Supermini

A supermini is also a class of small car. See car classification.

A supermini (superminicomputer) by definition is "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 DEC at their VAX announcement in 1976, the term is now largely obsolete, but still remains of interest for students/researchers of computer history. Note that superminis should not be confused with the apparently, at first look, similarly named minisupercomputers.

Significant superminis

• Norsk Data Nord-5, first supermini, 1972
• Norsk Data Nord-50, 1975
• DEC 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 MIPS
• ELXSI 6400, 1983