VMS
OpenVMS, aka VMS or Virtual Memory System, is the name of a high-end computer server OS that runs on the VAX and Alpha families of computers, developed by Digital Equipment Corporation. It is now owned by Hewlett-Packard, and can run on the Intel Itanium CPU. VMS is highly secure and excellent at clustered networking, which gives this OS a disaster-proof reputation that has lasted for over 30 years.
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| Also Known As: | OpenVMS, Virtual Memory System |
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| Drawn By: | Bella; other OSC artists |
| OS Personified: | VMS (later called later OpenVMS) |
| OS Developer: | Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) |
| First Released: | October, 1977 |
| Latest Stable Release: | OpenVMS 8.3-1H1 / October 25, 2007 |
VMS-tan has several drawn depictions; These are in fact the same character at different ages. The most common, however, is of OpenVMS-tan: mature woman with long dark blue hair, and two silver forelocks. She has deep blue eyes, and wears a dark outfit, usually consisting of leather boots, dark pants, a belt for carrying her assortment of knives and swords (a nod to VMS's almost paranoid security), a dark shirt, vest, and trench coat. She wears a mask when in the company of those she doesn't trust.
She has uncanny skills with all matter of bladed weapons; While she carried a rapier style sword in her early days, she has since adopted a large cleaver with metal shark's teeth carved in it's edge, a reference to VMS's shark logo (and VMS-tan's fascination with these aquatic carnivores). This shark-like reference also applies to her attitude. She is ruthless in battle, not sparing a moment to defend herself against an attacker.
VMS-tan's mindset fits her age well. She is of a rather serious, sometimes even paranoid personality, and is a master survivalist; Although she's been quiet all her life, in her youth her demeanor was somewhat more positive. This side still shows though from time to time. She used to live with her family (the DEC-tans), but financial woes and company buy-out have separated them. She is now an independent OS-tan, aligned with no canon group.
Another interesting note is her relation with the prevailent Unixes. Although many VMS enthusiasts point out VMS's Unix-like features, it is not considered a Unix-like system and, in fact, many VMS supporters think their OS is better. VMS-tan is somewhat disdainful of Unix-tans, although she considers herself to have some of their better traits (and often jokes of being a step-cousin of sorts)
Outside of canon, some speculate that VMS-tan is the biological mother of NT-tan, citing VMS's heavy influence on NT's architecture. It is also conjectured that NT-tan knows nothing of this relation. Younger VMS-tan is often depicted as sharing a resemblance to NT-tan, both physically and mentally. To this day VMS-tan is known to have a motherly, caring side to her usually stoic attitude; although this side is rarely seen.
See also:
