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56-606: By the early 1980s, the chaos and incompatibility that was rife in the early microcomputer market had given way to a smaller number of de facto industry standards, including the S-100 bus expansion board, the CP/M operating system, the Apple II home computer, the use of the programming language Microsoft BASIC in read-only memory (ROM), and the 5 + 1 ⁄ 4 inch floppy drive storage medium. Firms competed fiercely to control

112-525: A BIOS that duplicated the function of the IBM BIOS exactly but did not infringe on copyrights. The two early leaders in this last strategy were both start-up companies: Columbia Data Products and Compaq . They were the first to achieve reputations for very close compatibility with the IBM machines, which meant that they could run software written for the IBM machine without recompilation. Before long, IBM had

168-615: A clean room BIOS that was 100% compatible with IBM's, and from that time on any competent computer manufacturer could achieve IBM compatibility as a matter of routine. From around 1984, the market was fast growing but relatively stable. There was as yet no sign of the "Win" half of "Wintel," though Microsoft was achieving enormous revenues from DOS sales both to IBM and to an ever-growing list of other manufacturers who had agreed to buy an MS-DOS license for every machine they made, even those that shipped with competing products. As for Intel, every PC made either had an Intel processor or one made by

224-423: A microprocessor . The computer also includes memory and input/output (I/O) circuitry together mounted on a printed circuit board (PCB). Microcomputers became popular in the 1970s and 1980s with the advent of increasingly powerful microprocessors. The predecessors to these computers, mainframes and minicomputers , were comparatively much larger and more expensive (though indeed present-day mainframes such as

280-870: A proof of concept to demonstrate what such a simple device could do. As microprocessors and semiconductor memory became less expensive, microcomputers grew cheaper and easier to use. All these improvements in cost and usability resulted in an explosion in their popularity during the late 1970s and early 1980s. A large number of computer makers packaged microcomputers for use in small business applications. By 1979, many companies such as Cromemco , Processor Technology , IMSAI , North Star Computers , Southwest Technical Products Corporation , Ohio Scientific , Altos Computer Systems , Morrow Designs and others produced systems designed for resourceful end users or consulting firms to deliver business systems such as accounting, database management and word processing to small businesses. This allowed businesses unable to afford leasing of

336-402: A bus type that would be open to all manufacturers, as fast as or faster than IBM's Microchannel, and yet still retain backward compatibility with ISA. This was the crucial turning point: the industry as a whole was no longer content to let IBM make all the major decisions about technical direction. In the event, the new EISA bus was itself a commercial failure beyond the high end: By the time

392-595: A computer based on a microprocessor – the Intel 8008 8-bit microprocessor. This Micral-N was marketed in early 1973 as a "Micro-ordinateur" or microcomputer , mainly for scientific and process-control applications. About a hundred Micral-N were installed in the next two years, followed by a new version based on the Intel 8080. Meanwhile, another French team developed the Alvan, a small computer for office automation which found clients in banks and other sectors. The first version

448-463: A computer had to be big in size to be powerful, and thus decided to market them as calculators. Additionally, at that time, people were more likely to buy calculators than computers, and, purchasing agents also preferred the term "calculator" because purchasing a "computer" required additional layers of purchasing authority approvals. The Datapoint 2200 , made by CTC in 1970, was also comparable to microcomputers. While it contains no microprocessor,

504-422: A disk operating system included in a series of programmable read-only memory chips (PROMs); 8 Kilobytes of RAM; IBM's Basic Assembly Language (BAL); a hard drive; a color display; a printer output; a 150 bit/s serial interface for connecting to a mainframe; and even the world's first microcomputer front panel. In early 1973, Sord Computer Corporation (now Toshiba Personal Computer System Corporation ) completed

560-419: A minicomputer or time-sharing service the opportunity to automate business functions, without (usually) hiring a full-time staff to operate the computers. A representative system of this era would have used an S100 bus , an 8-bit processor such as an Intel 8080 or Zilog Z80 , and either CP/M or MP/M operating system. The increasing availability and power of desktop computers for personal use attracted

616-501: A payment for every IBM-compatible machine the particular maker had ever made in the past. Many PC manufacturers signed up as PS/2 licensees. (Apricot, who had lost badly by persevering with their "better PC than IBM" strategy up until this time, was one of them, but there were many others.) Many others decided to hold off before committing themselves. Some major manufacturers, known as the Gang of Nine , decided to group together and decide on

