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104-453: The Macintosh II is a personal computer designed, manufactured, and sold by Apple Computer from March 1987 to January 1990. Based on the Motorola 68020 32-bit CPU, it is the first Macintosh supporting color graphics. When introduced, a basic system with monitor and 20 MB hard drive cost US$ 5,498 (equivalent to $ 14,750 in 2023). With a 13-inch color monitor and 8-bit display card,

208-442: A TV set or an appropriately sized computer display , and is often used as a digital photo viewer, music and video player, TV receiver, and digital video recorder. HTPCs are also referred to as media center systems or media servers . The goal is to combine many or all components of a home theater setup into one box. HTPCs can also connect to services providing on-demand movies and TV shows. HTPCs can be purchased pre-configured with

312-401: A kit form and in limited volumes, and were of interest mostly to hobbyists and technicians. Minimal programming was done with toggle switches to enter instructions, and output was provided by front panel lamps. Practical use required adding peripherals such as keyboards, computer displays , disk drives , and printers . Micral N was the earliest commercial, non-kit microcomputer based on

416-511: A multitasking operating system . Eventually, due to the influence of the IBM PC on the personal computer market , personal computers and home computers lost any technical distinction. Business computers acquired color graphics capability and sound, and home computers and game systems users used the same processors and operating systems as office workers. Mass-market computers had graphics capabilities and memory comparable to dedicated workstations of

520-553: A portable computer prototype called SCAMP (Special Computer APL Machine Portable) based on the IBM PALM processor with a Philips compact cassette drive, small CRT , and full function keyboard. SCAMP emulated an IBM 1130 minicomputer in order to run APL/1130. In 1973, APL was generally available only on mainframe computers, and most desktop sized microcomputers such as the Wang 2200 or HP 9800 offered only BASIC . Because SCAMP

624-469: A touchscreen display, which can be controlled using either a stylus pen or finger. Some tablets may use a hybrid or convertible design, offering a keyboard that can either be removed as an attachment, or a screen that can be rotated and folded directly over top the keyboard. Some tablets may use desktop-PC operating system such as Windows or Linux, or may run an operating system designed primarily for tablets. Many tablet computers have USB ports, to which

728-835: A 4096-color palette, stereo sound, Motorola 68000 CPU, 256 KB RAM, and 880 KB 3.5-inch disk drive, for US$ 1,295. IBM's first PC was introduced on 12 August 1981 setting what became a mass market standard for PC architecture. In 1982 The Computer was named Machine of the Year by Time magazine. Somewhat larger and more expensive systems were aimed at office and small business use. These often featured 80-column text displays but might not have had graphics or sound capabilities. These microprocessor-based systems were still less costly than time-shared mainframes or minicomputers. Workstations were characterized by high-performance processors and graphics displays, with large-capacity local disk storage, networking capability, and running under

832-410: A computer that could fit on a desk was remarkably small, leading to the desktop nomenclature. More recently, the phrase usually indicates a particular style of computer case . Desktop computers come in a variety of styles ranging from large vertical tower cases to small models which can be tucked behind or rest directly beneath (and support) LCD monitors . While the term desktop often refers to

936-557: A computer with a vertically aligned computer tower case , these varieties often rest on the ground or underneath desks. Despite this seeming contradiction, the term desktop does typically refer to these vertical tower cases as well as the horizontally aligned models which are designed to literally rest on top of desks and are therefore more appropriate to the desktop term, although both types qualify for this desktop label in most practical situations aside from certain physical arrangement differences. Both styles of these computer cases hold

1040-415: A contiguous block. Graphics : The Macintosh II includes a graphics card that supports a true-color 16.7-million-color palette and was available in two configurations: 4-bit and 8-bit. The 4-bit model supports 16 colors on a 640×480 display and 256 colors (8-bit video) on a 512×384 display, which means that VRAM was 256 KB. The 8-bit model supports 256-color video on a 640×480 display, which means that VRAM

1144-510: A desk, including a keyboard, a small one-line display, and printer. The Wang 2200 microcomputer of 1973 had a full-size cathode ray tube (CRT) and cassette tape storage. These were generally expensive specialized computers sold for business or scientific uses. 1974 saw the introduction of what is considered by many to be the first true personal computer, the Altair 8800 created by Micro Instrumentation and Telemetry Systems (MITS) . Based on

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1248-415: A few years before. Even local area networking, originally a way to allow business computers to share expensive mass storage and peripherals, became a standard feature of personal computers used at home. An increasingly important set of uses for personal computers relied on the ability of the computer to communicate with other computer systems, allowing interchange of information. Experimental public access to

1352-432: A graphics card installed. For this reason, desktop computers are usually preferred over laptops for gaming purposes. Unlike desktop computers, only minor internal upgrades (such as memory and hard disk drive) are feasible owing to the limited space and power available. Laptops have the same input and output ports as desktops, for connecting to external displays, mice, cameras, storage devices and keyboards. Laptops are also

