Editing Data General Nova (section)

{{Short description|16-bit minicomputer series}}
{{More citations needed|date=September 2016}}

{{Infobox computing device
| name         = Nova
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| logo         = Data General logo.svg
| image        = Nova1200.agr.jpg
| caption      = Data General Nova 1200 front panel
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| manufacturer = Data General
| family       = Nova
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| os           = [[Data General RDOS|RDOS]]
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[[File:Data General NOVA System.jpg|thumb|A Nova system (beige and yellow, center bottom) and a cartridge hard disk system (opened, below Nova) in a mostly empty rack mount]]
[[File:Emi1010.jpg|thumb|288px|right|A Nova 1200, mid-right, processed the images generated by the EMI-Scanner, the world's first commercially available [[CT scan]]ner.]]
The '''Nova''' is a series of [[16-bit computing|16-bit]] [[minicomputer]]s released by the American company [[Data General]]. The Nova family was very popular in the 1970s and ultimately sold tens of thousands of units.

The first model, known simply as "Nova", was released in 1969.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.computerhistory.org/brochures/d-f/com-42b9d5f5afbd4/ |title=Computer History Museum - Data General Corporation (DG) - The Best Small Computer in the World}}</ref> The Nova was packaged into a single [[Rack unit|3U]] [[rack-mount]] case and had enough computing power to handle most simple tasks. The Nova became popular in science laboratories around the world. It was followed the next year by the '''SuperNOVA''', which ran roughly four times as fast, making it the fastest mini for several years.

Introduced during a period of rapid progress in [[integrated circuit]] (or "microchip") design, the line went through several upgrades over the next five years, introducing the 800 and 1200, the Nova 2, Nova 3, and ultimately the Nova 4. A single-chip implementation was also introduced as the '''microNOVA''' in 1977, but did not see widespread use as the market moved to new microprocessor designs. [[Fairchild Semiconductor]] also introduced a microprocessor version of the Nova in 1977, the [[Fairchild 9440]], but it also saw limited use in the market.

The Nova line was succeeded by the [[Data General Eclipse]], which was similar in most ways but added [[virtual memory]] support and other features required by modern [[operating system]]s. A 32-bit upgrade of the Eclipse resulted in the [[Data General Eclipse MV/8000|Eclipse MV series]] of the 1980s.