System i

A line of minicomputer hardware and operating systems introduced in the late 1980's by IBM as Application System/400 or AS/400 and is in fact better known under the latter name that the more recent "System i" moniker that was introduced in the year 2000 to evoke the IBM i Series mainframes. Revolutionary in its time due to the high integration of object oriented features and the OS integration of a DB2 version known as SQL/400.

The system as standard comes with the capability to compile and run RPG programs written in the native RPG/400 variant, in addition the system allowed you to compile and run programs written in RPG II intended for IBM System/3, System/34 and System/36 and in RPG III intended for System/38.

Historical significance
Due to its advanced features and keen pricing the AS/400 proved as disruptive as PC systems in the minicomputer marketplace, is generally credited with being the final nail in the coffin of Data General and was according to Digital Equipment Corporation ex-president Ken Olsen single handedly responsible for decimating the sales of DEC VAX products.

See also:

 * System i Tools