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117-570: The Compaq Presario brand began with the release of the first three models in September 1993: the Compaq Presario 400, 600, and 800 series. As a family of IBM PC–compatible computers, it was the company's first foray into the retail computer market. They were one of the first manufacturers of the 1990s to market a sub-$ 1000 computer, as well as the first major computer manufacturer to utilize CPUs from AMD and Cyrix in order to maintain

234-601: A CD-ROM drive and an additional Sound Blaster 16 sound card as standard, in addition to all of the features of their non-CDS counterparts. Over time, the Presario brand went through a number of iterations over the years, with five generations (or "Series") of computers being produced by Compaq prior to its acquisition by HP in 2002. This includes several different design changes to the desktop and tower cases for each series of computers and many generations of Intel and AMD processors (with Cyrix processors being offered up until

351-535: A 32-bit operating system released during the 2000s can still operate many of the simpler programs written for the OS of the early 1980s without needing an emulator , though an emulator like DOSBox now has near-native functionality at full speed (and is necessary for certain games which may run too fast on modern processors). Additionally, many modern PCs can still run DOS directly, although special options such as USB legacy mode and SATA-to-PATA emulation may need to be set in

468-440: A CD-ROM drive and sound card as standard equipment, which necessitated the removal of the "CDS" configuration. "Series 2" (1996–1998) In 1996, a new lineup of Presario computers were introduced, featuring all-new case designs. This was the second generation of Presario computers produced from 1996 to 1998, informally known as "Series 2". This includes the 2200, 4100, 4400, 4500, 4600, 4700, 4800, 6700, and 8700 series, as well as

585-669: A Pentium Pro than a Pentium regarding technical solutions and internal architecture. However, the final product was closer to the Pentium regarding performance, although faster clock-for-clock compared to the Pentium. The K5 was based upon an internal highly parallel RISC processor architecture with an x86 decoding front-end. The K5 offered good x86 compatibility and the in-house-developed test suite proved invaluable on later projects. All models had 4.3 million transistors , with five integer units that could process instructions out of order and one floating-point unit. The branch target buffer

702-421: A beige design instead of black and silver (though the aforementioned design would eventually come to the series much later). It uses a modular case design that can function as either a desktop or a tower. The 8000 series can hold up to two 5.25-inch drive bays and one 3.5-inch drive bay, and featured at least three IEEE 1394 (FireWire) ports, with one built into the case and the other via a PCI card. Hardware-wise,

819-759: A commercial venture. Experience had shown that even if an operating system was technically superior to Windows, it would be a failure in the market ( BeOS and OS/2 for example). In 1989, Steve Jobs said of his new NeXT system, "It will either be the last new hardware platform to succeed, or the first to fail." Four years later in 1993, NeXT announced it was ending production of the NeXTcube and porting NeXTSTEP to Intel processors. Very early on in PC history, some companies introduced their own XT-compatible chipsets . For example, Chips and Technologies introduced their 82C100 XT Controller which integrated and replaced six of

936-491: A computer capable of running programs that are managed by MS-DOS". The main reason why an IBM standard is not worrying is that it can help competition to flourish. IBM will soon be as much a prisoner of its standards as its competitors are. Once enough IBM machines have been bought, IBM cannot make sudden changes in their basic design; what might be useful for shedding competitors would shake off even more customers. In February 1984 Byte wrote that "IBM's burgeoning influence in

1053-558: A consumer PC manufacturer during April 2005, when it sold its laptop and desktop PC divisions ( ThinkPad / ThinkCentre ) to Lenovo for US$ 1.75 billion . As of October 2007, Hewlett-Packard and Dell had the largest shares of the PC market in North America. They were also successful overseas, with Acer , Lenovo , and Toshiba also notable. Worldwide, a huge number of PCs are " white box " systems assembled by myriad local systems builders. Despite advances of computer technology,

1170-432: A dial-up modem as standard equipment. Its bundled keyboards also had additional buttons that would link to internet-related functions. Both models even included a Logitech QuickCam webcam in select models, allowing for such things like videoconferencing , among others. Compaq Presario 8000 series The Compaq Presario 8000 series was introduced in September 2001 as part of the newly-revamped lineup that year to replace

1287-531: A few percentage points of market share was Apple Inc. 's Macintosh . The Mac started out billed as "the computer for the rest of us", but high prices and closed architecture drove the Macintosh into an education and desktop publishing niche, from which it only emerged in the mid-2000s. By the mid-1990s the Mac's market share had dwindled to around 5% and introducing a new rival operating system had become too risky

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1404-561: A line of low-end home desktops and laptops made by Hewlett-Packard (HP) under the Compaq brand name after Compaq merged with HP in 2002 as part of HP's strategy to use the Compaq brand for its consumer and budget-oriented products, and was sold concurrently with HP's other products such as the Pavilion . The Presario line of laptops also subsequently replaced the then-discontinued OmniBook line of business notebooks around that same year (with

1521-505: A minor player with its own technology". The Economist predicted in 1983 that "IBM will soon be as much a prisoner of its standards as its competitors are", because "Once enough IBM machines have been bought, IBM cannot make sudden changes in their basic design; what might be useful for shedding competitors would shake off even more customers". After the Compaq Deskpro 386 became the first 80386-based PC, PC wrote that owners of

1638-526: A press release on June 21, 2000. Like previous generation of Presarios since the third generation, several of these models listed above are also available in build-to-order configurations, which can be acquired via retail kiosks or on Compaq's website. These models are more design-conscious than with previous generation Presarios, with most of its lineup opting for a more fresh and sophisticated design language with newly designed cases, monitors and peripherals. The cases in particular are all new, moving away from

