<PAGE>
 
As filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on May 8, 1997.
                                                              No. 333- _________
________________________________________________________________________________
                      SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
                            Washington, D.C.  20549

                                   FORM S-8

            REGISTRATION STATEMENT UNDER THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933

                            WANG LABORATORIES, INC.
              (Exact name of issuer as specified in its charter)


           DELAWARE                                       04-2192707
(State or other jurisdiction of                        (I.R.S. Employer
incorporation or organization)                       Identification Number)

     600 TECHNOLOGY PARK DRIVE                                01821
     BILLERICA, MASSACHUSETTS 
(Address of Principal Executive Offices)                   (Zip Code)


                                 COMMON STOCK
                            (Full title of the Plan)

                            ALBERT A. NOTINI, ESQ.
                            WANG LABORATORIES, INC.
                           600 TECHNOLOGY PARK DRIVE
                        BILLERICA, MASSACHUSETTS 01821
                    (Name and address of agent for service)

                                (508) 967-5000
         (Telephone number, including area code, of agent for service)
________________________________________________________________________________
                        CALCULATION OF REGISTRATION FEE

<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
                                          Proposed            Proposed        
Title of                                  maximum             maximum         
securities           Amount               offering            aggregate            Amount of
to be                to be                price per           offering             registration 
registered           registered           share               price                fee
----------           ----------           ---------           ---------            ------------              
<S>                <C>                  <C>                 <C>                  <C>
Common               2,900 shares         $18.50 (1)          $53,650.00(1)        $100.00
Stock, $.01 
par value
per share
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
</TABLE>

(1)  All shares are issuable with fixed prices. Pursuant to Rule 457(h)(1) under
     the Securities Act of 1933, the aggregate offering price and the fee have
     been computed upon the basis of the prices at which the shares are issued.
<PAGE>
 
PART I.   INFORMATION REQUIRED IN THE SECTION 10(a) PROSPECTUS

          The information required by Part I of Form S-8 is included in
documents sent or given to the recipient of the common stock of the Registrant,
$.01 par value per share (the "Common Stock") pursuant to Rule 428(b)(1) of the
Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act").

PART II.  INFORMATION REQUIRED IN THE REGISTRATION STATEMENT

     Item 3.   Incorporation of Certain Documents by Reference
               -----------------------------------------------

          Wang Laboratories, Inc. (the "Registrant") is subject to the
informational and reporting requirements of Sections 13(a), 14 and 15(d) of the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the "Exchange Act"), and in
accordance therewith files reports, proxy statements and other information with
the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "Commission").  The Following
documents, which are filed with Commission, are incorporated in this
Registration Statement by reference:

          (1) The Registrant's latest annual report filed pursuant to Sections
     13(a) or 15(d) of the Exchange Act, or the latest prospectus filed pursuant
     to Rule 424(b) under the Securities Act that contains audited financial
     statements for the Registrant's latest fiscal year for which such
     statements have been filed.

          (2) All other reports filed pursuant to Sections 13(a) or 15(d) of the
     Exchange Act since the end of the fiscal year covered by the annual report
     or the prospectus referred to in (1) above.

          (3) The description of the Common Stock, contained in a Registration
     Statement filed under the Exchange Act, including any amendment or report
     filed for the purpose of updating such description.

          All documents subsequently filed by the Registrant pursuant to
Sections 13(a), 13(c), 14, and 15(d) of the Exchange Act, prior to the filing of
a post-effective amendment which indicates that all securities offered have been
sold or which deregisters all shares of Common Stock then remaining unsold,
shall be deemed to be incorporated by reference herein and to be part hereof
from the date of the filing of such documents.

     Item 4.   Description of Securities
               -------------------------

          Not applicable.

     Item 5.   Interests of Names Experts and Counsel
               --------------------------------------

          Not applicable.

     Item 6.   Indemnification
               ---------------
<PAGE>
 
     Section 145 of the Delaware General Corporate Law authorizes a court to
award, or a corporation's Board of Directors to grant, indemnification to
directors and officers in terms sufficiently broad to permit such
indemnification under certain circumstances for liabilities (including
reimbursement for expenses incurred) arising under the Securities Act of 1933,
as amended (the "Securities Act").  Article TENTH of Registrant's Certificate of
Incorporation provides for indemnification of its directors and officers to the
maximum extent permitted by the Delaware General Corporation Law.

     Item 7.   Exemption from Registration Claimed
               -----------------------------------

          Not applicable.