1456-459: A hardware specification called Handheld PC was later released by Microsoft that run the Windows CE operating system. Motorola 68020 The Motorola 68020 is a 32-bit microprocessor from Motorola , released in 1984. A lower-cost version was also made available, known as the 68EC020 . In keeping with naming practices common to Motorola designs, the 68020 is usually referred to as

1560-487: A hinged second panel containing a flat display screen. Closing the laptop protects the screen and keyboard during transportation. Laptops generally have a rechargeable battery , enhancing their portability. To save power, weight and space, laptop graphics chips are in many cases integrated into the CPU or chipset and use system RAM, resulting in reduced graphics performance when compared to desktop machines, that more typically have

1664-408: A keyboard or mouse can be connected. Smartphones are often similar to tablet computers , the difference being that smartphones always have cellular integration. They are generally smaller than tablets, and may not have a slate form factor. The ultra-mobile PC (UMPC) is a small tablet computer . It was developed by Microsoft , Intel and Samsung , among others. Current UMPCs typically feature

1768-540: A larger screen or use with video projectors. IBM PC-compatible suitcase format computers became available soon after the introduction of the PC, with the Compaq Portable being a leading example of the type. Later models included a hard drive to give roughly equivalent performance to contemporary desktop computers. The development of thin plasma display and LCD screens permitted a somewhat smaller form factor, called

1872-465: A little more expensive compared to desktops, as the miniaturized components for laptops themselves are expensive. Notebook computers such as the TRS-80 Model 100 and Epson HX-20 had roughly the plan dimensions of a sheet of typing paper ( ANSI A or ISO A4 ). These machines had a keyboard with slightly reduced dimensions compared to a desktop system, and a fixed LCD display screen coplanar with

1976-739: A microprocessor, the Intel 8008 . It was built starting in 1972, and a few hundred units were sold. This had been preceded by the Datapoint 2200 in 1970, for which the Intel 8008 had been commissioned, though not accepted for use. The CPU design implemented in the Datapoint 2200 became the basis for x86 architecture used in the original IBM PC and its descendants. In 1973, the IBM Los Gatos Scientific Center developed

2080-454: A mouse and a single 800 KB 3.5-inch floppy disk drive; a Motorola 68851 PMMU was available as an option and required for running A/UX . Personal computer Institutional or corporate computer owners in the 1960s had to write their own programs to do any useful work with computers. While personal computer users may develop their applications, usually these systems run commercial software , free-of-charge software (" freeware "), which

2184-483: A much higher total pin count. By the early 1980s, similar limitations on all modern CPU designs led to the introduction of the pin grid array that replaced the DIP. For the new project, Motorola selected a 169-pin layout, giving them plenty of room to work with. The design ultimately used only 114 of them. A great debate broke out about how to refer to the underlying design of the new chip in marketing materials. Technically,

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2288-402: A multiprocessing system (which were removed in the 68060), some support for high-level languages which did not get used much (and was removed from future 680x0 processors), bigger multiply (32×32→64 bits) and divide (64÷32→32 bits quotient and 32 bits remainder) instructions, and bit field manipulations. The new addressing modes add scaled indexing and another level of indirection to many of

2392-440: A multiprocessor system, coprocessors could not be shared between CPUs. To avoid problems with returns from coprocessor, bus error, and address error exceptions, it was generally necessary in a multiprocessor system for all CPUs to be the same model, and for all FPUs to be the same model as well. The new instructions include some minor improvements and extensions to the supervisor state, several instructions for software management of

2496-402: A new fab, MOS-8, using 5-inch wafers and the latest HMOS process licensed from Intel . This line was capable of building all of the new techniques, but the 68000 went ahead with the older design as they were sure it would work. Moving to new design techniques would wait until the design was in the market. The conversion to the new design techniques took place during the Motorola 68010 effort,

2600-481: A new naming scheme: devices without an integrated phone are called Windows Mobile Classic instead of Pocket PC, while devices with an integrated phone and a touch screen are called Windows Mobile Professional. Palmtop PCs were miniature pocket-sized computers running DOS that first came about in the late 1980s, typically in a clamshell form factor with a keyboard. Non-x86 based devices were often called palmtop computers, examples being Psion Series 3 . In later years

2704-486: A new watch band to commemorate the event. Meanwhile, Walker instituted a new policy at MOS-8 to improve the plant itself. He normally called meetings at 6:30 AM. If things were not going well, he would move that up to 5:30, and even 4:30. This provided a strong incentive to get the plant running. The production problems were soon ironed out, and volume deliveries began late that year. By this point, their workstation customers had already developed complete systems ready to use

2808-406: A preview of features that would later become staples of personal computers: e-mail , hypertext , word processing , video conferencing , and the mouse . The demonstration required technical support staff and a mainframe time-sharing computer that were far too costly for individual business use at the time. Early personal computers‍—‌generally called microcomputers‍—‌were often sold in

