Microdata Corporation

The original machine was a Microdata 800, an 8-bit microprogrammed computer first made in 1969. This computer was licensed to the French company Intertechnique who sold it in Europe under the name Multi-8. It was particularly in use in nuclear power stations, research applications (such as crystallography and biology) and process control.

The Microdata 1600 was an updated version of the 800 processor (commercialized under the name Multi-4 by Intertechnique).

The original development of Reality was done on the Microdata 800. The first Reality system was based on the 1600 and was sold commercially in 1973. The unique feature of the early Microdata processors was that the microcode was accessible to the user and allowed the creation of custom assembler level instructions. The Reality system design made extensive use of this capability.

The Microdata 3200 was developed in 1974 and was a 16-bit microprogrammed system designed to implement a high level language similar to IBM's PL/I language. It was designed to a more specific purpose, but still retained a great deal of flexibility in the firmware to allow for very complex microprogrammed architectures to be supported.