     Item 8.   Exhibits
               --------

          The Exhibit Index immediately preceding the exhibits is incorporated
herein by reference.

     Item 9.   Undertakings
               ------------

     1.   The Registrant hereby undertakes:

          (1) To file, during any period in which offers or sales are being
     made, a post-effective amendment to this Registration Statement:

          (i) To include any prospectus required by Section 10(a)(3) of the
     Securities Act;

          (ii) To reflect in the prospectus any facts or events arising after
     the effective date of the Registration Statement (or the most recent post-
     effective amendment thereof) which, individually or in the aggregate,
     represent a fundamental change in the information set forth in the
     Registration Statement; and

          (iii) To include any material information with respect to the plan of
     distribution not previously disclosed in the Registration Statement or any
     material change to such information in the Registration Statement;

          provided, however, that paragraphs (i) and (ii) do not apply if the
          -----------------
     Registration Statement is on Form S-3 or Form S-8, and the information
     required to be included in a post-effective amendment by those paragraphs
     is contained in periodic reports filed with or furnished to the Commission
     by the Registrant pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Exchange
     Act that are incorporated by reference in the Registration Statement.
     
          (2) That, for the purposes of determining any liability under the
     Securities Act, each such post-effective amendment shall be deemed to be a
     new Registration Statement relating to the securities offered therein, and
     the offering
<PAGE>
 
     of such securities at that time shall be deemed to be the initial bona fide
     offering thereof.

          (3) To remove from registration by means of a post-effective amendment
     any of the securities being registered which remain unsold at the
     termination of the offering.

     2.   The Registrant hereby undertakes that, for purposes of determining any
liability under the Securities Act, each filing of the Registrant's annual
report pursuant to Section 13(a) or Section 15(d) of the Exchange Act (and,
where applicable, each filing of an employee benefit plan's annual report
pursuant to Section 15(d) of the Exchange Act) that is incorporated by reference
in the Registration Statement shall be deemed to be a new Registration Statement
relating to the securities offered therein, and the offering of such securities
at that time shall be deemed to be the initial bona fide offering thereof.

     3.   Insofar as indemnification for liabilities arising under the
Securities Act may be permitted to directors, officers and controlling persons
of the Registrant pursuant to the foregoing provisions, or otherwise, the
Registrant has been advised that in the opinion of the Securities and Exchange
Commission such indemnification is against public policy as expressed in the Act
and is, therefore, unenforceable.  In the event that a claim for indemnification
against such liabilities (other than the payment by the Registrant of expenses
incurred or paid by a director, officer or controlling person of the Registrant
in the successful defense of any action, suit or proceeding) is asserted by such
director, officer or controlling person in connection with the securities being
registered, the Registrant will, unless in the opinion of its counsel the matter
has been settled by controlling precedent, submit to a court of appropriate
jurisdiction the question whether such indemnification by it is against public
policy as expressed in the Securities Act and will be governed by the final
adjudication of such issue.
<PAGE>
 
                                  SIGNATURES

     Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, the Registrant
certifies that it has reasonable grounds to believe that it meets all of the
requirements for filing on Form S-8 and has duly caused this Registration
Statement to be signed on its behalf of the undersigned, thereunto duly
authorized, in the Town of Billerica, Commonwealth of Massachusetts, on this
7th day of May, 1997

                                          WANG LABORATORIES, INC.


                                          By: /s/ Franklyn A. Caine
                                              ___________________________
                                              Franklyn A. Caine
                                              Executive Vice President and
                                                Chief Financial Officer

                               POWER OF ATTORNEY

     We, the undersigned officers and directors of Wang Laboratories, Inc.
hereby severally constitute Albert A. Notini and John A. Burgess, and each of
them singly, our true and lawful attorneys with full power to them, and each of
them singly, to sign for us and in our names in the capacities indicated below,
the Registration Statement on Form S-8 filed herewith and any and all subsequent
amendments to said Registration Statement, and generally to do all such things
in our names and behalf in our capacities as officers and directors to enable
Wang Laboratories, Inc. to comply with all requirements of the Securities and
Exchange Commission, hereby ratifying and confirming our signatures as they may
be signed by said attorneys, or any of them, to said Registration Statement and
any and all amendments thereto.

     Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, this
Registration Statement has been signed by the following persons in the
capacities and on the dates indicated:
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
 
Signature                              Title                                   Date
---------
<S>                                <C>                                      <C>
/s/ Joseph M. Tucci
_______________________________        Chairman of the Board, Chief            May 7, 1997
Joseph M. Tucci                        Executive Officer and Director
                                       (Principal Executive Officer)

/s/ Franklyn A. Caine
_______________________________        Executive Vice President and            May 7, 1997
Franklyn A. Caine                      Chief Financial Officer
                                       (Principal Financial Officer
                                       and Accounting Officer)

/s/ David A. Boucher
_______________________________        Director                                May 7, 1997
David A. Boucher
 
</TABLE>
<PAGE>

<TABLE> 
<S>                        <C>                          <C> 
 
/s/ Michael W. Brown       Director                       May 7, 1997
_____________________
Michael W. Brown

/s/ Marcia J. Hooper       Director                       May 7, 1997
_____________________
Marcia J. Hooper

/s/ Joseph J. Kroger       Director                       May 7, 1997
_____________________
Joseph J. Kroger

/s/ Raymond C. Kurzweil    Director                       May 7, 1997
_______________________
Raymond C. Kurzweil

/s/ Axel J. Leblois        Director                       May 7, 1997
_____________________
Axel J. Leblois

/s/ Frederick A. Wang      Director                       May 7, 1997
_____________________      
Frederick A. Wang
 
</TABLE> 
<PAGE>
 
                                 EXHIBIT INDEX
                                 -------------

4.1**  Certificate of Incorporation of the Registrant, as amended to date

4.2*   By-Laws of the Registrant, as amended to date

5.1    Opinion of Wang's General Counsel

23.1   Consent of Wang's General Counsel (included in Exhibit 5.1)

23.2   Consent of Ernst & Young LLP

23.3   Consent of Coopers & Lybrand L.L.P.

23.4   Consent of KMPG Peat Marwick LLP

24.1   Power of Attorney (included on page 5 of the Registration Statement)



_______________________________

*    Filed as an Exhibit to the Registrant's quarterly report on 10-Q for the
     quarter ended December 31, 1994 and incorporated herein by reference.

**   Filed as an Exhibit to the Registrant's quarterly report on 10-Q for the
     quarter ended December 31, 1995 and incorporated herein by reference.
[{"type": "S-8", "sequence": "1", "description": "FORM S-8 COMMON STOCK", "secsgml_size_bytes": 14347}]
{"company-data": {"conformed-name": "WANG LABORATORIES INC", "cik": "0000104519", "assigned-sic": "7372", "irs-number": "042192707", "state-of-incorporation": "DE", "fiscal-year-end": "0630"}, "filing-values": {"form-type": "S-8", "act": "33", "file-number": "333-26661", "film-number": "97597748"}, "business-address": {"street1": "600 TECHNOLOGY PARK DRIVE", "city": "BILLERICA", "state": "MA", "zip": "01821-4120", "phone": "5089675000"}, "mail-address": {"street1": "600 TECHNOLOGY PARK DRIVE", "street2": "MAILSTOP 014-B3C", "city": "BILLERICA", "state": "MA", "zip": "01821-4120"}}
As filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on May 8, 1997.
                                                              No. 333- _________
________________________________________________________________________________
                      SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
                            Washington, D.C.  20549

                                   FORM S-8

            REGISTRATION STATEMENT UNDER THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933

                            WANG LABORATORIES, INC.
              (Exact name of issuer as specified in its charter)

           DELAWARE                                       04-2192707
(State or other jurisdiction of                        (I.R.S. Employer
incorporation or organization)                       Identification Number)

     600 TECHNOLOGY PARK DRIVE                                01821
     BILLERICA, MASSACHUSETTS 
(Address of Principal Executive Offices)                   (Zip Code)

                                 COMMON STOCK
                            (Full title of the Plan)

                            ALBERT A. NOTINI, ESQ.
                            WANG LABORATORIES, INC.
                           600 TECHNOLOGY PARK DRIVE
                        BILLERICA, MASSACHUSETTS 01821
                    (Name and address of agent for service)

                                (508) 967-5000
         (Telephone number, including area code, of agent for service)
________________________________________________________________________________
                        CALCULATION OF REGISTRATION FEE
Proposed            Proposed        
Title of                                  maximum             maximum         
securities           Amount               offering            aggregate            Amount of
to be                to be                price per           offering             registration 
registered           registered           share               price                fee
----------           ----------           ---------           ---------            ------------
Common               2,900 shares         $18.50 (1)          $53,650.00(1)        $100.00
Stock, $.01 
par value
per share
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(1)  All shares are issuable with fixed prices. Pursuant to Rule 457(h)(1) under
     the Securities Act of 1933, the aggregate offering price and the fee have
     been computed upon the basis of the prices at which the shares are issued.
PART I.   INFORMATION REQUIRED IN THE SECTION 10(a) PROSPECTUS

          The information required by Part I of Form S-8 is included in
documents sent or given to the recipient of the common stock of the Registrant,
$.01 par value per share (the "Common Stock") pursuant to Rule 428(b)(1) of the
Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act").

