In response to a Howard Benner question...

"To support up to 40 users, I am looking at an IBM S/36 or a Wang VS-65.  Which
is the better way to go?"

Our own Jim Holloman had this to say....

Howard, 40 users for either a S/36 or a VS-65 is going to be a HEAVY
load.  Unfortunately, you are looking at some real headaches no matter
which machine is used.
Overall, I would prefer the VS-65:
  1)  Virtual OS with Virtual Memory Support.
  2)  Good support for Word Processing and the interfacing of WP with
      DP.
  3)  Use of a decent COBOL for interactive programming.
  4)  Easier to interface Assy. with the COBOL than S/36 Assy. with S/36
      RPG.
  5)  Lower entry price (but higher maintenance and add-on cost).
  6)  Strong security checking (by file, by prog., by access, etc.).
The problems with Wang are:
  1)  Wang ABSOLUTELY does not know how to support the customer and
      tends to take a "give a s**t attitude" (however, this may not be
      much different from the new IBM).  Most of the people I have
      encountered at the Regional Support Center don't know which way is
      up and down.  I had a linkage-editor prob. and it took 3 weeks and
      a dozen phone calls just to get someone interested in the problem.
      The machine has been installed for a year and there is still not a
      SINGLE hardware manual on site in spite of two promises by the
      branch office to get us some manuals.  This is in spite of the
      printer being complex, difficult to load and with several not-so-
      obvious adjustments.  On top of this, a hardware repairman didn't
      seem to understand why the forms thickness was set to minimum.  If
      you place a trouble call, you may see a repairman tomorrow and
      you may see a repairman next week.  There seems to be a fierce
      battle going on within Wang between the Software and the Hardware
      support people.  They are trying to decide who is going to be
      responsible for what -- and you guessed it, the customer ends up
      in the middle.
  2)  No suitable support for Roll (TTY) screens.  ALL screens need to
      be formatted and this is sometimes much less suitable than a roll
      (TTY) screen.
  3)  One of the more expensive parts of the matrix printer (the print
      head) is not covered by the maintenance agreement.
  4)  The hardware maintenance is a good bit higher than IBM maintenance
      (as a percentage of hardware cost).
  5)  Many essential functions are not provided by the OS; but must be
      obtained from a third party (The Society Of Wang Users).  In
      addition, some of the utilities provided by the OS are very weak
      (limited generic selection capability, etc.).
I can go into some of the weakness of the S/36; but the primary two are
the lack of a virtual OS and the use of the RPG language.  RPG was never
meant for interactive progs. and IBM has proven it with the S/34 and
S/36.  In addition, the performance of the S/36 leaves a lot to be
desired.
When you consider the choices available for a mid-size computer, it is
easy to understand the current slump in the marketplace -- there simply
isn't a good choice.  It comes down to the lesser of two bad choices.
If vendor support is critical, forget Wang.  If ease of programming is
paramount, forget the S/36.
Now, if Wang would buy out IBM we might have a decent situation.  JLH.