vax

3 definitions found

vax - Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (26 May 2007) :

  VAX
  
     <computer> /vaks/ (Virtual Address eXtension) The most
     successful minicomputer design in industry history, possibly
     excepting its immediate ancestor, the PDP-11.  Between its
     release in 1978 and its eclipse by killer micros after about
     1986, the VAX was probably the hacker's favourite machine,
     especially after the 1982 release of 4.2BSD Unix.
     Especially noted for its large, assembly code
     -programmer-friendly instruction set - an asset that
     became a liability after the RISC revolution.
  
     VAX is also a British brand of carpet cleaner (http://vax.co.uk/)
      whose advertising slogan, "Nothing
     sucks like a VAX!" became a battle-cry of RISC partisans.  It
     is even sometimes claimed that DEC actually entered a
     licencing deal that allowed them to market VAX computers in
     the UK in return for not challenging the carpet cleaner
     trademark in the US.
  
     The slogan originated in the late 1960s as "Nothing sucks like
     Electrolux", Electrolux AB being a rival Swedish company.  It
     became a classic textbook example of the perils of not knowing
     the local idiom, which is ironic because, according to the
     Electrolux press manager in 1996, the double entendre was
     intentional.  VAX copied the slogan in their promotions in
     1986-1987, and it surfaced in New Zealand TV ads as recently
     as 1992!
  
     [Jargon File]
  
     (2000-09-28)
  

vax - Jargon File (4.4.4, 14 Aug 2003) :

  VAX
   /vaks/, n.
  
     1. [from Virtual Address eXtension] The most successful minicomputer
     design in industry history, possibly excepting its immediate
  ancestor,
     the PDP-11. Between its release in 1978 and its eclipse by killer micro
     s after about 1986, the VAX was probably the hacker's favorite
     machine of them all, esp. after the 1982 release of 4.2 BSD Unix (see
     BSD). Especially noted for its large, assembler-programmer-friendly
     instruction set -- an asset that became a liability after the RISC
     revolution.
  
     It is worth noting that the standard plural of VAX was `vaxen' and
     that VAX system operators were sometimes referred to as `vaxherds'
  
     2. A major brand of vacuum cleaner in Britain. Cited here because its
     sales pitch, "Nothing sucks like a VAX!" became a sort of battle-cry
     of RISC partisans. It is even sometimes claimed that DEC actually
     entered a cross-licensing deal with the vacuum-Vax people that
  allowed
     them to market VAX computers in the U.K. in return for not
  challenging
     the vacuum cleaner trademark in the U.S.
  
     A rival brand actually pioneered the slogan: its original form was
     "Nothing sucks like Electrolux". It has apparently become a classic
     example (used in advertising textbooks) of the perils of not knowing
     the local idiom. But in 1996, the press manager of Electrolux AB,
     while confirming that the company used this slogan in the late 1960s,
     also tells us that their marketing people were fully aware of the
     possible double entendre and intended it to gain attention.
  
     And gain attention it did -- the VAX-vacuum-cleaner people thought
  the
     slogan a sufficiently good idea to copy it. Several British hackers
     report that VAX's promotions used it in 1986--1987, and we have one
     report from a New Zealander that the infamous slogan surfaced there
  in
     TV ads for the product in 1992.
  

vax - V.E.R.A. -- Virtual Entity of Relevant Acronyms (June 2006) :

  VAX
         Virtual Address eXtension (DEC, VAX)