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672-779: A policy of insisting on per-processor royalties, thus making competing operating systems unattractive to computer manufacturers and provoking regulatory scrutiny from the European Commission and US authorities, leading to an undertaking by Microsoft to cease such practices. However, the integration of DOS into Windows 95 was the masterstroke: not only were the other operating system vendors frozen out, Microsoft could now require computer manufacturers to comply with its demands on pain of higher prices (as when it required IBM to stop actively marketing OS/2 or else pay more than twice as much for Windows 95 as its competitor Compaq) or by withholding "Designed for Windows 95" endorsement (which

728-518: A second source supplier under license from Intel. Intel and Microsoft had enormous revenues, Compaq and many other makers between them made far more machines than IBM, but the power to decide the shape of the personal computer rested firmly in IBM's hands. In 1987, IBM introduced the PS/2 computer line. Although the open architecture of the PC and its successors had been a great success for them, and they were

784-459: A soft marketing voice and a big financial stick was effective: Windows became the de facto standard . For the competing computer manufacturers, large or small, the only common factors to provide joint technical leadership were operating software from Microsoft, and CPUs from Intel. Over the following years, both firms in the Wintel partnership would attempt to extend their monopolies. Intel made

840-406: A subset of the possible techniques as practicable (so as to be able to run on any hardware that ran CP/M), with a major part of the market now all using the same exact hardware (or a very similar clone of it) it was practical to take advantage of any and every hardware-specific feature offered by the IBM. Independent BIOS companies like Award , Chips and Technologies , and Phoenix began to market

896-598: A successful major push into the motherboard and chipset markets—becoming the largest motherboard manufacturer in the world and, at one stage, almost the only chipset manufacturer—but badly fumbled its attempt to move into the graphics chip market, and (from 1991) faced sharp competition in its core CPU territory from AMD , Cyrix , VIA and Transmeta . Microsoft fared better. In 1990, Microsoft had two competitors in its core market (Digital Research and IBM), Intel had none. By 1996, Intel had two competitors in its core market (CPUs), while Microsoft had none. Microsoft had pursued

952-557: A time, although they can often be modified with software or hardware to concurrently serve more than one user. Microcomputers fit well on or under desks or tables, so that they are within easy access of users. Bigger computers like minicomputers , mainframes , and supercomputers take up large cabinets or even dedicated rooms. A microcomputer comes equipped with at least one type of data storage, usually RAM . Although some microcomputers (particularly early 8-bit home micros) perform tasks using RAM alone, some form of secondary storage

1008-498: Is at the final stage of testing. That would not be considered a "Wintel" . Systems running a Microsoft operating system using an Intel processor based on the Itanium or ARM architecture , despite the fact that the processor is manufactured by Intel, are also not considered to be a Wintel system. Microcomputer A microcomputer is a small, relatively inexpensive computer having a central processing unit (CPU) made out of

1064-739: Is investing in Linux , and Microsoft ported Windows 8 to the ARM architecture with Windows RT . In the strictest sense, "Wintel" refers only to computers that run Windows on an Intel processor. However, Wintel is now commonly used to refer to a system running a modern Microsoft operating system on any modern x86 -compatible CPU, manufactured by either Intel or AMD. That is because the PC applications that can run on an x86 Intel processor usually can run on an x86 AMD processor too. In mid-October 2017, Microsoft announced that Windows 10 on Qualcomm Snapdragon

1120-806: Is normally desirable. In the early days of home micros, this was often a data cassette deck (in many cases as an external unit). Later, secondary storage (particularly in the form of floppy disk and hard disk drives) were built into the microcomputer case. Although they did not contain any microprocessors, but were built around transistor-transistor logic (TTL), Hewlett-Packard calculators as far back as 1968 had various levels of programmability comparable to microcomputers. The HP 9100B (1968) had rudimentary conditional (if) statements, statement line numbers, jump statements ( go to ), registers that could be used as variables, and primitive subroutines. The programming language resembled assembly language in many ways. Later models incrementally added more features, including

1176-534: Is sometimes called the first generation of microcomputers. Many companies such as DEC , National Semiconductor , Texas Instruments offered their microcomputers for use in terminal control, peripheral device interface control and industrial machine control. There were also machines for engineering development and hobbyist personal use. In 1975, the Processor Technology SOL-20 was designed, which consisted of one board which included all

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1232-460: Is still the dominant desktop and laptop computer architecture. There have been opinions that Microsoft Windows by its natural software bloat has eaten up much of the "hardware progress" that Intel processors gave to the "Wintel platform" via Moore's law . After the rise of smartphones and netbooks some media outlets have speculated predicting a possible end of Wintel dominance with more and more cheap devices employing other technologies. Intel

