---
title: VAX 11/780, THE FIRST VAX SYSTEM
date: '1977-10-01'
years:
- '1977'
topics:
- Hardware
params:
  when: OCTOBER 1977
  image: /media/history/images/timeline_vax780_2.jpg
  oc_id: 20
  source:
    url: https://web.archive.org/web/20220408001423/http://www.old-computers.com/history/detail.asp?n=20
    date: '2022-04-08'
---

![](/media/history/images/timeline_vax780_2.jpg)

The **VAX 11/780** was introduced on October 25, 1977 at the Digital Equipment Corporation's Annual Meeting of Shareholders. It was the first member of the VAX computer family, the first commercially available 32-bit computer and the first **one MIPS** (one million instructions per second) machine.

The computer and its operating system (VMS) were designed both from scratch. The result was a really reliable, powerful and user-friendly system. The affordable price level allowed many institutions and universities to acquire it.

In a VAX, one finds the basic architecture of the previous **Digital PDP-11**. Both systems were partially hardware and software compatible. However, the **V**irtual **A**ddress e**X**tension (VAX) allowed the use of 32-bit addressing, the number of the processor general registers has been doubled (16 instead of 8) and the instructions set deeply improved. The systeme bus, called LSI-11 then Q-Bus was the same as the PDP-11's. The Vax 11/780 was UNIBUS based system (16 bits).

For many years, VAX 11/780 remained the base system every computer speed benchmarks refered to. Several programming languages could be used, such as Fortran-77, Cobol, Bliss-32, PL/I, BASIC, PASCAL, CORAL 66, and a netware software called DecNet.

The VAX 11 series was sold until 1988. A dual processor version has been launched in 1981 (11/782) as well as various systems, from the small VAXstation 1 up to the VAX 9000 mainframe. The VMS operating system is still sold by Digital (bought by Compaq in 1999) and it seems that a few of VAX 11/780 were still in use in the year 2000.

The photo below is of Proto Type 15, the first Vax to have cabinet skins, taken in Tewksbury, Massachusetts, about 1977.

![](/media/history/images/timeline_vax780_3.jpg)