 | This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. (July 2021) |
 Example of initial login screen for MUSIC/SP on Windows XP | |
| Developer | McGill University |
|---|---|
| Working state | Discontinued |
| Initial release | 1972 |
| Marketing target | Academic computing and the teaching of computer science |
| Available in | English |
| Platforms | S/360, S/370, and 4300-series mainframes |
| Preceded by | RAX |
| History of IBM mainframe operating systems |
|---|
MUSIC/SP (Multi-User System for Interactive Computing/System Product; originally McGill University System for Interactive Computing) was developed at McGill University in the 1970s from an early IBM time-sharing system called RAX (Remote Access Computing System).[1][2]
The system ran on IBM S/360, S/370, and 4300-series mainframe hardware, and offered then-novel features such as file access control and data compression. It was designed to allow academics and students to create and run their programs interactively on terminals, in an era when most mainframe computing was still being done from punched cards. Over the years, development continued and the system evolved to embrace email, the Internet and eventually the World Wide Web. At its peak in the late 1980s, there were over 200 universities, colleges and high school districts that used the system in North and South America, Europe and Asia.
MUSIC was originally designed as a stand-alone operating system but with the advent of IBM's virtual machine facility, VM/370,[3] it became more common to deploy MUSIC as a guest operating system running under VM/370.
- ^ Miller, Roy Watt. "MULTIPLE REGIONS FOR THE MCGILL-RAX TlME-SHARING SYSTEM". Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved April 29, 2021.
- ^ "Boston University's RAX Library". Cryptosmith.com. January 12, 2012. Retrieved April 29, 2021.
- ^ "5749-010 - VIRTUAL MACHINE FACILITY/370 (VM/370)". January 12, 1989. Retrieved July 19, 2021.