PART II.  INFORMATION REQUIRED IN THE REGISTRATION STATEMENT

     Item 3.   Incorporation of Certain Documents by Reference
               -----------------------------------------------

          Wang Laboratories, Inc. (the "Registrant") is subject to the
informational and reporting requirements of Sections 13(a), 14 and 15(d) of the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the "Exchange Act"), and in
accordance therewith files reports, proxy statements and other information with
the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "Commission").  The Following
documents, which are filed with Commission, are incorporated in this
Registration Statement by reference:

          (1) The Registrant's latest annual report filed pursuant to Sections
     13(a) or 15(d) of the Exchange Act, or the latest prospectus filed pursuant
     to Rule 424(b) under the Securities Act that contains audited financial
     statements for the Registrant's latest fiscal year for which such
     statements have been filed.

          (2) All other reports filed pursuant to Sections 13(a) or 15(d) of the
     Exchange Act since the end of the fiscal year covered by the annual report
     or the prospectus referred to in (1) above.

          (3) The description of the Common Stock, contained in a Registration
     Statement filed under the Exchange Act, including any amendment or report
     filed for the purpose of updating such description.

          All documents subsequently filed by the Registrant pursuant to
Sections 13(a), 13(c), 14, and 15(d) of the Exchange Act, prior to the filing of
a post-effective amendment which indicates that all securities offered have been
sold or which deregisters all shares of Common Stock then remaining unsold,
shall be deemed to be incorporated by reference herein and to be part hereof
from the date of the filing of such documents.

     Item 4.   Description of Securities
               -------------------------

          Not applicable.

     Item 5.   Interests of Names Experts and Counsel
               --------------------------------------

          Not applicable.

     Item 6.   Indemnification
               ---------------
Section 145 of the Delaware General Corporate Law authorizes a court to
award, or a corporation's Board of Directors to grant, indemnification to
directors and officers in terms sufficiently broad to permit such
indemnification under certain circumstances for liabilities (including
reimbursement for expenses incurred) arising under the Securities Act of 1933,
as amended (the "Securities Act").  Article TENTH of Registrant's Certificate of
Incorporation provides for indemnification of its directors and officers to the
maximum extent permitted by the Delaware General Corporation Law.

     Item 7.   Exemption from Registration Claimed
               -----------------------------------

          Not applicable.

     Item 8.   Exhibits
               --------

          The Exhibit Index immediately preceding the exhibits is incorporated
herein by reference.

     Item 9.   Undertakings
               ------------

     1.   The Registrant hereby undertakes:

          (1) To file, during any period in which offers or sales are being
     made, a post-effective amendment to this Registration Statement:

          (i) To include any prospectus required by Section 10(a)(3) of the
     Securities Act;

          (ii) To reflect in the prospectus any facts or events arising after
     the effective date of the Registration Statement (or the most recent post-
     effective amendment thereof) which, individually or in the aggregate,
     represent a fundamental change in the information set forth in the
     Registration Statement; and

          (iii) To include any material information with respect to the plan of
     distribution not previously disclosed in the Registration Statement or any
     material change to such information in the Registration Statement;

          provided, however, that paragraphs (i) and (ii) do not apply if the
          -----------------
     Registration Statement is on Form S-3 or Form S-8, and the information
     required to be included in a post-effective amendment by those paragraphs
     is contained in periodic reports filed with or furnished to the Commission
     by the Registrant pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Exchange
     Act that are incorporated by reference in the Registration Statement.
     
          (2) That, for the purposes of determining any liability under the
     Securities Act, each such post-effective amendment shall be deemed to be a
     new Registration Statement relating to the securities offered therein, and
     the offering
of such securities at that time shall be deemed to be the initial bona fide
     offering thereof.

          (3) To remove from registration by means of a post-effective amendment
     any of the securities being registered which remain unsold at the
     termination of the offering.

     2.   The Registrant hereby undertakes that, for purposes of determining any
liability under the Securities Act, each filing of the Registrant's annual
report pursuant to Section 13(a) or Section 15(d) of the Exchange Act (and,
where applicable, each filing of an employee benefit plan's annual report
pursuant to Section 15(d) of the Exchange Act) that is incorporated by reference
in the Registration Statement shall be deemed to be a new Registration Statement
relating to the securities offered therein, and the offering of such securities
at that time shall be deemed to be the initial bona fide offering thereof.