2912-686: A proper three-stage pipeline. Though the 68010 had a "loop mode", which sped loops through what was effectively a tiny instruction cache, it held only two short instructions and was thus little used. The 68020 replaced this with a proper instruction cache of 256 bytes, the first 68k series processor to feature true on-chip cache memory. The previous 68000 and 68010 processors could only access word (16-bit) and long word (32-bit) data in memory if it were word-aligned (located at an even address). The 68020 has no alignment restrictions on data access. Naturally, unaligned accesses are slower than aligned accesses because they required an extra memory access. The 68020 has

3016-473: A relatively minor upgrade to the original design that added basic virtual memory support for the emerging Unix workstation market. As this effort was ongoing, Motorola was canvassing their customers for their desires for future developments in the line. These all pointed to a fully 32-bit implementation. Those using the 68k in Unix systems also stated they would purchase a floating point unit for every one of

3120-615: A shared mainframe computer system was demonstrated as early as 1973 in the Community Memory project, but bulletin board systems and online service providers became more commonly available after 1978. Commercial Internet service providers emerged in the late 1980s, giving public access to the rapidly growing network. In 1991, the World Wide Web was made available for public use. The combination of powerful personal computers with high-resolution graphics and sound, with

3224-462: A small 256-byte direct-mapped instruction cache, arranged as 64 four-byte entries. Although small, it still made a significant difference in the performance of many applications. The resulting decrease in bus traffic was particularly important in systems relying heavily on DMA . The 68020 has a coprocessor interface supporting up to eight coprocessors. The main CPU recognizes "F-line" instructions (with

Macintosh II - Misplaced Pages Continue

3328-655: A television already in the home as the computer display, with low-detail blocky graphics and a limited color range, and text about 40 characters wide by 25 characters tall. Sinclair Research , a UK company, produced the ZX Series‍—;‌the ZX80 (1980), ZX81 (1981), and the ZX Spectrum ; the latter was introduced in 1982, and totaled 8 million unit sold. Following came the Commodore 64 , totaled 17 million units sold,

3432-612: A third-party keyboard or attempt to upsell a customer to the more expensive (and higher-profit) Extended Keyboard. Audio : The Macintosh II was the first Macintosh to have the Chimes of Death accompany the Sad Mac logo whenever a serious hardware error occurred. The new extensions featured for the Macintosh II at the time were A/ROSE and Sound Manager. The Macintosh II was offered in three configurations. All systems included

3536-406: A time, they are commonly connected to a local area network and run multi-user operating systems . Workstations are used for tasks such as computer-aided design , drafting and modeling, computation-intensive scientific and engineering calculations, image processing, architectural modeling, and computer graphics for animation and motion picture visual effects. Before the widespread use of PCs,

3640-537: A well-publicized recall of the faulty ROMs and released a program to test whether a particular Macintosh II had the defect. Accessories : The Macintosh II and Macintosh SE were the first Apple computers since the Apple I to be sold without a keyboard. Instead the customer was offered a choice of the new ADB Apple Keyboard or the Apple Extended Keyboard as a separate purchase. Dealers could bundle

3744-601: A wide range of users, not just experienced electronics hobbyists who had the soldering skills to assemble a computer kit. The Apple I as delivered was still technically a kit computer, as it did not have a power supply, case, or keyboard when it was delivered to the Byte Shop. The first successfully mass-marketed personal computer to be announced was the Commodore PET after being revealed in January 1977. However, it

3848-568: A workaround that allowed larger SIMMs to be put in Bank B with the PMMU installed. In this case, the ROMs at boot think that the computer has 8 MB or less of RAM. MODE32 then reprograms the memory controller to dedicate more address space to Bank A, allowing access to the additional memory in Bank B. Since this makes the physical address space discontiguous, the PMMU is then used to remap the address space into

3952-542: Is a desktop computer that generally comprises a high-performance video card , processor and RAM, to improve the speed and responsiveness of demanding video games . An all-in-one computer (also known as single-unit PCs) is a desktop computer that combines the monitor and processor within a single unit. A separate keyboard and mouse are standard input devices, with some monitors including touchscreen capability. The processor and other working components are typically reduced in size relative to standard desktops, located behind

4056-639: Is a lower cost version of the Motorola 68020. The main difference is that the 68EC020 only has a 24-bit address bus, rather than the 32-bit address bus of the full 68020, and thus is only able to address 16 MB of memory. The Amiga 1200 computer and the Amiga CD32 game console use the cost-reduced 68EC020; the Namco System 22 , Taito F3 and Konami GX arcade boards also used this processor. The Atari Jaguar II prototype featured this to replace

4160-495: Is a portable computer that provides the full capabilities of a desktop computer . Such computers are currently large laptops. This class of computers usually includes more powerful components and a larger display than generally found in smaller portable computers, and may have limited battery capacity or no battery. Netbooks , also called mini notebooks or subnotebooks , were a subgroup of laptops suited for general computing tasks and accessing web-based applications . Initially,

