Editing Computervision (section)

==MEDUSA product history==
In 1983 Computervision purchased Cambridge Interactive Systems (CIS), founded by British computer scientist Dr. [[Dick Newell]] and Tom Sancha. Computervision was interested in obtaining some of the state-of-the-art technology of the MEDUSA CAD system the [[Cambridge]] company had developed. CIS had a partnership with [[Prime Computer]] which maintained its option on the MEDUSA source code.  At the time, MEDUSA was available on the then newly released 32-bit so-called super mini computers, whose most prominent distributors were [[Digital Equipment Corporation]] (DEC) (with their [[VAX]] hardware) and Prime Computer. In 1984 there was a fork in MEDUSA as Prime took its option to keep developing MEDUSA. This in effect created two different versions of MEDUSA: CIS MEDUSA (owned by Computervision, which ran on Prime, Sun and VAX workstations) and Prime MEDUSA (which only ran on Prime computers at the time of acquisition, but which Prime subsequently ported to SunOS as Prime MEDUSA version 5.0). The two versions had a slightly different file format and the development language was developed in slightly different directions.  The split in MEDUSA development was merged when Prime Computers acquired Computervision, with the promise to CV customers that VAX and Sun users would not be forced to switch to Prime workstations.

Prime was divided into the two main divisions: Prime Hardware, which was responsible for the proprietary computer hardware, and Prime Computervision, which was responsible for the CAD/CAM business with MEDUSA and CADDS. With falling hardware sales Prime eventually stopped production of [[PRIMOS]] computers and transferred its maintenance obligations to another company, thus being able to concentrate on the CAD/CAM software business. The company was renamed from Prime Computervision to Computervision (CV).