VAX

Short for Virtual Address eXtension, Digital Equipment Corporation's successor to its PDP-11 line of minicomputers. As its name implies, VAX systems feature an operating system, VMS, that supports virtual memory. The VAX was introduced in 1977 and reached its pinnacle of success in the mid-1980s. In the past decade, it has been eclipsed by RISC-based workstations, including DEC's own line of Alpha stations. However, DEC still sells VAXes, though it now calls them servers rather than minicomputers.