960s through 1980s. The 90/60 and 90/70 were repackaged Univac 9700 computers...
in the early 80's, BS2000, now called BS2000/OSD is still offered by Fujitsu Siemens Computers
Fujitsu Siemens Computers
Fujitsu Siemens Computers B.V. was a Japanese and German IT vendor. The company was founded in 1999 as a 50/50 joint venture between Fujitsu Limited of Japan and Siemens AG of Germany...
and used on their mainframe customers primarily in Europe.
TSOS was the first operating system that supported virtual addressing of the main storage. As the name suggests, it provided time sharing features. Beyond that it provided a unique user interface for both time sharing and batch which was a big advantage over IBM
IBM
International Business Machines Corporation or IBM is an American multinational technology and consulting corporation headquartered in Armonk, New York, United States. IBM manufactures and sells computer hardware and software, and it offers infrastructure, hosting and consulting services in areas...
's OS/360 or their successors MVS
MVS
Multiple Virtual Storage, more commonly called MVS, was the most commonly used operating system on the System/370 and System/390 IBM mainframe computers...
, OS/390
OS/390
OS/390 is an IBM operating system for the System/390 IBM mainframe computers.OS/390 was introduced in late 1995 in an effort, led by the late Randy Stelman, to simplify the packaging and ordering for the key, entitled elements needed to complete a fully functional MVS operating system package...
and z/OS
Z/OS
z/OS is a 64-bit operating system for mainframe computers, produced by IBM. It derives from and is the successor to OS/390, which in turn followed a string of MVS versions.Starting with earliest:*OS/VS2 Release 2 through Release 3.8...
.