<
computer> The generic name for the
CPUs and architecture
released by
IBM on 1964-04-07. The
360 was marketed as a
general purpose computer with 'all round' functionality -
hence
360 (degrees).
Models ranged from the
360/20 to the
360/65 and later the
360/95, with typical memory configurations from 16K to 1024K.
Elements of the architecture, such as the basic {instruction
set} are still in use on IBM
mainframes today. Operating
System/
360 (
OS/360) was developed for System/
360. Other
associated
operating systems included
DOS,
OS/MFT and
OS/MVT.
The
360 architecture was based on an 8-bit
byte, 16 general
purpose
registers, 24-bit addressing, and a PSW (Program
Status Word) including a location counter.
Gene Amdahl, then an IBM employee, is generally acknowledged
as the
360's chief architect. He later went on to found
Amdahl Corporaton, a manufacture of
PCM mainframe
equipment.
The
360's predecessors were the smaller
IBM 1401 and the
large
IBM 7090 series. If was followed by the
IBM 370.
See also
ABEND,
ALC,
BAL,
Big Red Switch,
HCF, {mode
bit},
PL360,
PL/S.
(2004-06-06)