For the third time, there will be a Vintage Computer Festival Europe in Switzerland on November 19th and 20th, 2016.
This time, the event will take place in the Rote Fabrik, Zurich. New location, new setup!

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Programme in PDF format: Programmheft

Our mission is to encourage the preservation of obsolete computer hard- and software of years past, to promote interest in researching and documenting the history of the computer age … and to have fun playing with old iron. The Vintage Computer Festival is not only a fixed entry in the Silicon Valley timetable, but it has also become a European event, celebrating our computer heritage. Let us return to those thrilling days of yesteryear, when geeks were geeks and floppies were really floppy.
Play hands-on with some of the most important computer systems from the 50s down through the 90s and see the evolution of computing. Play the earliest video games on Old Iron and vintage arcade machines, try operating a Blinkenlights front panel and relive the home computer boom of the Eighties. Presentation sessions will complement the exhibits, explaining the stories of machines both famous and long forgotten.

Hands-on demonstrations of historic computing are the heart of the VCFe series. If you’d like to show your vintage stuff, be very welcome!
Read more about the process and how to register your exhibit.

Below is a summary of the currently confirmed exhibits, loosely sorted in historical order. See also the full exhibit and presentation descriptions.
To add your own exhibit to the show, see here

Currently confirmed exhibits:
New exhibits added regularly - please check back soon

1950s-60s

• LGP-30 (replica project): Computing without RAM or ROM
• The PDP-8: Birthplace of personal computing before the era of the microprocessor
• IBM System/360: reviving an original 360/30 front panel
• Project Blinkenbone: living PDP-11 and PDP15s


1970s

• The PDP-11: Where Unix took first steps, on its long way towards your tablet…
• Start of the microcomputer revolution: the Altair 8800 and IMSAI 8080
• First home computers: TRS-80, Commodore PET & Apple II.
• Swiss computing at its finest: The Smaky and Wirth’s Lilith and Ceres computers


1980s

• Commodore Galore! From PET to C-64 to Amiga
• The creative British computer industry in the 80s
• MS-DOS: IBM’s revolution that came to dominate them all


1990s

• History of the Commodore Amiga
• A parallel world: Workstations from Sun & NeXT
• UNIX based workstations
• Linux on personal computers: Making use of old hardware


Vintage Hardware of the 21st Century

• Fuzix: multi-user, multi-tasking on pretty much any 1980s home computer
• Homebrewing: creations of hobbyists
  using Z80 and 6809, or Raspberry Pi & Arduino.
• Homebrewing: creations of hobbyists
  Papertape on USB.
• Pixel art: 80's graphics as a physical form
Currently confirmed presentation sessions:
Held in parallel with the exhibition



• Sa 11:00 MMU and Virtualisation
• Sa 12:00 The Story of Mel: Real Programming on 1950s hardware
• Sa 13:00 1977, The Year of the Trinity: TRS-80, Apple II & PET. Part 1.
• Sa 14:00 1977, The Year of the Trinity: TRS-80, Apple II & PET. Part 2.
• Sa 15:00 From transistor to microprocessor.
• Sa 16:00 Graphics : home computers and game consoles. Part 1
• Sa 17:00 Graphics : home computers and game consoles. Part 2
• So 11:00 Speicher. Wie jetzt ?
• So 12:00 Speicher. 64KiB sind nicht genug.
• So 13:00 Speicher. Alles und gleich !
• So 14:00 Fuzix: Minimalist Unix on 1980s home computers
• So 15:00 Implementing a TCP/IP stack, running under RSX on a PDP11
• So 16:00 New Life for Old Silicon: Linux on obsolete hardware



Activities:
Held in parallel with the exhibition


• Repair Corner
• Nerdquiz, a VCF Europa tradition
• Flea Market
• C64 Lightpen Workshop
• Soldering workshops
  
• Visit of the Revamp-it warehouse : preregistration required!
  
  


The Saturday Night Retroparty

• Chiptunes from the SID Chip
• Food & Drink from the Rote Fabrik
• A Night At The Museum…

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Located on a unique scenic spot on the shores of Lake Zurich, the Rote Fabrik cultural center offers a rich variety of cultural programs. The Rote Fabrik is always on the move. It picks up new trends and offers a platform for creativity in different cultural genres.

Dock18 Raum für Medienkulturen der Welt ist abwechselnd und von Zeit zu Zeit simultan unabhängiger Kunstraum, TV Studio, Medienlabor, Meeting Point, Bar, Club, Tanzboden und interaktiver Nährboden für verschiedene Medienkulturen der Welt.
VCF Europa.org – Our mission is to encourage the preservation of obsolete computer hard- and software of years past, to promote interest in researching and documenting the history of the computer age … and to have fun playing with old iron.
VCFED (US) – Vintage Computer Federation is a 501c3 non-profit educational organization existing for and led by computer history hobbyists. Activities include online discussion, events, local user groups, and a bricks-and-mortar museum. We can also assist with film/TV props, media interviews, research projects, data/drive recovery services, patent/prior art projects, and more.
. VintageBytes.ch - association of vintage computer enthusiasts in Switzerland

Labor Luzern - Learning community for contemporary media. The LABOR Luzern invites to DIY and do-it-together! Our Hackspace downtown Luzern offers a creative environment for innovation and creativity!