1755-524: A proprietary operating system : "Who cares? If IBM does it, they will most likely just isolate themselves from the largest marketplace, in which they really can't compete anymore anyway". He predicted that in 1987 the market "will complete its transition from an IBM standard to an Intel/MS-DOS/expansion bus standard ... Folks aren't so much concerned about IBM compatibility as they are about Lotus 1-2-3 compatibility". By 1992, Macworld stated that because of clones, "IBM lost control of its own market and became

1872-421: A range of machines from different vendors that had widely varying hardware. Those customers who needed other applications than the starter programs could reasonably expect publishers to offer their products for a variety of computers, on suitable media for each. Microsoft's competing OS was intended initially to operate on a similar varied spectrum of hardware, although all based on the 8086 processor. Thus, MS-DOS

1989-414: A subset of tool-less "easy access" designs were integrated into the case, such as the inclusion of removable, "screwless" drive rails to facilitate easy removal of disk drives and optical drives. Released at a time when the internet was steadily growing in popularity, the 5000 and 7000 series were designed with a focus on internet connectivity in mind, with the two models including an Ethernet card alongside

2106-408: A unique all-in-one unit known as the 3020 series. This was the last generation of computers in the Presario family to offer horizontal desktop and all-in-one form factors for desktop computers. Most models used either a spaceship (or rocket ship ) form factor for the towers with smoked-black CD bezel covers, while initial models used a different case design that had a beveled concave shape surrounding

2223-798: A unique case design with a blue exterior and translucent plastic feet along with a built-in on-screen display with controls, known as the Digital Dashboard. The case also has easy open release panels on both sides to facilitate easier access to the hardware. Processors ranged from the Intel Celeron to Pentium III. A redesigned monitor known as the MV730i was also made to go alongside it, also featuring JBL Pro speakers with blue speaker grilles. It came bundled with EZ2700 models. "Series 5" (2000–2002) The Presario lineup would be refreshed for one final time in 2000 with all-new models, making it

2340-637: Is a legacy of that period; other non-clone machines, while subject to a limit, could exceed 640 KB. Rumors of "lookalike," compatible computers, created without IBM's approval, began almost immediately after the IBM PC's release. InfoWorld wrote on the first anniversary of the IBM PC that The dark side of an open system is its imitators. If the specs are clear enough for you to design peripherals, they are clear enough for you to design imitations. Apple ... has patents on two important components of its systems ... IBM, which reportedly has no special patents on

2457-466: Is becoming a misnomer, as Intel has lost absolute control over the direction of x86 hardware development with AMD 's AMD64 . Additionally, non-Windows operating systems like macOS and Linux have established a presence on the x86 architecture. Although the IBM PC was designed for expandability, the designers could not anticipate the hardware developments of the 1980s, nor the size of the industry they would engender. To make things worse, IBM's choice of

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2574-585: The Amiga , have been relegated to niche, enthusiast markets. In the past, the most successful exception was Apple 's Macintosh platform, which used non-Intel processors from its inception. Although Macintosh was initially based on the Motorola 68000 series , then transitioned to the PowerPC architecture, Macintosh computers transitioned to Intel processors beginning in 2006. Until 2020 Macintosh computers shared

2691-626: The IBM PS/2 computer that overcame many of the technical limits of the XT/AT bus, but this was rarely used as the basis for IBM-compatible computers since it required license payments to IBM both for the PS/2 bus and any prior AT-bus designs produced by the company seeking a license. This was unpopular with hardware manufacturers and several competing bus standards were developed by consortiums, with more agreeable license terms. Various attempts to standardize

2808-533: The Intel 8088 for the CPU introduced several limitations for developing software for the PC compatible platform. For example, the 8088 processor only had a 20-bit memory addressing space . To expand PC s beyond one megabyte, Lotus, Intel, and Microsoft jointly created expanded memory (EMS), a bank-switching scheme to allow more memory provided by add-in hardware, and accessed by a set of four 16- kilobyte "windows" inside

2925-631: The Macintosh computers offered by Apple Inc. and used mainly for desktop publishing at the time, the aging 8-bit Commodore 64 which was selling for $ 150 by this time and became the world's bestselling computer, the 32-bit Commodore Amiga line used for television and video production and the 32-bit Atari ST used by the music industry. However, IBM itself lost the main role in the market for IBM PC compatibles by 1990. A few events in retrospect are important: Despite popularity of its ThinkPad set of laptop PC's, IBM finally relinquished its role as

3042-607: The Multimedia PC (MPC) standard was set during 1990. A PC that met the minimum MPC standard could be marketed with the MPC logo, giving consumers an easy-to-understand specification to look for. Software that could operate on the most minimally MPC-compliant PC would be guaranteed to operate on any MPC. The MPC level 2 and MPC level 3 standards were set later, but the term "MPC compliant" never became popular. After MPC level 3 during 1996, no further MPC standards were established. By

3159-506: The PC-98 ). The IBM PC was sold in high enough volumes to justify writing software specifically for it, and this encouraged other manufacturers to produce machines that could use the same programs, expansion cards , and peripherals as the PC. The x86 computer marketplace rapidly excluded all machines which were not hardware-compatible or software-compatible with the PC. The 640 KB barrier on "conventional" system memory available to MS-DOS

3276-669: The RIVA TNT2 M64 and GeForce 2 MX . Intel-powered models lacked an AGP port, while AMD-powered models have an AGP port. It also featured onboard sound hardware. The specs and features of the 5000 series can also be configured by the user via Compaq's build-to-order program known as "Built For You", which can be found via kiosks in retail stores or on Compaq's website. The 5000 series was initially shipped with Windows 98 Second Edition preinstalled upon its introduction in mid 2000, and later came with Windows Me preinstalled between August and September of 2000. Windows XP came preinstalled on

