My first small computer (~1974) was a DEC PDP-8L (mag core, 4096 12-words of memory, an ASR-33 TTY and punched paper tape for I/O. I programmed it in PDP-8 assembler. Toggled in the paper tape boot loader at the front panel on switches. Those were the days!
In 1981 I ran RT-11 on an LSI-11/23, and later RSX-11/M. I was mainly doing engineering -- among other things, I designed an infrared earth sensor for use on geosynchronous communications satellites for IntelSAT in 1983 on the LSI-11/23.
In 1985 I was did a bunch of work on one of Cornell's VAX-11/780 machines, learned VAX DCL and EDT, and assisted with the engineering work on their computer-aided design facility. I later consulted there as a system admin and had an Ultrix DECstation 3100 as my personal desktop. That was the fastest Unix workstation around (MIPS RISC-based) and kicked some serious butt for those days.
So,.... yes. I've retained a fondness for DEC gear. It's a shame they didn't survive.
Me too. EDT could run circles around any editing package on an IBM type machine, or even word processing software on Modern PC's.
What I found most interesting was what the DEC CE told me. When I would call in for service, I would give the problem to the person at DEC SERVICE. He told me that I wasn't talking to a person, I was talking to a VAX.
The voice software that is around today (available commercially) still pales in comparison.