Multics (Multiplexed Information and Computing Service) was an early, influential time sharing operating system built around single level memory, mapping files directly into a program's address space. Developed jointly by MIT, General Electric and Bell Labs beginning in 1964, it achieved limited commercial success but pioneered concepts, including hierarchical file systems, dynamic linking and ring based security, adopted broadly in later operating systems, including Unix. This description is adapted from Wikipedia contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes were made. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/
Facts
SignificanceIts complexity prompted Bell Labs researchers, including Ken Thompson and Dennis Ritchie, to withdraw and build a simpler alternative that became Unix, which in turn shaped nearly every operating system that followed. 1 FAQs
How did Multics lead to Unix?
Unix carried forward many Multics features but ran on cheaper hardware.
Multics is credited with inspiring the creation of Unix. Unix carried forward many Multics features, but it was able to run on less expensive hardware.
Connections
Associated With
Led the Multics development project at MIT Project MAC from its beginning in 1963 into the mid-1970s; Multics was a joint MIT, Bell Labs and General Electric project rather than a single inventor's work.
Source Multicians.org: Corby
GE-600 series, Systems GE-600 series hardware (the GE 645 variant) was the primary platform Multics ran on from 1965, developed jointly by GE, MIT and Bell Labs.
Source Wikipedia: Parallel computing
In Field
Source Wikipedia: Multics
Influenced
ICL 2900 Series, Systems The ICL 2900 Series design (the Synthetic Option) drew influence from Multics among other systems.
Invented By
Fernando Corbato led the Multics project at MIT (Project MAC), the pioneering time-sharing operating system that directly influenced the design of Unix.
Source Wikipedia: Fernando J. Corbato
Licensed Under
Long-Form Articles
Predecessor Of
In the Other Atlases
Developed By
Also in Business Atlas: the developer of this subject.
Also in Business Atlas: the developer of this subject.
Also in Business Atlas: the developer of this subject.
Sources
1. Wikipedia: Multics
Wikimedia FoundationOpening paragraph, before Novel ideas section
has influenced all modern operating systems since, from microcomputers to mainframes
- Opening paragraph, on influence
- History section, project start
- Introduction
Infobox: working_state
Mature, current, historic, emulator available
- In Field: Operating Systems
- Predecessor Of: Unix, Opening paragraph, on Unix reaction
View the Source 2. Wikidata: Multics
- Wikidata Q739186, class allow-list match (w-wdresolver-0926)
- Wikidata Q739186 P571 (inception)
- Wikidata Q739186 P275 (license)
View the SourceMulticians.org: Corby
Multicians.orgAssociated With: Fernando J. Corbato, Leadership and Vision sectionView the Source Wikipedia: Fernando J. Corbato
Wikipedia: Parallel computing
Wikimedia FoundationAssociated With: Parallel Computing, HistoryQuote, Associated With: Parallel Computing, History
It was during this debate that Amdahl's law was coined to define the limit of speed-up due to parallelism. In 1969, Honeywell introduced its first Multics system, a symmetric multiprocessor system capable of running up to eight processors in parallel.
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