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Talk:IBM System/360 Model 50

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This is an old revision of this page, as edited by VintageComputing (talk | contribs) at 19:26, 20 September 2016 (WikiProject assessment). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.
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memory size terminology

I have edited the description of memory sizes to correspond to the description in the functional characteristics manual, referenced in the article. At the time of the model 50, it was customary within IBM to describe memory sizes by writing out the number; for example, 65,536 bytes. Elsewhere in the industry this would be called 64K bytes. Later there was recognition that this terminology was ambiguous: does 64K mean 65,536 or 64,000? Today there is a movement to use Ki instead of K when meaning a power of 2; for example 64 KiB. That transition is not complete, and there are still people who insist on using K to mean two to the 16th power instead of 10 to the 3rd power. To avoid that controversy I did not want to say that the model 50F had 64 KiB, so I fell back on the unambiguou text in the functional characteristics manual: 65,536 bytes. John Sauter (talk) 16:06, 27 September 2015 (UTC)[reply]

The MOS recommends K instead of Ki, etc., with which I wholeheartedly concur. However, you're right that your edit corresponds to the values given in Functional Charactetistics. Peter Flass (talk) 18:50, 27 September 2015 (UTC)[reply]

MFT

The system software section claims that the model 50 generally ran OS/360 MFT. Actually, the system software chosen depended much more on the amount of main storage than the model number. The reference to the storage estimates manual is not persuasive--the manual is as hard to read as a tax form. The reference to www.os390-mvs.freesurf.fr/mvs360.htm returns no data.

I suggest removing the whole paragraph, and making Call OS a higher-level topic. If there is no objection I will do this. John Sauter (talk) 14:28, 20 September 2016 (UTC)[reply]

I suspect most /50 shops did run MFT, but it requires a reference. The /50 was considered a mid-range 360. Peter Flass (talk) 16:13, 20 September 2016 (UTC)[reply]