3393-503: The SSA/5 and the 5k86 , both released with the K5 label. The original set of "SSA/5" CPUs had its branch prediction unit disabled and additional internal waitstates added; these issues were remedied with the "5k86", resulting in up to 30% better performance clock for clock. The "SSA/5" line ran from 75 to 100 MHz; the "5k86" line ran from 90 to 133 MHz. However, AMD used what it called

3510-551: The VESA Local Bus (VLB), Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI), and the Accelerated Graphics Port (AGP). Descendants of the x86 IBM PC compatibles, namely 64-bit computers based on " x86-64 /AMD64" chips comprise the majority of desktop computers on the market as of 2021, with the dominant operating system being Microsoft Windows . Interoperability with the bus structure and peripherals of

3627-568: The 1200 series, which continued to use AMD K6-2 processors. Compaq Presario EZ2000 series The Compaq Presario EZ2000 series was a specialized model designed for ease-of-use and easier access to the internet, introduced in January 2000. It came with two models, the EZ2200 and EZ2700 (the latter being exclusively offered via Compaq's build-to-order program known as "Built For You", found via kiosks in retail stores or on Compaq's website). It features

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3744-413: The 1981 IBM PC and subsequent XT and AT models from computer giant IBM . Like the original IBM PC, they use an Intel x86 central processing unit and are capable of using interchangeable commodity hardware , such as expansion cards . Initially such computers were referred to as PC clones , IBM clones or IBM PC clones , but the term "IBM PC compatible" is now a historical description only, as

3861-528: The 20-bit addressing. Later, Intel CPUs had larger address spaces and could directly address 16 MB (80286) or more, causing Microsoft to develop extended memory (XMS) which did not require additional hardware. "Expanded" and "extended" memory have incompatible interfaces, so anyone writing software that used more than one megabyte had to provide for both systems for the greatest compatibility until MS-DOS began including EMM386, which simulated EMS memory using XMS memory. A protected mode OS can also be written for

3978-457: The 5000 series starting in September 2001; an upgrade offer for Windows XP Home Edition was provided for select models of the 5000 series made between June 2001 and January 2002 from that point onwards. Due to popular demand, the 5000 series was given an update in September 2001 and continued to be produced up until early 2002 for most of the retail models, coexisting with the 4000 and 8000 series of Presario computers. Some limited release models of

4095-463: The 5000 series were produced up until mid 2002, making it one of the last computers made by Compaq prior to the 2002 merger. Compaq Presario 7000 series The Compaq Presario 7000 series was introduced alongside the 5000 series in June 2000 as the flagship models of the fifth generation of Presario computers from June 2000 to September 2001. The 7000 series was the high-end computer in Compaq's lineup at

4212-543: The 5300, 5700, 5800, 5900, 7300, 7400, 7500, 7800, and 7900 series, as well as other specialized models such as the 3500 and EZ2000 series. Several of these models are also available in build-to-order configurations, which can be acquired via retail kiosks or on Compaq's website. These models redesigned the spaceship form factor of previous generation Presarios in a more curvature shape, and most of them had translucent purple plastic flip-up doors that provided access to USB and/or FireWire ( IEEE 1394 ) ports. Processors ranged from

4329-432: The 80286, but DOS application compatibility was more difficult than expected, not only because most DOS applications accessed the hardware directly, bypassing BIOS routines intended to ensure compatibility, but also that most BIOS requests were made by the first 32 interrupt vectors, which were marked as "reserved" for protected mode processor exceptions by Intel. Video cards suffered from their own incompatibilities. There

4446-480: The AMD K6-2 powered Compaq Presario 1200 series. Laptop/notebook models used Intel, AMD, and Cyrix processors, and would also be the last generation of Presario computers to use Cyrix processors in any capacity. "Series 4" (1999–2000) In 1999, a new lineup of computers in the Presario family were introduced, marking the fourth generation of Presario computers, informally known as "Series 4". This series includes

4563-583: The BIOS setup utility. Computers using the UEFI might need to be set at legacy BIOS mode to be able to boot DOS. However, the BIOS/UEFI options in most mass-produced consumer-grade computers are very limited and cannot be configured to truly handle OSes such as the original variants of DOS. The spread of the x86-64 architecture has further distanced current computers' and operating systems' internal similarity with

4680-488: The Handwell Corporation were threatened with legal action by IBM, who settled with them. Soon after in 1982, Compaq released the very successful Compaq Portable , also with a clean-room reverse-engineered BIOS, and also not challenged legally by IBM. Early IBM PC compatibles used the same computer buses as their IBM counterparts, switching from the 8-bit IBM PC and XT bus to the 16-bit IBM AT bus with

4797-631: The IBM BIOS and then write its own BIOS using clean room design . Note this was over a year after Compaq released the Portable. The money and research put into reverse-engineering the BIOS was a calculated risk. At the same time, many manufacturers such as Tandy / RadioShack , Xerox , Hewlett-Packard , Digital Equipment Corporation , Sanyo , Texas Instruments , Tulip , Wang and Olivetti introduced personal computers that supported MS-DOS, but were not completely software- or hardware-compatible with

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4914-454: The IBM PC compatibles remained very much compatible with the original IBM PC computers, although most of the components implement the compatibility in special backward compatibility modes used only during a system boot . It was often more practical to run old software on a modern system using an emulator rather than relying on these features. In 2014 Lenovo acquired IBM's x86-based server ( System x ) business for US$ 2.1 billion . One of

5031-651: The IBM PC compatibles: try the package you want to use before you buy the computer." Companies modified their computers' BIOS to work with newly discovered incompatible applications, and reviewers and users developed stress tests to measure compatibility; by 1984 the ability to operate Lotus 1-2-3 and Flight Simulator became the standard, with compatibles specifically designed to run them. IBM believed that some companies such as Eagle, Corona, and Handwell infringed on its copyright, and after Apple Computer, Inc. v. Franklin Computer Corp. successfully forced

