iMAX 432

{{short description|Former operating system}}

{{DISPLAYTITLE:iMAX 432}}

{{Infobox OS

| name = iMAX 432

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| developer = Intel

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| working state = Discontinued

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| released = {{Start date and age|1982}}

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| programmed in = Ada

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| supported platforms = Intel iAPX 432

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iMAX 432 (Intel Multifunction Applications eXecutive for the Intel 432 Micromainframe){{cite web|date=May 1982|title=iMAX 432 Reference Manual|url=http://bitsavers.org/components/intel/iAPX_432/172103-002_iMAX_432_Reference_Manual_May82.pdf|website=|publisher=Intel}} was an operating system developed by Intel for digital electronic computers based on the 1980s Intel iAPX 432 32-bit microprocessor.{{Cite journal | doi = 10.1145/1067627.806602| last1 = Pollack | first1 = Fred J. | last2 = Kahn | first2 = Kevin C.| last3 = Wilkinson | first3 = Roy M.| title = The iMAX-432 object filing system| journal = ACM SIGOPS Operating Systems Review| volume = 15| issue = 5| date = December 1981| pages = 137–147 | publisher = Association for Computing Machinery}} The term micromainframe was an Intel marketing designation describing the iAPX 432 processor's capabilities as being comparable to a mainframe. The iAPX 432 processor and the iMAX 432 operating system were incompatible with the x86 architecture commonly found in personal computers. iMAX 432 was implemented in a subset of the original (1980) version of the Ada, extended with runtime type checking and dynamic package creation.{{Cite journal | doi = 10.1145/800216.806601| last1 = Kahn | first1 = Kevin C.| last2 = Corwin | first2 = William M.| last3 = Dennis | first3 = T. Don| last4 = d'Hooge | first4 = Herman| last5 = Hubka | first5 = David E.| last6 = Hutchins | first6 = Linda A.| last7 = Montague | first7 = John T.| last8 = Pollack | first8 = Fred J.| url = https://cs.uwaterloo.ca/~Brecht/courses/702/Possible-Readings/oses/imax-multiprocessor-os-sosp-1981.pdf| title = iMAX: A multiprocessor operating system for an object-based computer| journal = ACM SIGOPS Operating Systems Review| volume = 15| issue = 5| date = December 1981| pages = 127–136| s2cid = 9245960 }}

As of 1982 in iMAX version 2, iMAX was aimed at programmers rather than application users, and it did not provide a command line or other human interface. iMAX provided a runtime environment for the Ada programming language and other high-level languages, as well as an incomplete Ada compiler which was to be extended to cover the full Ada programming language in a later iMAX version after Version 2.

There were at least two versions of iMAX as of 1982, Version 1 and Version 2. Version 1 was undergoing internal Intel testing as of 1981 and was scheduled to be released in 1982. Version 2 was modular and the programmer could choose what parts of the iMAX operating system to load; there were two standard configurations of iMAX version 2 named "Full" and "Minimal", with the minimal configuration being similar to Version 1 of iMAX. As of 1982, a Version 3 of iMAX was planned for release, which was to add support for virtual memory.