MIPS OS

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MIPS OS is the operating system first used with the MIPS microprocessor that debuted in 1985. It was more generally known as RISC/os. MIPS OS is a Unix variant that loosely descended from 4.2BSD Unix. MIPS OS was one of the first 32-bit operating systems for RISC-based workstation-class computers.

The MIPS OS, originally developed by MIPS Computer Systems Inc. in 1985, was originally used on the MIPS Computer Systems' own line of workstations. It was a dual-universe operating system, meaning that it had separate, switchable runtime environments to closely model both the BSD and System V flavors of Unix. It was arguably a successful concept, but it never really gained widespread acceptance, and the MIPS OS itself never ran on any platforms other than MIPS' own workstations. Due in part to MIPS' falilure to sell workstations in quantity, MIPS OS development steadily waned with longer and longer waits between product releases and upgrades.

During the late 1980s and early 1990s, several vendors including DEC, Silicon Graphics, and Ardent licensed portions of the software MIPS had written for the MIPS OS for their own Unix variants. MIPS' influence was most visible as the C compiler shared by virtually all commercial Unixes for the MIPS processor.

In 1992, Silicon Graphics purchased MIPS Computer Systems. With Ardent/Stardent/Kubota disappearing during the 1990s and DEC moving to OSF/1 and then Tru64 before being bought out by Compaq (later Hewlett-Packard), the legacy of the MIPS OS has been IRIX, which is still used on SGI workstations to date.