Ferranti Mark 1

The Ferranti Mark I was after the Zuse Z4, the second commercially available general-purpose computer. It was first delivered in February 1951, shortly before the UNIVAC I.

The computer was built by the British company Ferranti, and based on the Manchester Mark I, which was designed by Frederic Calland Williams and Tom Kilburn at the University of Manchester. The Manchester Mark I served as a kind of prototype for the Ferranti Mark I. The main improvements were the size of the working and secondary memory, a faster multiplier, and additional commands.

After the first two computers had been delivered ( to the University of Manchester and the University of Toronto ), a revised design was delivered, the I * or Ferranti Star became known as the Ferranti Mark. The other amendments related mainly to the instruction set, for better usability. At least seven of these machines were delivered 1951-1957.