5148-467: The IBM PC. Tandy described the Tandy 2000 , for example, as having a "'next generation' true 16-bit CPU", and with "More speed. More disk storage. More expansion" than the IBM PC or "other MS-DOS computers". While admitting in 1984 that many PC DOS programs did not work on the computer, the company stated that "the most popular, sophisticated software on the market" was available, either immediately or "over

5265-1213: The IBM PC. At first, few clones other than Compaq's offered truly full compatibility. Jerry Pournelle purchased an IBM PC in mid-1983, " rotten keyboard and all", because he had "four cubic feet of unevaluated software, much of which won't run on anything but an IBM PC. Although a lot of machines claim to be 100 percent IBM PC compatible, I've yet to have one arrive ... Alas, a lot of stuff doesn't run with Eagle, Z-100, Compupro , or anything else we have around here". Columbia Data Products's November 1983 sales brochure stated that during tests with retail-purchased computers in October 1983, its own and Compaq's products were compatible with all tested PC software, while Corona and Eagle's were less compatible. Columbia University reported in January 1984 that Kermit ran without modification on Compaq and Columbia Data Products clones, but not on those from Eagle or Seequa. Other MS-DOS computers also required custom code. By December 1983 Future Computing stated that companies like Compaq, Columbia Data Products, and Corona that emphasized IBM PC compatibility had been successful, while non-compatible computers had hurt

5382-432: The IBM PC. Many companies were reluctant to have their products' PC compatibility tested. When PC Magazine requested samples from computer manufacturers that claimed to produce compatibles for an April 1984 review, 14 of 31 declined. Corona specified that "Our systems run all software that conforms to IBM PC programming standards. And the most popular software does." When a BYTE journalist asked to test Peachtext at

5499-516: The Intel Celeron to Pentium III, and the AMD K6-2 to Athlon . All models came with a floppy disk drive, CD-ROM drive, AGP graphics card, sound card, and a built-in modem as standard. Ethernet cards and DVD-ROM drives were offered as standard equipment in select models. They came shipped with Windows 98 Second Edition preinstalled. Laptop and notebook computers within the Presario family continues to be offered during this generation, including

5616-584: The Intel Pentium II and Pentium III , and AMD K6-2 and K6-III processors. Discrete graphics cards were now available in the majority of the models, using the AGP form factor. Ethernet cards and DVD-ROM drives also started to become available on several models. These models came shipped with Windows 98 (original release) preinstalled. Laptop and notebook computers in the Presario family continues to be offered during this generation, which includes

5733-592: The OEM versions of MS-DOS were virtually identical, except perhaps for the provision of a few utility programs. MS-DOS provided adequate functionality for character-oriented applications such as those that could have been implemented on a text-only terminal . Had the bulk of commercially important software been of this nature, low-level hardware compatibility might not have mattered. However, in order to provide maximum performance and leverage hardware features (or work around hardware bugs), PC applications quickly developed beyond

5850-455: The PC community is stifling innovation because so many other companies are mimicking Big Blue", but The Economist stated in November 1983, "The main reason why an IBM standard is not worrying is that it can help competition to flourish". By 1983, IBM had about 25% of sales of personal computers between $ 1,000 and $ 10,000 , and computers with some PC compatibility were another 25%. As

5967-463: The PC, is even more vulnerable. Numerous PC-compatible machines—the grapevine says 60 or more—have begun to appear in the marketplace. By June 1983 PC Magazine defined "PC 'clone ' " as "a computer [that can] accommodate the user who takes a disk home from an IBM PC, walks across the room, and plugs it into the 'foreign' machine". Because of a shortage of IBM PCs that year, many customers purchased clones instead. Columbia Data Products produced

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6084-548: The Spring 1983 COMDEX , Corona representatives "hemmed and hawed a bit, but they finally led me ... off in the corner where no one would see it should it fail". The magazine reported that "Their hesitancy was unnecessary. The disk booted up without a problem". Zenith Data Systems was bolder, bragging that its Z-150 ran all applications people brought to test with at the 1984 West Coast Computer Faire . Creative Computing in 1985 stated, "we reiterate our standard line regarding

6201-489: The USB and/or FireWire (IEEE 1394) ports, as well as an optical disc holder for CDs and DVDs, accessible by a colored translucent door at the bottom that matched with the other faceplates. The optical disc holder can store up to five optical discs, with one directly integrated into the case and the other four in two separate double-sided disc holders. As part of an effort to improve the ease-of-use for users upgrading their hardware,

6318-755: The bottom of the case, allowing one to store up to five optical disc-based media. The 5000 series was housed in a mini-tower case, and had two 5.25-inch and 3.5-inch drive bays. Hardware-wise, processor options ranged from the Celeron to the Pentium III and Pentium 4 for Intel-powered models, and the Duron to the Athlon for AMD-powered models. The 5000 series predominantly came with onboard graphics for most models, which are limited in graphical power compared to discrete graphics cards. Discrete graphics card options include

6435-468: The brand name being reintroduced as a consumer-oriented brand 22 years later as part of HP's rebranding of its consumer products in 2024). The name continued on for a few more years until the Compaq brand name was discontinued by HP in 2013. Over five generations of computers produced by Compaq under the Compaq Presario brand were made before the company was acquired by HP in 2002. These generations are also known as "Series". "Series 1" (1993–1996) After

6552-425: The case designs and used either i486 or Pentium (and Pentium-compatible) processors, and initially came shipped with MS-DOS 6.x and Windows 3.1x preinstalled, with later models from 1995 onwards being shipped with Windows 95 preinstalled. "CDS" configurations continued to be offered in some models, including a CD-ROM drive and a Sound Blaster 16 sound card as standard. Later models made after September 1995 came with

