MicroVax and OpenVMS for dummies

Hi TZ, Sounds like you've got a nice little system there. The 3100/85 should be one of the fastest CPUs used in any MicroVAX, so you should be in good shape with any version of VMS you'd care to try. If you need to get fresh licenses and media for VMS and a number of compilers and other fun "layered products," you should check out the OpenVMS Hobbyist Program <http://www.openvmshobbyist.com/> (www.openvmshobbyist.com) - and they have links to many other resources. Among them should be OpenVMS.org <http://www.openvms.org/> (www.openvms.org), which seems to be quite active. And you can find information on OpenVMS systems from HP here <http://h71000.www7.hp.com/> (h71000.www7.hp.com), and the old Ask The Wizard stuff here <http://h71000.www7.hp.com/wizard/> (h71000.www7.hp.com/wizard). I would also suggest you keep a browser window open to Hoffman Labs <http://www.hoffmanlabs.com> (www.hoffmanlabs.com) and his field guide to VMS / hobbyist intro. I thought Steve *was* the engineer behind Ask The Wizard, but I could be wrong about that. If you don't have it on the system already, you can get the full range of IP-based network services for VMS. The FAQs may have a quick way to tell and/or enable them - and if need be you can get it via the Hobbyist Program. But you should expect to be able to telnet or ssh into the box, and even use an X Windows display over the network. There are some "VMS for Unix users" type books out there, which wouldn't hurt for general concepts. Beyond that I would recommend you start by downloading a copy of the System Managers Manual (SMM) from HP's docs. And when you see something that reminds you of Windows NT or later, remember that they borrowed from DEC and not the other way around. :^/ Have fun! --Steve.