4264-467: Is asynchronous, so it is possible to run the coprocessors at a different clock rate than the CPU. Multiprocessing support is implemented externally by the use of an RMC pin to indicate an indivisible read-modify-write cycle in progress. All other processors have to hold off memory accesses until the cycle is complete. Software support for multiprocessing includes the TAS , CAS and CAS2 instructions. In

Macintosh II - Misplaced Pages Continue

4368-521: Is built around the Motorola 68020 processor operating at 16 MHz , teamed with a Motorola 68881 floating-point unit . The machine shipped with a socket for an optional Motorola 68851 MMU , but an "Apple HMMU Chip" (VLSI VI475 chip) was installed by default and could not implement virtual memory (instead, it translated 24-bit addresses to 32-bit addresses for the Mac OS, which would not be 32-bit clean until System 7 ). Memory : The standard memory

4472-466: Is most often proprietary, or free and open-source software , which is provided in ready-to-run , or binary form. Software for personal computers is typically developed and distributed independently from the hardware or operating system manufacturers. Many personal computer users no longer need to write their programs to make any use of a personal computer, although end-user programming is still feasible. This contrasts with mobile systems, where software

4576-400: Is often available only through a manufacturer-supported channel, and end-user program development may be discouraged by lack of support by the manufacturer. Since the early 1990s, Microsoft operating systems (first with MS-DOS and then with Windows ) and Intel hardware – collectively called Wintel – have dominated the personal computer market, and today the term PC normally refers to

4680-677: The Alpha Microsystems AM-2000. The 68020 was an alternative upgrade to the Sinclair QL 's 68008 in the Super Gold Card interface by Miracle Systems . The Amiga 2500 and A2500UX optionally shipped with the A2620 Accelerator using a 68020, 68881 FPU and 68851 MMU. The 2500UX shipped with Amiga Unix , requiring an '020 or '030 processor. A number of digital oscilloscopes from the mid-80s to

4784-485: The Apple I computer circuit board, which was fully prepared and contained about 30 chips. The Apple I computer differed from the other kit-style hobby computers of era. At the request of Paul Terrell , owner of the Byte Shop , Jobs and Wozniak were given their first purchase order, for 50 Apple I computers, only if the computers were assembled and tested and not a kit computer. Terrell wanted to have computers to sell to

4888-590: The Bendix G15 and LGP-30 of 1956, and the Soviet MIR series of computers developed from 1965 to 1969. By the early 1970s, people in academic or research institutions had the opportunity for single-person use of a computer system in interactive mode for extended durations, although these systems would still have been too expensive to be owned by a single person. The personal computer was made possible by major advances in semiconductor technology. In 1959,

4992-656: The Galaksija (1983) introduced in Yugoslavia and the Amstrad CPC series (464–6128). In the same year, the NEC PC-98 was introduced, which was a very popular personal computer that sold in more than 18 million units. Another famous personal computer, the revolutionary Amiga 1000 , was unveiled by Commodore on 23 July 1985. The Amiga 1000 featured a multitasking, windowing operating system, color graphics with

5096-624: The IBM Personal Computer incorporated the designation into its model name, the term originally described personal computers of any brand. In some contexts, PC is used to contrast with Mac, an Apple Macintosh computer. Since none of these Apple products were mainframes or time-sharing systems, they were all personal computers but not PC (brand) computers. In 1995, a CBS segment on the growing popularity of PC reported: "For many newcomers PC stands for Pain and Confusion." The "brain" [computer] may one day come down to our level [of

5200-465: The Mac286 , which included an Intel 80286 chip and could be used for MS-DOS compatibility. The original ROMs in the Macintosh II contained a bug that prevented the system from recognizing more than one megabyte of memory address space on a Nubus card. Every Macintosh II manufactured until approximately November 1987 had this defect. This happened because Slot Manager was not 32-bit clean. Apple offered

5304-567: The Macintosh IIx replaced it, using the 030. Although it ran at the same 16 MHz clock speed, the IIx offered 3.9 MIPS compared to the II's 2.6. The 68020 has 32-bit internal and external data and address buses, compared to the early 680x0 models with 16-bit data and 24-bit address buses. The 68020's ALU is also natively 32-bit, so can perform 32-bit operations in one clock cycle, whereas

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5408-701: The Macintosh SE , was the first Macintosh to use the Apple Desktop Bus (ADB) introduced with the Apple IIGS for keyboard and mouse interface. The primary improvement in the Macintosh II was Color QuickDraw in ROM , a color version of the Macintosh graphics routines. Color QuickDraw can handle any display size, up to 8-bit color depth, and multiple monitors. Because Color QuickDraw is included in

5512-405: The lunchbox computer. The screen formed one side of the enclosure, with a detachable keyboard and one or two half-height floppy disk drives, mounted facing the ends of the computer. Some variations included a battery, allowing operation away from AC outlets. A laptop computer is designed for portability with clamshell design, where the keyboard and computer components are on one panel, with

