Editing Superminicomputer (section)

{{Short description|Historical computer form factor}}
{{Distinguish|Minisupercomputer}}
{{Other uses|Supermini (disambiguation)}}
[[File:Living Computer Museum IMG 0002 (9636198071).jpg|thumb|right|A superminicomputer (Interdata 7/32) preserved in a museum]]
A '''superminicomputer''', colloquially '''supermini''', is a high-end [[minicomputer]].<ref name=Computerworld/> The term is used to distinguish the emerging [[32-bit]] architecture [[midrange computer]]s introduced in the mid to late 1970s from the classical [[16-bit]] systems that preceded them.<ref name=Flowers/><ref name="Simulators"/> The development of these computers was driven by the need of applications to address larger memory.<ref name=Computerworld/> The term '''midicomputer''' had been used earlier to refer to these systems.<ref name=midi/><ref name=Burr/> [[Virtual memory]] was often an additional criteria that was considered for inclusion in this class of system.<ref name=Storassli/> The computational speed of these machines was significantly greater than the 16-bit minicomputers and approached the performance of small [[mainframe computer]]s.<ref name=Wallich/> The name has at times been described as a "frivolous" term created by "marketeers" that lacks a specific definition. Describing a class of system has historically been seen as problematic: "In the computer kingdom, taxonomic classification of equipment is more of a black art than a science."<ref name=Stiefel/> There is some disagreement about which systems should be included in this class. The origin of the name is uncertain.<ref name=Computerworld/>

As technology improved rapidly the distinction between minicomputer and superminicomputer performance blurred.<ref name=Vardalas/> Companies that sold mainframe computers began to offer machines in the same price and performance range as superminicomputers.<ref name=super/> By the mid-1980s microprocessors with the [[hardware architecture]] of superminicomputers were used to produce scientific and engineering [[workstation]]s.<ref name=Joy/> The minicomputer industry then declined through the early 1990s.<ref name=Bell/> The term is now considered obsolete<ref name=OED/> but still remains of interest for students/researchers of [[history of computers|computer history]].