1288-451: Is the only one remaining on the market. Others (such as Digital , then the world's second-largest computer company, Hewlett-Packard, and Apricot ) concentrated on making similar but technically superior models. Other early market leaders (such as Tandy-Radio Shack or Texas Instruments) stayed with outdated architectures and proprietary operating systems for some time before belatedly realizing which way market trends were going and switching to

1344-450: The BASIC programming language (HP 9830A in 1971). Some models had tape storage and small printers. However, displays were limited to one line at a time. The HP 9100A was referred to as a personal computer in an advertisement in a 1968 Science magazine, but that advertisement was quickly dropped. HP was reluctant to sell them as "computers" because the perception at that time was that

1400-582: The CP/M-86 operating system, but these accidents were to have enormous significance in later years. Because the IBM PC was an IBM product with the IBM badge, personal computers became respectable. It became easier for a business to justify buying a microcomputer than it had been even a year or two before, and easiest of all to justify buying the IBM Personal Computer . Since the PC architecture

1456-666: The IBM System z machines use one or more custom microprocessors as their CPUs). Many microcomputers (when equipped with a keyboard and screen for input and output) are also personal computers (in the generic sense). An early use of the term "personal computer" in 1962 predates microprocessor-based designs. (See "Personal Computer: Computers at Companies" reference below) . A "microcomputer" used as an embedded control system may have no human-readable input and output devices. "Personal computer" may be used generically or may denote an IBM PC compatible machine. The abbreviation "micro"

1512-597: The Micral N. The same year the company filed their patents with the term "Micro-ordinateur", a literal equivalent of "Microcomputer", to designate a solid state machine designed with a microprocessor. In the US the earliest models such as the Altair 8800 were often sold as kits to be assembled by the user, and came with as little as 256 bytes of RAM , and no input/output devices other than indicator lights and switches, useful as

1568-566: The instruction set of its custom TTL processor was the basis of the instruction set for the Intel 8008 , and for practical purposes the system behaves approximately as if it contains an 8008. This is because Intel was the contractor in charge of developing the Datapoint's CPU, but ultimately CTC rejected the 8008 design because it needed 20 support chips. Another early system, the Kenbak-1 ,

1624-510: The 32-bit optimized Pentium Pro and Microsoft's delivery of an unexpectedly high proportion of 16-bit code in Windows 95. Both firms talk with one another's competitors from time to time, most notably with Microsoft's close relationship with AMD and the development of Windows XP Professional x64 Edition utilizing AMD-designed 64-bit extensions to the x86 architecture, and Intel's decision to sell its processors to Apple Inc. The Wintel platform

1680-549: The Altair itself was only a mild commercial success, it helped spark a huge industry. By 1977, the introduction of the second microcomputer generation as consumer goods , known as home computers , made them considerably easier to use than their predecessors because their predecessors' operation often demanded thorough familiarity with practical electronics. The ability to connect to a monitor (screen) or TV set allowed visual manipulation of text and numbers. The BASIC language, which

1736-570: The IBM PC itself was widely imitated, as well as the term. The component parts were commonly available to producers and the BIOS was reverse engineered through cleanroom design techniques. IBM PC compatible "clones" became commonplace, and the terms "personal computer", and especially "PC", stuck with the general public, often specifically for a computer compatible with DOS (or nowadays Windows). Monitors, keyboards and other devices for input and output may be integrated or separate. Computer memory in

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1792-702: The SMP80/08, which used the Intel 8008 microprocessor. The SMP80/08, however, did not have a commercial release. After the first general-purpose microprocessor, the Intel 8080 , was announced in April 1974, Sord announced the SMP80/x, the first microcomputer to use the 8080, in May 1974. Virtually all early microcomputers were essentially boxes with lights and switches; one had to read and understand binary numbers and machine language to program and use them (the Datapoint 2200

1848-433: The agile business". In 1981, IBM entered the microcomputer market. The IBM PC was created by a small subdivision of the firm. It was unusual for an IBM product because it was largely sourced from outside component suppliers and was intended to run third-party operating systems and software. IBM published the technical specifications and schematics of the PC, which allowed third-party companies to produce compatible hardware,

1904-439: The attention of more software developers. As the industry matured, the market for personal computers standardized around IBM PC compatibles running DOS , and later Windows . Modern desktop computers, video game consoles , laptops , tablet PCs , and many types of handheld devices , including mobile phones , pocket calculators , and industrial embedded systems , may all be considered examples of microcomputers according to