     3.   Insofar as indemnification for liabilities arising under the
Securities Act may be permitted to directors, officers and controlling persons
of the Registrant pursuant to the foregoing provisions, or otherwise, the
Registrant has been advised that in the opinion of the Securities and Exchange
Commission such indemnification is against public policy as expressed in the Act
and is, therefore, unenforceable.  In the event that a claim for indemnification
against such liabilities (other than the payment by the Registrant of expenses
incurred or paid by a director, officer or controlling person of the Registrant
in the successful defense of any action, suit or proceeding) is asserted by such
director, officer or controlling person in connection with the securities being
registered, the Registrant will, unless in the opinion of its counsel the matter
has been settled by controlling precedent, submit to a court of appropriate
jurisdiction the question whether such indemnification by it is against public
policy as expressed in the Securities Act and will be governed by the final
adjudication of such issue.
SIGNATURES

     Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, the Registrant
certifies that it has reasonable grounds to believe that it meets all of the
requirements for filing on Form S-8 and has duly caused this Registration
Statement to be signed on its behalf of the undersigned, thereunto duly
authorized, in the Town of Billerica, Commonwealth of Massachusetts, on this
7th day of May, 1997

                                          WANG LABORATORIES, INC.

                                          By: /s/ Franklyn A. Caine
                                              ___________________________
                                              Franklyn A. Caine
                                              Executive Vice President and
                                                Chief Financial Officer

                               POWER OF ATTORNEY

     We, the undersigned officers and directors of Wang Laboratories, Inc.
hereby severally constitute Albert A. Notini and John A. Burgess, and each of
them singly, our true and lawful attorneys with full power to them, and each of
them singly, to sign for us and in our names in the capacities indicated below,
the Registration Statement on Form S-8 filed herewith and any and all subsequent
amendments to said Registration Statement, and generally to do all such things
in our names and behalf in our capacities as officers and directors to enable
Wang Laboratories, Inc. to comply with all requirements of the Securities and
Exchange Commission, hereby ratifying and confirming our signatures as they may
be signed by said attorneys, or any of them, to said Registration Statement and
any and all amendments thereto.

     Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, this
Registration Statement has been signed by the following persons in the
capacities and on the dates indicated:
Signature                              Title                                   Date
---------
/s/ Joseph M. Tucci
_______________________________        Chairman of the Board, Chief            May 7, 1997
Joseph M. Tucci                        Executive Officer and Director
                                       (Principal Executive Officer)

/s/ Franklyn A. Caine
_______________________________        Executive Vice President and            May 7, 1997
Franklyn A. Caine                      Chief Financial Officer
                                       (Principal Financial Officer
                                       and Accounting Officer)

/s/ David A. Boucher
_______________________________        Director                                May 7, 1997
David A. Boucher
/s/ Michael W. Brown       Director                       May 7, 1997
_____________________
Michael W. Brown

/s/ Marcia J. Hooper       Director                       May 7, 1997
_____________________
Marcia J. Hooper

/s/ Joseph J. Kroger       Director                       May 7, 1997
_____________________
Joseph J. Kroger

/s/ Raymond C. Kurzweil    Director                       May 7, 1997
_______________________
Raymond C. Kurzweil

/s/ Axel J. Leblois        Director                       May 7, 1997
_____________________
Axel J. Leblois

/s/ Frederick A. Wang      Director                       May 7, 1997
_____________________      
Frederick A. Wang
EXHIBIT INDEX
                                 -------------

4.1**  Certificate of Incorporation of the Registrant, as amended to date

4.2*   By-Laws of the Registrant, as amended to date

5.1    Opinion of Wang's General Counsel

23.1   Consent of Wang's General Counsel (included in Exhibit 5.1)

23.2   Consent of Ernst & Young LLP

23.3   Consent of Coopers & Lybrand L.L.P.

23.4   Consent of KMPG Peat Marwick LLP

24.1   Power of Attorney (included on page 5 of the Registration Statement)

_______________________________

*    Filed as an Exhibit to the Registrant's quarterly report on 10-Q for the
     quarter ended December 31, 1994 and incorporated herein by reference.

**   Filed as an Exhibit to the Registrant's quarterly report on 10-Q for the
     quarter ended December 31, 1995 and incorporated herein by reference.