Project Abstract

Computing as a field began in the 1950s, bringing 4 interesting computers to Britian: Turing?��s Pilot ACE, Manchester Baby, the EDSAC, and the Dutch-designed but Welsh-built Stantec Zebra.All of these computers have, at some point, had software emulators made for them. All but one, however, has been made inoperable by software degradation over time.We explore the fundamental problems underlying how software ages and becomes unusable as hardware and software is upgraded over time, and put the knowledge to use to restore all the emulators of the computers to working order.A deep underlying knowledge of the machines is obtained via thorough research, and the software packages are upgraded via porting, reverse engineering and in one case, rewriting.As a result of the project, emulators are available for all home computer systems (Windows, macOS, Linux) that can run programs designed for the Pilot ACE, the Manchester Baby, the EDSAC and the Stantec Zebra, without the need for other software such as DOSBOX.Thus, these systems are now more easily accessible for those that wish to learn about the early history of computing in Britain, potentially even becoming a useful underlying tool for those wanting to learn a very simple form of programming, due to the limited capability of the early machines.

Keywords: Software Preservation, Hardware Emulation, Reverse Engineering

 Conference Details

Session: Poster Session A at Poster Stand 12

Location: Sir Stanley Clarke Auditorium at Tuesday 7th 13:30 – 17:00

Markers: John Tucker, Alma Rahat

Course: BSc Computer Science, 3rd Year

Future Plans: I’m continuing studies