6669-403: The chip addressed the right design concepts, the actual engineering implementation had its issues. The low clock rates were, in part, due to AMD's limitations as a "cutting edge" manufacturing company at the time, and in part due to the design itself, which had many levels of logic for the process technology of the day, hampering clock scaling. Additionally, while the K5's floating-point performance

6786-472: The clone makers to stop using the BIOS. The Phoenix BIOS in 1984, however, and similar products such as AMI BIOS , permitted computer makers to legally build essentially 100%-compatible clones without having to reverse-engineer the PC BIOS themselves. A September 1985 InfoWorld chart listed seven compatibles with 256 KB RAM, two disk drives, and monochrome monitors for $ 1,495 to $ 2,320 , while

6903-423: The computer marketplace of the time. Until then Microsoft's business was based primarily on computer languages such as BASIC . The established small system operating software was CP/M from Digital Research which was in use both at the hobbyist level and by the more professional of those using microcomputers. To achieve such widespread use, and thus make the product viable economically, the OS had to operate across

7020-457: The computer's hardware directly and to instead make standard calls to BIOS functions that carried out hardware-dependent operations. This software would run on any machine using MS-DOS or PC DOS. Software that directly addressed the hardware instead of making standard calls was faster, however; this was particularly relevant to games. Software addressing IBM PC hardware in this way would not run on MS-DOS machines with different hardware (for example,

7137-468: The design of the towers were removable translucent colored plastic faceplates that are integral to the design of the towers. Removable speaker grills and keyboard panels offered in a similar fashion were also produced, which became part of a set of removable parts officially known by Compaq as the "MyStyle Color Accent Kits". Six colors of each kit were offered; one of them was used as the default color for all 5000 and 7000 series towers produced for retail with

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7254-549: The dominant market player only to be virtually wiped out by Intel a year later. Intel has been the uncontested leader ever since. As the "Wintel" platform gained dominance Intel gradually abandoned the practice of licensing its technologies to other chipset makers; in 2010 Intel was involved in litigation related to their refusal to license their processor bus and related technologies to other companies like Nvidia . Companies such as AMD and Cyrix developed alternative x86 CPUs that were functionally compatible with Intel's. Towards

7371-529: The end of the 1990s, AMD was taking an increasing share of the CPU market for PCs. AMD even ended up playing a significant role in directing the development of the x86 platform when its Athlon line of processors continued to develop the classic x86 architecture as Intel deviated with its NetBurst architecture for the Pentium 4 CPUs and the IA-64 architecture for the Itanium set of server CPUs. AMD developed AMD64,

7488-472: The equivalent IBM PC cost $ 2,820 . The inexpensive Leading Edge Model D is even compatible with IBM proprietary diagnostic software, unlike the Compaq Portable. By 1986 Compute! stated that "clones are generally reliable and about 99 percent compatible", and a 1987 survey in the magazine of the clone industry did not mention software compatibility, stating that "PC by now has come to stand for

7605-620: The exception rather than the rule. Instead of placing importance on compatibility with the IBM PC, vendors began to emphasize compatibility with Windows . In 1993, a version of Windows NT was released that could operate on processors other than the x86 set. While it required that applications be recompiled, which most developers did not do, its hardware independence was used for Silicon Graphics (SGI) x86 workstations–thanks to NT's Hardware abstraction layer (HAL), they could operate NT (and its vast application library) . No mass-market personal computer hardware vendor dared to be incompatible with

7722-435: The exposed drive bays. In both instances, the towers had "easy-access" buttons located on the top of the case, which were introduced in this generation. Pentium and AMD K5 – K6 processors were offered; the options for Cyrix CPUs were no longer available for desktops. Discrete graphics card options were available in some models via PCI . These models came shipped with Windows 95 preinstalled, usually OSR2 and OSR2.5 depending on

7839-504: The fifth and final generation of Presario computers produced by Compaq before they were acquired by HP in 2002, informally known as "Series 5". This series includes the 5000 and 7000 series, and later the 4000, 6000, and 8000 series. Region-specific models include the Japan-only 3200 and 3500 series, of which the latter was based on a similarly-named model from the previous series. The initial two models of this generation were announced in

7956-483: The fifth generation of Presario computers from June 2000 to September 2001. The 5000 series was the entry-level computer for value and budget-minded customers, featuring hardware at an affordable price. It is unrelated to the "Series 3" 5000 series produced from 1998–1999 despite the similar model number. The 5000 series uses a brand-new case design featuring removable translucent plastic faceplates, which are offered in six colors. It also featured an optional disc holder on

8073-515: The first IBM PC went on sale. There were three operating systems (OS) available for it. The least expensive and most popular was PC DOS made by Microsoft . In a crucial concession, IBM's agreement allowed Microsoft to sell its own version, MS-DOS , for non-IBM computers. The only component of the original PC architecture exclusive to IBM was the BIOS (Basic Input/Output System). IBM at first asked developers to avoid writing software that addressed

8190-568: The first computer more or less compatible with the IBM PC standard during June 1982, soon followed by Eagle Computer . Compaq announced its first product, an IBM PC compatible in November 1982, the Compaq Portable . The Compaq was the first sewing machine-sized portable computer that was essentially 100% PC-compatible. The court decision in Apple v. Franklin , was that BIOS code was protected by copyright law, but it could reverse-engineer

8307-424: The first major extension not created by Intel, which Intel later adopted as x86-64 . During 2006 Intel began abandoning NetBurst with the release of their set of "Core" processors that represented a development of the earlier Pentium III. A major alternative to Wintel domination is the rise of alternative operating systems since the early 2000s, which marked as the start of the post-PC era . This would include both

