Burroughs Data Systemer A/S

Started in 1978 as Field Customer Engineer at Burroughs Data Systems at Jydeholmen 15 in Vanløse.

First, I was educated on the B1700 computer with associated peripherals such as hard drives, tape drives and printers. These machines later changed to the B1800 and B1900 models. In Copenhagen, I had, among other things, Michelin, H+H and Greve Data as my primary customers.

In 1980, Burroughs started an office in Padborg, where we were 2 technicians attached. The reason was a supposed growth within the freight forwarding industry. My primary customer was Peter Hansen Transport who had bought a B1900.

Growth in southern Jutland unfortunately did not quite reach the goal (thanks to Hewlett-Packard), and in 1982 I was transferred to Aalborg where Burroughs had an office at Aalborg Kommune. The first year we were two technicians, but the last three years I was alone in North Jutland. I serviced the models B80, B90, B800, B900, B1800 and B5900, of which Ålborg Kommune had 2 large models with global memory.

  Burroughs Corporation began in 1886 as the American Arithmometer Company in St. Louis where it sold a mechanical addition machine invented by William Seward Burroughs.

The company moved to Detroit in 1904 and changed its name to Burroughs Adding Machine Company in honor of William Seward Burroughs who died in 1898. Burroughs grew and even started producing typewriters.

In 1953, the company was renamed Burroughs Corporation and moved into the computer market, especially for banking.

Burroughs developed at least 2 innovative computer architectures:

"Burroughs large systems" machines starting with the B5000 in 1961 which was a stack machine designed to be programmed in Extended Algol60. Their operating system called MCP (Master Control Program) was also programmed in Algol. These machines were further developed for the B5500, B5700, B5900, B6700, B6800, B6900 and the vast B7000 series. The B5900 model had a model where 2 machines could collaborate through a global memory box, so it became a large virtual machine. Later changed to the A series.

Burroughs produced a series of minicomputers starting with the B1700, which was designed to be programmed so that each process got its own virtual machine designed for the program language chosen for the application. These machines were further developed for the B1800 and B1900, of which the B1885 and B1985 models were dual processors.

In September 1986, Burroughs and Sperry joined forces to form Unisys Corporation.