Editing Digital Equipment Corporation (section)

==== RX50 ====
The way the 400&nbsp;KB<ref name=DEC.prof>{{cite magazine  |magazine=DEC Professional Magazine
|title=The VMS/MicroVMS merge  |author=Kathleen D. Morse
|pages=74–84}}</ref> DEC standard{{efn|vs. 360KB IBM-compatible/industry standard}} RX50<ref name="Stravers">{{cite web|last=Stravers|first=Kees|title=The RX50 FAQ|url=http://users.bart.nl/users/pb0aia/vax/rx50.html|work=Kees's VAX page|access-date=March 21, 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110519043222/http://users.bart.nl/users/pb0aia/vax/rx50.html|archive-date=May 19, 2011}}</ref> [[floppy disk drive]] supported DEC's initial offerings seemed to encapsulate their approach to the personal computer market. Although the mechanical drive hardware was nearly identical to other [[5.25" floppy disk|5 {{frac|1|4}}" floppy disk]] drives available on competing systems,<ref name="GeekHist">{{cite web|title=RX50 Field Maintenance Print Set|url=http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/dec/disc/rx50/MP01482_RX50_schem_Jul82.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110314203007/http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/dec/disc/rx50/MP01482_RX50_schem_Jul82.pdf |archive-date=2011-03-14 |url-status=live|publisher=Digital Equipment Corporation|date=July 13, 1982|id=MP-01482|access-date=October 15, 2022}}</ref> DEC sought to differentiate their product by using a proprietary disk format for the data written on the disk. The DEC format had a higher capacity for data, but the RX50 drives were incompatible with other PC floppy drives. This required DEC owners to buy higher-priced, specially formatted floppy media, which was harder to obtain through standard distribution channels. DEC attempted to enforce exclusive control over its floppy media sales by [[copyright]]ing its proprietary disk format, and requiring a negotiated license agreement and royalty payments from anybody selling compatible media. The proprietary data format meant that RX50 floppies were not interchangeable with other PC floppies, further isolating DEC products from the developing de facto standard PC market. Hardware hackers and DEC enthusiasts eventually reverse-engineered the RX50 format,<ref name=Stravers /><ref>{{cite web|last=Wilson|first=John|title=PUTR.COM V2.01|url=http://www.dbit.com/pub/putr/|access-date=March 21, 2011}} This relatively recent work is a well-developed example of programs to enhance interchange of data between DEC formatted media and standard PC systems</ref> but the damage had already been done, in terms of market confusion and isolation.