8424-462: The hardware, for a variety of reasons: The first thing to think about when considering an IBM-compatible computer is, "How compatible is it?" In May 1983, Future Computing defined four levels of compatibility: During development, Compaq engineers found that Microsoft Flight Simulator would not run because of what subLOGIC 's Bruce Artwick described as "a bug in one of Intel's chips", forcing them to make their new computer bug compatible with

8541-496: The interfaces were made, but in practice, many of these attempts were either flawed or ignored. Even so, there were many expansion options, and despite the confusion of its users, the PC compatible design advanced much faster than other competing designs of the time, even if only because of its market dominance. During the 1990s, IBM's influence on PC architecture started to decline. "IBM PC compatible" becomes "Standard PC" in 1990s, and later " ACPI PC" in 2000s. An IBM-brand PC became

8658-471: The late 1990s, the success of Microsoft Windows had driven rival commercial operating systems into near-extinction, and had ensured that the "IBM PC compatible" computer was the dominant computing platform . This meant that if a developer made their software only for the Wintel platform, they would still be able to reach the vast majority of computer users. The only major competitor to Windows with more than

8775-428: The latest version of Windows, and Microsoft's annual WinHEC conferences provided a setting in which Microsoft could lobby for—and in some cases dictate—the pace and direction of the hardware of the PC industry. Microsoft and Intel had become so important to the ongoing development of PC hardware that industry writers began using the word Wintel to refer to the combined hardware-software system. This terminology itself

8892-487: The latter becoming the most popular. Because of the great number of third-party adapters and no standard for them, programming the PC could be difficult. Professional developers would operate a large test-suite of various known-to-be-popular hardware combinations. Meanwhile, consumers were overwhelmed by the competing, incompatible standards and many different combinations of hardware on offer. To give them some idea of what sort of PC they would need to operate their software,

9009-531: The low-end RIVA TNT2 M64 and GeForce 2 MX, and the high-end GeForce 2 GTS and GeForce 3 . Additionally, it uses a Creative Sound Blaster 128 PCI sound card (based on the Ensoniq AudioPCI ES1373 chip). Like the 5000 series, the specs and features of the 7000 series can also be configured by the user via Compaq's build-to-order program known as "Built For You", which can be found via kiosks in retail stores or on Compaq's website. The 7000 series

9126-525: The market and competition grew IBM's influence diminished. In November 1985 PC Magazine stated "Now that it has created the [PC] market, the market doesn't necessarily need IBM for the machines. It may depend on IBM to set standards and to develop higher-performance machines, but IBM had better conform to existing standards so as to not hurt users". In January 1987, Bruce Webster wrote in Byte of rumors that IBM would introduce proprietary personal computers with

9243-450: The mid-to-late 1990s), as well as introducing newer hardware at the time of each generation. In the mid-1990s, Compaq began manufacturing PC monitors under the Presario brand. From 1993 to 1998, a series of all-in-one units, containing both the PC and the monitor in the same case, were also released. The first laptop and notebook computers in the Presario family were released in 1996. The Presario brand name would later be repurposed for

9360-469: The new computer did not need to fear that future IBM products would be incompatible with the Compaq, because such changes would also affect millions of real IBM PCs: "In sticking it to the competition, IBM would be doing the same to its own people". After IBM announced the OS/2 -oriented PS/2 line in early 1987, sales of existing DOS-compatible PC compatibles rose, in part because the proprietary operating system

9477-586: The next six months". Like IBM, Microsoft's apparent intention was that application writers would write to the application programming interfaces in MS-DOS or the firmware BIOS, and that this would form what would now be termed a hardware abstraction layer . Each computer would have its own Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) version of MS-DOS, customized to its hardware. Any software written for MS-DOS would operate on any MS-DOS computer, despite variations in hardware design. This expectation seemed reasonable in

9594-531: The old BIOS-based firmware interface, or have their CSMs disabled, cannot natively run MS-DOS since MS-DOS depends on a BIOS interface to boot. Only the Macintosh had kept significant market share without having compatibility with the IBM PC, although that changed during the Intel Macs era running Mac OS X , often dual-booting Windows with Boot Camp . IBM decided in 1980 to market a low-cost single-user computer as quickly as possible. On August 12, 1981,

9711-476: The original IBM PC by introducing yet another processor mode with an instruction set modified for 64-bit addressing, but x86-64 capable processors also retain standard x86 compatibility. AMD K5 The K5 is AMD ' s first x86 processor to be developed entirely in-house . Introduced in March 1996, its primary competition was Intel's Pentium microprocessor . The K5 was an ambitious design, closer to

9828-419: The original PC architecture may be limited or non-existent. Many modern computers are unable to use old software or hardware that depends on portions of the IBM PC compatible architecture which are missing or do not have equivalents in modern computers. For example, computers which boot using Unified Extensible Firmware Interface -based firmware that lack a Compatibility Support Module, or CSM, required to emulate

9945-521: The original XT circuits: one 8237 DMA controller, one 8253 interrupt timer, one 8255 parallel interface controller, one 8259 interrupt controller, one 8284 clock generator, and one 8288 bus controller. Similar non-Intel chipsets appeared for the AT-compatibles, for example OPTi's 82C206 or 82C495XLC which were found in many 486 and early Pentium systems. The x86 chipset market was very volatile though. In 1993, VLSI Technology had become

10062-482: The original spaceship design of the second generation Presario towers, albeit with a slightly squatter design that was more rounded. Some models including higher-end models housed in taller cases featured smoked-black plastic "easy access" flip-up doors on the bottom containing USB , audio and/or game ports behind it. The "easy-access" buttons located on the top of the case were removed from the towers in this series of Presarios. New processor models were introduced, namely

10179-439: The other five being offered as options. One out of the five optional colors were included with some 5000 and 7000 models purchased between 2000 and 2001. Another set of removable faceplates and speaker grills known as the "WildStyle Accent Color Kits" were exclusively offered in the 5000 series as an option from 2001 onwards, featuring six color options. The cases also have small translucent (later solid) plastic flip-open doors for

