DEC

US computer manufacturer. DEC was founded by US computer engineers Kenneth Olsen and Harlan Anderson, and was the first minicomputer manufacturer. It became the world's second-largest computer manufacturer, after IBM, but made huge losses in the early 1990s before being taken over by Compaq Computer in 1998 (which merged with Hewlett-Packard in 2002). DEC's most successful computers were the PDP-11 and the VAX (Virtual Address eXtension). The former was used in the creation of the Unix operating system.

DEC's original aim was to make the first small computers for engineering and departmental use, and the PDP (Programmed Data Processor) range became known as minicomputers to contrast them with giant mainframes. In the 1990s DEC developed new businesses, such as the AltaVista search engine, and sold off many of its old ones. Subsequently the company had some success due to the design of its computers using the DEC Alpha microprocessor. The Alpha chip was a very advanced RISC design, and in the late 1990s it had one of the fastest clock speeds of any chip in its class.