5616-460: The silicon integrated circuit (IC) chip was developed by Robert Noyce at Fairchild Semiconductor , and the metal–oxide–semiconductor (MOS) transistor was developed by Mohamed Atalla and Dawon Kahng at Bell Labs . The MOS integrated circuit was commercialized by RCA in 1964, and then the silicon-gate MOS integrated circuit was developed by Federico Faggin at Fairchild in 1968. Faggin later used silicon-gate MOS technology to develop

5720-652: The "020", pronounced "oh-two-oh" or "oh-twenty". The 020 was in the market for a relatively short time. The Motorola 68030 was announced in September 1986 and began deliveries in the summer of 1987. Priced about the same as the 020 of the time, the 030 was significantly faster and quickly replaced in 020 in almost every use. At the time the Motorola 68000 was designed, Motorola's design and fabrication services were outdated. Although even small companies like MOS Technology and Zilog had moved on to silicon gate depletion mode NMOS logic on ever-larger wafers , Motorola

5824-661: The "1977 trinity". Mass-market, ready-assembled computers had arrived, and allowed a wider range of people to use computers, focusing more on software applications and less on development of the processor hardware. In 1977 the Heath company introduced personal computer kits known as Heathkits , starting with the Heathkit H8 , followed by the Heathkit H89 in late 1979. With the purchase of the Heathkit H8 you would obtain

5928-526: The 020 and 030, the latter of which could be used as a drop-in replacement in many roles. For this reason, designs using the 030 appeared much more quickly after its release than the 020. The first Macintosh with the 020 was the Macintosh II released in March 1987, two years after the 020 had become widely available, with low-volume initial shipments starting two months later. Only eighteen months later,

6032-426: The 020 and the new floating point unit, the Motorola 68881 . Systems were in the market only five or six months after the 020 had been announced. Design of the 020's follow-on began almost immediately. As part of their ongoing work with Hitachi, Motorola's fabrication system was finally catching up with the competition, as was their internal design workflow. This gave them considerably more room to work with, allowing

6136-460: The 020 was moving from the long-established NMOS logic design to a CMOS layout, which requires two transistors per gate. Common knowledge of the era suggested that CMOS cost four times as much as NMOS, and there was a significant amount of the market that believed "CMOS equals bad." The design was completed in the summer of 1983 and announced in June 1984. This "super chip" was significant news at

6240-530: The 68000 took a minimum of two clock cycles due to its 16-bit ALU. Newer packaging methods allowed the '020 to feature more external pins without the large size that the earlier dual in-line package method required. The 68EC020 lowered cost through a 24-bit address bus. The 68020 was produced at speeds ranging from 12 MHz to 33 MHz. The 68020 has a 32-bit arithmetic logic unit (ALU), 32-bit external data and address buses. It adds extra instructions and additional addressing modes. The 68020 (and 68030) has

6344-543: The 68020, together with a 68882 FPU. It is also the processor used on TGV trains to decode signalling information sent to the trains through the rails. It is used in the flight control and radar systems of the Eurofighter Typhoon combat aircraft. The Nortel Networks DMS-100 telephone central office switch also used the 68020 as the first microprocessor of the SuperNode computing core. The 68EC020

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6448-555: The 8-bit Intel 8080 Microprocessor, the Altair is widely recognized as the spark that ignited the microcomputer revolution as the first commercially successful personal computer. The computer bus designed for the Altair was to become a de facto standard in the form of the S-100 bus , and the first programming language for the machine was Microsoft's founding product, Altair BASIC . In 1976, Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak sold

6552-429: The Macintosh II was updated with a more powerful CPU and sold as the Macintosh IIx . In early 1989, the more compact Macintosh IIcx was introduced at a price similar to the original Macintosh II, and by the beginning of 1990 sales stopped altogether. Motherboard upgrades to turn a Macintosh II into a IIx or Macintosh IIfx were offered by Apple. Two common criticisms of the Macintosh from its introduction in 1984 were

6656-435: The Macintosh II's ROM and relies on 68020 instructions, earlier systems could not be upgraded to display color. In September 1988, shortly before the introduction of the Macintosh IIx , Apple increased the list price of the Macintosh II by roughly 20%. AnimEigo notably used the Macintosh II for subtitling their earliest releases, including MADOX-01 , Riding Bean , and Vampire Princess Miyu . CPU : The Macintosh II

6760-549: The Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7, or Linux operating system , and low-voltage Intel Atom or VIA C7-M processors. A pocket PC is a hardware specification for a handheld-sized computer ( personal digital assistant , PDA) that runs the Microsoft Windows Mobile operating system . It may have the capability to run an alternative operating system like NetBSD or Linux . Pocket PCs have many of

6864-473: The ability to be programmed in both APL and BASIC for engineers, analysts, statisticians, and other business problem-solvers. In the late 1960s such a machine would have been nearly as large as two desks and would have weighed about half a ton. Another desktop portable APL machine, the MCM/70 , was demonstrated in 1973 and shipped in 1974. It used the Intel 8008 processor. A seminal step in personal computing

