Editing TX-0 (section)

==Background==
Designed at the [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology|MIT]] [[Lincoln Laboratory]]<ref name="cm" /> largely as an experiment in [[transistor]]ized design and the construction of very SMALL core memory systems, the TX-0 was essentially a transistorized version of the equally famous [[Whirlwind I|Whirlwind]], also built at Lincoln Lab. While the Whirlwind filled an entire floor (occupying over {{Convert|2000|sqft|m2}}), TX-0 fit in a single reasonably sized room and yet was somewhat faster. Like the Whirlwind, the TX-0 was equipped with a [[vector display]] system, consisting of a 12-inch [[oscilloscope]] with a working area of 7 by 7 inches connected to the 18-bit output [[Hardware register|register]] of the computer, allowing it to display points and vectors with a resolution up to 512×512 screen locations.<ref>{{cite web |date = 1958-10-03| last1 = Gilmore | first1 = J.T. | last2 = Peterson |first2 = H.P.
 | title = A functional description of the TX-0 computer |via = BitSavers.org @ Trailing-Edge.com
 | url = http://bitsavers.trailing-edge.com/pdf/mit/tx-0/6M-4789-1_TX0_funcDescr.pdf | url-status = live | archive-date = 2012-10-03 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20121003000226/http://bitsavers.trailing-edge.com/pdf/mit/tx-0/6M-4789-1_TX0_funcDescr.pdf |quote = Div. 6 - Lincoln Lab [[MIT]]
}}</ref>

The TX-0 was an 18-bit computer with a 16-bit address range. The first two bits of the machine word designated the instruction, and the remaining 16 bits are used to specify the memory location or operand for the special "operate" instruction. These two bits created four possible instructions, which included store, add, and conditional branch instructions as a basic set. 

[[Wesley A. Clark]] designed the logic and [[Ken Olsen]] oversaw the engineering development.<ref name="cm"/>