During the mainframe era, IBM made a wide variety of programs available to its customers.

During the mainframe era, client/server was initially viewed as a "toy" technology, not viable as a mainframe replacement.

There are as many as 50 million workers worldwide using dumb terminals, still captive to the mainframe era.

IDMS was to be a great bet for the company as it became the leader among many capable and popular products of the mainframe era.

Ms. Hancock, who began at I.B.M. as a programmer in 1966, during the heart of the mainframe era, has a master's degree in mathematics.

That opens the door, analysts say, to I.B.M., which ruled the mainframe era, in potentially achieving a dominant position as a supplier of technology for computer games.

But for all intents, the mainframe era ended when the personal computer moved into the mainstream, with the introduction of the I.B.M. PC in 1981.

In the heyday of the mainframe era, I.B.M. supplied not only the advice but also all the hardware.

Keys like SysRq, Pause and Break are relics from the mainframe era.

The system suited the mainframe era, when I.B.M. controlled the pace of technological change and decisions were few but crucial.