6968-541: The addition of larger processor caches , a built-in memory management unit (MMU) and other features. The Motorola 68030 was announced in September 1986, with deliveries to begin the next summer. Due to the changes in the production lines, the new 030 would have a lower launch price than the 020. There were significant differences between the 68000 and 020, especially the 32-bit memory interface. This required computer designs using it to be considerably different from earlier models. In contrast, there were few changes between

7072-477: The capabilities of desktop PCs . Numerous applications are available for handhelds adhering to the Microsoft Pocket PC specification, many of which are freeware . Microsoft-compliant Pocket PCs can also be used with many other add-ons like GPS receivers , barcode readers, RFID readers and cameras. In 2007, with the release of Windows Mobile 6, Microsoft dropped the name Pocket PC in favor of

7176-577: The chassis and CPU card to assemble yourself, additional hardware such as the H8-1 memory board that contained 4k of RAM could also be purchased in order to run software. The Heathkit H11 model was released in 1978 and was one of the first 16-bit personal computers; however, due to its high retail cost of $ 1,295 was discontinued in 1982. During the early 1980s, home computers were further developed for household use, with software for personal productivity, programming and games. They typically could be used with

7280-504: The closed architecture and lack of color; rumors of a color Macintosh began almost immediately. The Macintosh II project was begun by Dhuey and Berkeley during 1985 without the knowledge of Apple co-founder and Macintosh division head Steve Jobs , who opposed expansion slots and color, on the basis that expansion slots complicated the user experience and that color did not conform to WYSIWYG , as color printers were not common. Jobs instead wanted higher-resolution monochrome displays such as

7384-673: The common people] and help with our income-tax and book-keeping calculations. But this is speculation and there is no sign of it so far. In the history of computing , early experimental machines could be operated by a single attendant. For example, ENIAC which became operational in 1946 could be run by a single, albeit highly trained, person. This mode pre-dated the batch programming, or time-sharing modes with multiple users connected through terminals to mainframe computers. Computers intended for laboratory, instrumentation, or engineering purposes were built, and could be operated by one person in an interactive fashion. Examples include such systems as

7488-458: The computer, and objects could be easily dragged from one screen to the next. Third-party displays quickly became available. The Los Angeles Times reviewer called the color "spectacular." The operating system user interface remained black and white even on color monitors with the exception of the Apple logo, which appeared in rainbow color. Storage : A 5.25-inch 40 MB internal SCSI hard disk

7592-479: The first single-chip microprocessor , the Intel 4004 , in 1971. The first microcomputers , based on microprocessors, were developed during the early 1970s. Widespread commercial availability of microprocessors, from the mid-1970s onwards, made computers cheap enough for small businesses and individuals to own. In what was later to be called the Mother of All Demos , SRI researcher Douglas Engelbart in 1968 gave

7696-431: The four most significant opcode bits all one), and uses special bus cycles to interact with a coprocessor to execute these instructions. Two types of coprocessors were defined: floating point units ( MC68881 or MC68882 FPUs ) and the paged memory management unit ( MC68851 PMMU). Only one PMMU can be used with a CPU. In principle, multiple FPUs could be used with a CPU, but it was not commonly done. The coprocessor interface

7800-556: The infrastructure provided by the Internet, and the standardization of access methods of the Web browsers , established the foundation for a significant fraction of modern life, from bus time tables through unlimited distribution of free videos through to online user-edited encyclopedias. A workstation is a high-end personal computer designed for technical, mathematical, or scientific applications. Intended primarily to be used by one person at

7904-519: The introduction of the IBM PC, portable computers consisting of a processor, display, disk drives and keyboard, in a suit-case style portable housing, allowed users to bring a computer home from the office or to take notes at a classroom. Examples include the Osborne 1 and Kaypro ; and the Commodore SX-64 . These machines were AC-powered and included a small CRT display screen. The form factor

8008-549: The keyboard. These displays were usually small, with 8 to 16 lines of text, sometimes only 40 columns line length. However, these machines could operate for extended times on disposable or rechargeable batteries. Although they did not usually include internal disk drives, this form factor often included a modem for telephone communication and often had provisions for external cassette or disk storage. Later, clamshell format laptop computers with similar small plan dimensions were also called notebooks . A desktop replacement computer

8112-573: The late-90s used the 68020, including the LeCroy 9300 Series (higher end models including "C" suffix models used the more powerful 68EC030 ; the 9300 models with a 68020 processor can be upgraded to the 68EC030 with a change of the CPU board ) and the earlier LeCroy 9400 series (all models excluding the 9400/9400A which used the 68000 ), along with certain Tektronix TDS Series models. The HP 54520, 54522, 54540 and 54542 also use