10296-489: The previous 7000 series, serving as the high-end performance model of the Compaq Presario series from that point onwards. It was one of the last series of computers that were made by Compaq under the Presario brand before being acquired by HP in mid 2002. Compared to the 5000 and the previous 7000 series, the towers of the 8000 series were largely based on the towers of the Compaq Evo series of business computers, but with

10413-614: The prices they wanted. The 400 series came in an all-in-one form factor, the 600 series came in a horizontal desktop form factor, and the 800 series came in a tower form factor. Specifications include i486 processors from either Intel, AMD, or Cyrix, 4–8 MB of RAM , onboard video display controllers , 200–340 MB hard disk drives , a floppy disk drive , and a built-in V.32 modem . These models came shipped with MS-DOS 6.x and Windows 3.1x preinstalled, with additional software included such as TabWorks . The 600 and 800 series were also offered in "CDS" configurations, which included

10530-420: The processor options ranged from the Pentium 4 for Intel-powered models, and the Athlon and Athlon XP for AMD-powered models. Like the preceding 7000 series, it exclusively featured discrete graphics cards with no option for onboard graphics. Discrete graphics card options included the low-end GeForce 2 MX, and the high-end GeForce 3 Ti200/Ti500 and Radeon All-In-Wonder . A Creative Sound Blaster Live! sound card

10647-509: The rapid growth of the smartphones (using Android or iOS) as an alternative to the personal computer; and the increasing prevalence of Linux and Unix-like operating systems in the server farms of large corporations such as Google or Amazon. The term "IBM PC compatible" is not commonly used presently because many current mainstream desktop and laptop computers are based on the PC architecture, and IBM no longer makes PCs. The competing hardware architectures have either been discontinued or, like

10764-686: The release of the AT. IBM's introduction of the proprietary Micro Channel architecture (MCA) in its PS/2 series resulted in the establishment of the Extended Industry Standard Architecture bus open standard by a consortium of IBM PC compatible vendors, redefining the 16-bit IBM AT bus as the Industry Standard Architecture (ISA) bus. Additional bus standards were subsequently adopted to improve compatibility between IBM PC compatibles, including

10881-442: The release of the initial models in 1993, new models started to become available as the Presario brand grew over time. The 500, 700, and 900 series, along with the 5500, 7100, 7200, 9200, 9500, and 9600 series, were introduced to compliment and succeed the original lineup, making up the first generation of Presario computers produced from 1993 to 1996, informally known as "Series 1". These new models contained minor cosmetic changes to

10998-542: The reputations of others like TI and DEC despite superior technology. At a San Francisco meeting it warned 200 attendees, from many American and foreign computer companies as well as IBM itself, to "Jump on the IBM PC-compatible bandwagon—quickly, and as compatibly as possible". Future Computing said in February 1984 that some computers were "press-release compatible", exaggerating their actual compatibility with

11115-539: The same effect, but this did not easily extend to the greater color depths and higher resolutions offered by SVGA adapters. An attempt at creating a standard named VESA BIOS Extensions (VBE) was made, but not all manufacturers used it. When the 386 was introduced, again a protected mode OS could be written for it. This time, DOS compatibility was much easier because of virtual 8086 mode . Unfortunately programs could not switch directly between them, so eventually, some new memory-model APIs were developed, VCPI and DPMI ,

11232-493: The same software that a contemporary IBM or Lenovo PC could. The term was initially in contrast to the variety of home computer systems available in the early 1980s, such as the Apple II , TRS-80 , and Commodore 64 . Later, the term was primarily used in contrast to Commodore 's Amiga and Apple 's Macintosh computers. These "clones" duplicated almost all the significant features of the original IBM PC architectures. This

11349-481: The same system architecture as their Wintel counterparts and could boot Microsoft Windows without a DOS Compatibility Card . However, with the transition to the internally developed ARM -based Apple silicon , they are again the exception to IBM compatibility. The processor speed and memory capacity of modern PCs are many orders of magnitude greater than they were for the original IBM PC and yet backwards compatibility has been largely maintained –

11466-431: The simple terminal applications that MS-DOS supported directly. Spreadsheets , WYSIWYG word processors , presentation software and remote communication software established new markets that exploited the PC's strengths, but required capabilities beyond what MS-DOS provided. Thus, from very early in the development of the MS-DOS software environment, many significant commercial software products were written directly to

11583-569: The strengths of the PC-compatible design is its modular hardware design. End-users could readily upgrade peripherals and, to some degree, processor and memory without modifying the computer's motherboard or replacing the whole computer, as was the case with many of the microcomputers of the time. However, as processor speed and memory width increased, the limits of the original XT/AT bus design were soon reached, particularly when driving graphics video cards. IBM did introduce an upgraded bus in

11700-406: The time of manufacture, with later models since late 2001 shipping with Windows XP . New laptop and notebook models were also introduced, it being the 1400, 1700, and 1800 series. The 1200 series continues to be offered, utilizing Intel and AMD processors. Compaq Presario 5000 series The Compaq Presario 5000 series was introduced in June 2000 alongside the 7000 series as the flagship models of

11817-408: The time of manufacture. The first Compaq Presario laptops and notebooks arrived during this generation, consisting of the 1000 series of notebook computers. These models came with Pentium processors, a hard disk drive, a CD-ROM drive and a floppy disk drive, one or two PC Card slots, a built-in 11.3" viewable LCD display and integrated speakers. "Series 3" (1998–1999) The Compaq Presario lineup

11934-403: The time, serving as a niche product for the high-end performance market. Compared to the 5000 series, the 7000 series featured discrete graphics card options and powerful processors. It reuses the case design of the 5000 series but with a more taller case, also featuring the same removable translucent faceplates offered in six colors as well as an optical disc holder at the bottom. The 7000 series

