Supermini

: This article is about the class of computer. There is also a European car size class called supermini; see supermini car .

A supermini (from superminicomputer ) is, by definition, a minicomputer with high performance compared to ordinary minicomputers . The term was an invention used from the mid-1970s mainly to distinguish the emerging 32-bit minis from the classical 16-bit minicomputers.

Reportedly coined by Digital Equipment Corporation at their VAX announcement in 1976, the term is now largely obsolete—like minicomputers as such—but still remains of interest for students/researchers of history of computers.

Note that superminicomputers should not be confused with the apparently similarly named minisupercomputers, which is a class of supercomputer.

=Significant superminis=

*Norsk Data Nord-5, first supermini, 1972 *Norsk Data Nord-50, 1975 *Digital Equipment Corporation VAX, 1978 *Data General Eclipse MV/8000, 1980 *Norsk Data ND-500, 1981 *Norsk Data ND-570/CX, fastest supermini, 1983, at 7.1 Whetstone (benchmark) million instructions per second *Elxsi 6400, 1983