8216-487: The machines if one was available. The original 68000 had been designed as a hybrid 16/32-bit system largely because the maximum number of pins available on dual inline packages (DIPs) was 64, and even at that size, packaging of this size was highly problematic. By reducing the number of address pins to 24, and the data pins to only 16, there were enough free pins to implement all the other needed lines, like interrupts and power supplies. The 24-pin address bus meant that

8320-531: The memory could only be 16 MB in total, which was at this point becoming a limitation. The 16-bit data bus meant reading a 32-bit word from that memory required two bus cycles. A design that had 32 pins for both the address and data busses would access data twice as fast, making the machine that much faster even with no other changes. Moving to 32 bit addressing would also make the implementation of virtual memory easier, and allow for more than 16 MB of random access memory . But doing so would also demand

8424-455: The monitor, and configured similarly to laptops. A nettop computer was introduced by Intel in February 2008, characterized by low cost and lean functionality. These were intended to be used with an Internet connection to run Web browsers and Internet applications. A Home theater PC (HTPC) combines the functions of a personal computer and a digital video recorder . It is connected to

8528-475: The ones chosen for his own " BigMac " project begun in 1984 to develop a Macintosh successor. Initially referred to as "Little Big Mac", the Macintosh II was codenamed " Milwaukee " after Dhuey's hometown, and it later went through a series of new names. After Jobs was fired from Apple in September 1985, the Milwaukee project could proceed openly (while Jobs' own BigMac project was cancelled). The Macintosh II

8632-460: The pre-existing modes. With full 32-bit internal and external address buses, the address registers (A0 through A7) could utilize their full 32-bit width, and were capable of addressing the entire 4 GB address space. The larger effective widths of the address registers presented some problem for earlier software that was not considered " 32-bit clean ". Some programs used the high 8 bits (bits 24-31) of addresses to contain various flag bits, with

8736-556: The price was about US$ 7,145 (equivalent to $ 19,160 in 2023). This placed it in competition with workstations from Silicon Graphics , Sun Microsystems , and Hewlett-Packard . The Macintosh II was the first computer in the Macintosh line without a built-in display; a monitor rested on top of the case like the IBM Personal Computer and Amiga 1000 . It was designed by hardware engineers Michael Dhuey (computer) and Brian Berkeley (monitor) and industrial designer Hartmut Esslinger (case). Eighteen months after its introduction,

8840-503: The primary defining characteristic of netbooks was the lack of an optical disc drive, smaller size, and lower performance than full-size laptops. By mid-2009 netbooks had been offered to users "free of charge", with an extended service contract purchase of a cellular data plan. Ultrabooks and Chromebooks have since filled the gap left by Netbooks. Unlike the generic Netbook name, Ultrabook and Chromebook are technically both specifications by Intel and Google respectively. A tablet uses

8944-498: The required hardware and software needed to add television programming to the PC, or can be assembled from components. Keyboard computers are computers inside of keyboards, generally still designed to be connected to an external computer monitor or television . Examples include the Atari ST , Amstrad CPC , BBC Micro , Commodore 64 , MSX , Raspberry Pi 400 , and the ZX Spectrum . The potential utility of portable computers

9048-411: The same MOS-8 factory as the 68000, although several new pieces of equipment were introduced to support it. By the time of the public release, the yield for the new chip was zero. That is, for every wafer sent through the multi-step process, zero working chips would be produced. Gary Johnson concluded the problem was the floor manager of MOS-8, Tom Felesi, and decided to replace him with Bill Walker, who

9152-418: The systems hardware components such as the motherboard , processor chip and other internal operating parts. Desktop computers have an external monitor with a display screen and an external keyboard, which are plugged into ports on the back of the computer case. Desktop computers are popular for home and business computing applications as they leave space on the desk for multiple monitors . A gaming computer

9256-667: The time, with the New York Times making it a lead story in their business section. The launch price was quoted at $ 487 each, about the same as the 68000 when it was launched in 1980, but the 68000 was now available for about $ 15. However, it was understood that it would be some time before computers using the new chip would be available, as existing designs would have to be heavily modified to take advantage of its performance. The announcement led to Motorola's customers clamouring for supply. At this point, serious supply problems became evident. The design had been laid out to be built in

9360-572: The ubiquitous Wintel platform. Alternatives to Windows occupy a minority share of the market; these include the Mac platform from Apple (running the macOS operating system), and free and open-source , Unix-like operating systems, such as Linux . Other notable platforms until the 1990s were the Amiga from Commodore , and the PC-98 from NEC . The term PC is an initialism for personal computer. While

9464-620: The understanding that the earlier 680x0 CPUs would safely ignore these high bits. Such software had to be rewritten to adjust to the larger physical address space available to the 68020 and later CPUs. The 68020 was used in the Apple Macintosh II and Macintosh LC personal computers , Sun-3 workstations, Amiga 1200 (68EC020 variant), the Hewlett-Packard 8711 Series Network Analyzers, HP 9000 /320, HP 9000/330, Apollo Computer 's DN3000 and DN4000 workstations, and

