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TSX-32 has been a general purpose 32-bit multi-user multitasking operating system for x86 architecture platform, with a command line user interface. It is compatible with some 16-bit DOS applications and supports file systems FAT16 and FAT32. It was developed by S&H Computer Systems, and has been available since 1989.

DEC-oriented columnist Kevin G. Barkes noted that TSX-32 is "not a port of the PDP-11 TSX-Plus" and that it runs well on 386, 486 and Pentium-based systems. He reported a limitation: since it supports the MS-DOS FAT file system, filenames are 8.3.

TSX-Plus

An earlier non-DEC operating system, also from S&H, was named TSX-Plus. Released in 1980, TSX-Plus was the successor to TSX, released in 1976.

The strength of TSX-Plus is to simultaneously provide to multiple users the services of DEC's single-user RT-11. Depending on which PDP-11 model and the amount of memory, the system could support a minimum of 12 users (14-18 users on a 2 MB 11/73, depending on workload). A productivity feature called "virtual lines" "allows a single user to control several tasks from a single terminal."

History

S&H wrote the original TSX because "Spending $25K on a computer that could only support one user bugged" (founder Harry Sanders); the outcome was the initial four-user TSX in 1976.

For TSX-32, they said in an interview, "We started with a clean sheet of paper" rather than starting with a "port."

As of 2021, it appears to be defunct.

VAX

The company's product line was ported/expanded for the VAX line.

See also

• Multiuser DOS Federation

References

1. "DCL dialog". March 1995.
2. ^ "Cutting comes with TSX-Plus". Hardcopy. December 1984. pp. 54–63.
3. Milton Campbell (January 1985). "The RT-11 Perspective". Hardcopy. p. 125.
4. ^ "S&H TSX-Plus on 11/23, 11/34". Computerworld. December 1, 1980. p. 67. efficient, general-purpose timesharing for up to 20 users on 11/23 and 11/34 based ...
5. "TSX-Plus: Time Share RT-11". Hardcopy. October 1982. p. 9.

External links

• TSX-32 official description page

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