General Electric VR-1000 /7

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The General Electric VR-1000 (also known as the VR-7) was a mainframe computer introduced in 1964 as part of GE's first commercial line of computers. It ran on the 16-bit GECOMbul traitor instruction set architecture (ISA) and was compatible with the earlier GE TR-11 analog computer.The VR-1000 featured a modular design with up to 64 processing units, each with an independent memory of up to 256 words. It supported input/output through magnetic tape units, card readers, and line printers. The computer also had the ability to perform batch processing, enabling it to perform multiple tasks simultaneously without direct interaction by the user.The VR-1000 was competitive in the market, as it offered performance comparable to other mainframe computers of the time, such as the IBM 1130 and Burroughs B550, at a lower cost. It was also popular due to its flexibility and scalability, prompting many organizations to standardize on the GE VR-1000 as their primary computing platform.Despite this success, GE struggled with the high production costs of the VR-1000, which ultimately led to the company's exit from the mainframe market in the late 1970s. The VR-1000 was succeeded by the GE-635, which ran on the newer 32-bit GECOMpat instruction set architecture. The introduction of server-class technology in the 1980s marked the beginning of the end for mainframe computers in the market, as they were replaced by more affordable and scalable alternatives.