9568-515: Was 1 megabyte , expandable to 8 MB. The Mac II had eight 30-pin SIMMs , and memory was installed in groups of four (called "Bank A" and "Bank B"). The original Macintosh II did not have a PMMU by default. It relied on the memory controller hardware to map the installed memory into a contiguous address space . This hardware had the restriction that the address space dedicated to Bank A must be larger than those of Bank B. Though this memory controller

9672-429: Was 512 KB in size. With an optional RAM upgrade (requiring 120 ns DIP chips), the 4-bit version supports 640×480 in 8-bit color. The video card does not include hardware acceleration of drawing operations. Display : Apple offered a choice of two displays, a 12" black and white unit, and a more expensive 13" high-resolution color display based on Sony's Trinitron technology. More than one display could be attached to

9776-483: Was a new piece of equipment from a new vendor, Genius, which produced silicide . The machine simply didn't work. Walker flew to California to meet with the CEO of Genius, who offered up nothing but excuses. Walker eventually slammed his hand down on the desk, breaking his watch band, and stated "No more excuses! I want this thing fixed now, today!" Genius took the demand seriously and fixed the machine. The CEO later sent Walker

9880-508: Was apparent early on. Alan Kay described the Dynabook in 1972, but no hardware was developed. The Xerox NoteTaker was produced in a very small experimental batch around 1978. In 1975, the IBM 5100 could be fit into a transport case, making it a portable computer, but it weighed about 50 pounds. Such early portable computers were termed luggables by journalists owing to their heft. Before

9984-456: Was at that time running the older MOS-2 factory. Walker arrived at the plant on 5 July 1985 to find Johnson had not bothered to tell Felesi of the change, and arguments followed. Johnson eventually told Felesi this was indeed happening. Walker then toured the plant and found it had been turned into what was essentially a research and development lab, not a production line, with numerous bits of machinery in use nowhere else. One significant issue

10088-705: Was back-ordered and not available until later that year. Three months later (April), the Apple II (usually referred to as the Apple) was announced with the first units being shipped 10 June 1977, and the TRS-80 from Tandy Corporation / Tandy Radio Shack following in August 1977, which sold over 100,000 units during its lifetime. Together, especially in the North American market, these 3 machines were referred to as

10192-525: Was designed to support up to 16 MB 30-pin SIMMs for up to 128 MB of RAM, the original Macintosh II ROMs had problems limiting the amount of RAM that could be installed to 8 MB. The Macintosh IIx ROMs that also shipped with the FDHD upgrade fixed this problem, though still do not have a 32-bit Memory Manager and cannot boot into 32-bit addressing mode under Mac OS (without the assistance of MODE32). MODE32 contained

10296-401: Was intended to allow these systems to be taken on board an airplane as carry-on baggage, though their high power demand meant that they could not be used in flight. The integrated CRT display made for a relatively heavy package, but these machines were more portable than their contemporary desktop equals. Some models had standard or optional connections to drive an external video monitor, allowing

10400-667: Was introduced at the AppleWorld 1987 conference in Los Angeles , with low-volume initial shipments starting two months later. Retailing for US $ 5,498, the Macintosh II was the first modular Macintosh model, so called because it came in a horizontal desktop case like many IBM PC compatibles of the time. Previous Macintosh computers use an all-in-one design with a built-in black-and-white CRT . The Macintosh II has drive bays for an internal hard disk (originally 40 MB or 80 MB) and an optional second floppy disk drive. It, along with

10504-612: Was optional, as was a second internal 800 kilobyte 3.5-inch floppy disk drive. Expansion : Six NuBus slots were available for expansion (at least one of which had to be used for a graphics card , as the Mac II had no onboard graphics chipset and the OS didn't support headless booting). It is possible to connect as many as six displays to a Macintosh II by filling all of the NuBus slots with graphics cards. Another option for expansion included

10608-467: Was still using metal gates and enhancement mode and their largest fab worked on 4-inch wafers long after most lines had moved to 5-inch. Although the 68000 met the goal of being the fastest CPU available when it was introduced, it was not nearly as powerful as it could be if it had been designed with more modern techniques. During the period of the 68000 design, the company was working with Hitachi on their process technology and as part of this they opened

10712-453: Was the 1973 Xerox Alto , developed at Xerox 's Palo Alto Research Center (PARC) . It had a graphical user interface ( GUI ) which later served as inspiration for Apple's Macintosh , and Microsoft's Windows operating system. The Alto was a demonstration project, not commercialized, as the parts were too expensive to be affordable. Also in 1973 Hewlett Packard introduced fully BASIC programmable microcomputers that fit entirely on top of

10816-500: Was the first to emulate APL/1130 performance on a portable, single user computer, PC Magazine in 1983 designated SCAMP a "revolutionary concept" and "the world's first personal computer". This seminal, single user portable computer now resides in the Smithsonian Institution , Washington, D.C.. Successful demonstrations of the 1973 SCAMP prototype led to the IBM 5100 portable microcomputer launched in 1975 with

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