12051-418: The towers moved away from the spaceship-derived design of previous generation Presarios in favor of a new front case design with a more sleek and stylish look-and-feel to it, distinguishing these towers from previous Presario towers. Its matching monitors and peripherals were also redesigned as well with the release of the new models, which were made in the same design language as the cases themselves. Unique to

12168-665: The traditional spaceship design language that was in use since 1996. Processor choices were once again Intel and AMD, ranging from the Intel Celeron to the Pentium III, and the AMD Duron to the Athlon and Athlon XP . A floppy disk drive, CD-ROM or CD-RW drive, AGP graphics card, sound card, an Ethernet card, and a built-in modem were standard. DVD-ROM drives were also offered as standard equipment in select models. Earlier models from mid 2000 up until late 2001 came shipped with Windows 98 Second Edition or Windows Me preinstalled depending on

12285-426: The vast majority of microcomputers produced since the 1990s are IBM compatible. IBM itself no longer sells personal computers, having sold its division to Lenovo in 2005. " Wintel " is a similar description that is more commonly used for modern computers. The designation "PC", as used in much of personal computer history , has not meant "personal computer" generally, but rather an x86 computer capable of running

12402-461: Was also offered as an option. Like other previously-released models, the specs and features of the 8000 series can also be configured by the user via Compaq's build-to-order program known as "Built For You", which can be found via kiosks in retail stores or on Compaq's website. All models came with Windows XP preinstalled, usually Windows XP Home Edition. Windows XP Professional was also offered as an option for select 8000 series models. The 8000 series

12519-461: Was changed again in 1998 with several new models, starting the third generation of Presario computers, informally known as "Series 3". Models produced were the 5000, 5100, 5200, and 5600 series. Horizontal desktop and all-in-one form factors were no longer produced; all models were produced exclusively in tower form factors. Build-to-order models became available during this generation, which can be acquired via Compaq's website. This generation retained

12636-481: Was facilitated by IBM's choice of commodity hardware components , which were cheap, and by various manufacturers' ability to reverse-engineer the BIOS firmware using a " clean room design " technique. Columbia Data Products built the first clone of the IBM personal computer , the MPC 1600 by a clean-room reverse-engineered implementation of its BIOS. Other rival companies, Corona Data Systems , Eagle Computer , and

12753-438: Was for several years sold only as an OEM product. There was no Microsoft-branded MS-DOS: MS-DOS could not be purchased directly from Microsoft, and each OEM release was packaged with the trade dress of the given PC vendor. Malfunctions were to be reported to the OEM, not to Microsoft. However, as machines that were compatible with IBM hardware—thus supporting direct calls to the hardware—became widespread, it soon became clear that

12870-599: Was four times the size of the Pentium's and register renaming helped overcome register dependencies. The chip's speculative execution of instructions reduced pipeline stalls. It had a 16 KB four-way set-associative instruction cache and an 8 KB data cache. The floating-point divide and square-root microcode were mechanically proven. The floating-point transcendental instructions were implemented in hardware and were faithful to true mathematical results for all operands. The K5 project represented an early chance for AMD to take technical leadership from Intel. Although

12987-460: Was housed in a mid-tower case with three 5.25-inch drive bays and two 3.5-inch drive bays. The 7000 series also featured one or two IEEE 1394 (FireWire) ports built into the case. Hardware-wise, processor options ranged from the Pentium III and Pentium 4 for Intel-powered models, and the Athlon for AMD-powered models. The 7000 series exclusively featured discrete graphics cards with no option for onboard graphics. Discrete graphics card options included

13104-477: Was initially shipped with Windows 98 Second Edition preinstalled upon its introduction in mid 2000, and later came with Windows Me preinstalled between August and September of 2000. Windows 2000 Professional was also offered as an option for select 7000 series models, especially for AMD-powered models. Windows XP was not officially preinstalled on the 7000 series due its replacement with a new model in September 2001, however an upgrade offer for Windows XP Home Edition

13221-477: Was no standard interface for using higher-resolution SVGA graphics modes supported by later video cards. Each manufacturer developed their own methods of accessing the screen memory, including different mode numberings and different bank switching arrangements. The latter were used to address large images within a single 64 KB segment of memory. Previously, the VGA standard had used planar video memory arrangements to

13338-465: Was not available. In 1988, Gartner Group estimated that the public purchased 1.5 clones for every IBM PC. By 1989 Compaq was so influential that industry executives spoke of "Compaq compatible", with observers stating that customers saw the company as IBM's equal or superior. After 1987, IBM PC compatibles dominated both the home and business markets of commodity computers, with other notable alternative architectures being used in niche markets, like

13455-444: Was produced concurrently with the value-oriented 5000 series, which continued to be produced with upgrades made to support newer hardware at the time due to its popularity. Another value-oriented model known as the 4000 series was also being produced around the same time, and the 6000 series came later in 2002. IBM PC%E2%80%93compatible " IBM PC–compatible " refers to a class of computers that are technically compatible with

13572-415: Was provided for select models of the 7000 series made between June and September 2001 from that point onwards. The 7000 series was replaced with the 8000 series in September 2001 following the latter's introduction that month. Design and features of the Compaq Presario 5000 and 7000 series The 5000 and 7000 series of Presario computers featured redesigned towers with a brand-new aesthetic. The design of

13689-475: Was regarded as superior to that of the Cyrix 6x86 , it was slower than that of the Pentium, although offering more reliable transcendental function results. Because it was late to market and did not meet performance expectations, the K5 never gained the acceptance among large computer manufacturers that the earlier Am486 and later AMD K6 enjoyed. There were two revisions of the K5 architecture, internally called

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