Photo by Courtesy Bentley Historical Library.
Computing: 1967 computer upgrade creates flexibility .
A staff member accesses the new IBM 360/67 computer system (in background) installed on campus in July 1967, as another (both unidentified) looks on in the Computing Center in the North University Building. The new operating system would automatically switch control of a processor to the terminal users’ programs in a round-robin fashion, giving each a turn for a slice of time. At the same time, one or more batch jobs, depending on the terminal load, also would be given turns at slices of the processor time. The system was eight times as fast as the previous 7090 mainframe. Computing staff created a time-sharing system to fit the 360/67, which led to the creation of the Michigan Terminal System. — From “A Faster Cratchit: The History of Computing at Michigan,” Division of Research Development and Administration, January 1976.
This week in history (16 years ago)
Information Technology Division administrators announce that starting in the fall, the university will move from the single Michigan Terminal System (mainframe) and instead allow computer users to select from a number of new computing options to better support the diverse needs of the university community for teaching, learning, research and administration. Today, computing at the university is overseen by Information Technology Services.
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