1960-445: The best-selling personal computer in the world and at least two of the next-best sellers were, for practical purposes, identical. For the software industry, the effect was profound. First, it meant that it was rational to write for the IBM PC and its clones as a high priority, and port versions for less common systems at leisure. Second (and even more importantly), when a software writer in pre-IBM days had to be careful to use as plain

2016-468: The biggest single manufacturer, most of the market was buying faster and cheaper IBM-compatible machines made by other firms. The PS/2s remained software compatible, but the hardware was quite different. It introduced the technically superior Micro Channel architecture bus for higher speed communication within the system, but failed to maintain the open AT bus (later called the ISA bus ), which meant that none of

2072-625: The computer industry. IBM would belatedly amend the PS/2 series with the PS/ValuePoint line, which tracked the features of the emerging ad hoc platform. At around this same time, the end of the 1980s and the beginning of the 1990s, Microsoft's Windows operating environment started to become popular, and Microsoft's competitor Digital Research started to recover a share of the DOS press and DOS market with DR-DOS . IBM planned to replace DOS with

2128-484: The cost of implementing EISA was reduced to the extent that it would be implemented in most desktop PCs, the much cheaper VESA Local Bus had removed most of the need for it in desktop PCs (though it remained common in servers due to for example the possibility of data corruption on hard disk drives attached to VLB controllers), and Intel's PCI bus was just around the corner. But although very few EISA systems were sold, it had achieved its purpose: IBM no longer controlled

2184-465: The definition given above. By the early 2000s, everyday use of the expression "microcomputer" (and in particular "micro") declined significantly from its peak in the mid-1980s. The term is most commonly associated with the most popular 8-bit home computers (such as the Apple II , ZX Spectrum , Commodore 64 , BBC Micro , and TRS-80 ) and small-business CP/M -based microcomputers. In colloquial usage, "microcomputer" has been largely supplanted by

2240-501: The form of RAM , and at least one other less volatile, memory storage device are usually combined with the CPU on a system bus in one unit. Other devices that make up a complete microcomputer system include batteries, a power supply unit, a keyboard and various input/output devices used to convey information to and from a human operator ( printers , monitors , human interface devices ). Microcomputers are designed to serve only one user at

2296-457: The industry, and innovation in hardware and software was the rule. Microsoft Windows and Intel processors gained ascendance and their ongoing alliance gave them market dominance. Intel has claimed that this partnership has enabled the two companies to give customers the benefit of "a seemingly unending spiral of falling prices and rising performance". In addition, they claim a "history of innovation" and "a shared vision of flexible computing for

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2352-411: The millions of existing add-in cards would function. In other words, the new IBM machines were not IBM-compatible. Further, IBM planned the PS/2 in such a way that for both technical and legal reasons it would be very difficult to clone. Instead, IBM offered to sell a PS/2 licence to anyone who could afford the royalty. They would not only require a royalty for every PS/2-compatible machine sold, but also

2408-497: The minicomputer's CPU with one integrated microprocessor chip . In 1973, the French Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA) was looking for a computer able to measure agricultural hygrometry . To answer this request, a team of French engineers of the computer technology company R2E, led by its Head of Development, François Gernelle , created the first available microprocessor-based microcomputer,

2464-409: The most successful long-term business strategy, which was to build a machine that duplicated the IBM PC as closely as possible and sell it for a slightly lower price, or with higher performance. Given the very conservative engineering of the early IBM personal computers and their higher than average prices, this was not a terribly difficult task at first, bar only the great technical challenge of crafting

2520-547: The networking market (formerly the domain of Artisoft 's LANtastic and Novell 's NetWare ) with Windows NT , and the business application market (formerly led by Lotus and WordPerfect ) with Microsoft Office . Although Microsoft is by far the dominant player in the Wintel partnership now, Intel's continuing influence should not be underestimated. Intel and Microsoft, once the closest of partners, have operated at an uneasy distance from one another since their first major dispute, which had to do with Intel's heavy investment in

2576-468: The parts of the computer system. The SOL-20 had built-in EPROM software which eliminated the need for rows of switches and lights. The MITS Altair just mentioned played an instrumental role in sparking significant hobbyist interest, which itself eventually led to the founding and success of many well-known personal computer hardware and software companies, such as Microsoft and Apple Computer . Although

2632-474: The so-called open architecture . The IBM PC became one of the most successful computers of all time. The key feature of the IBM PC was that it had IBM's enormous public respect behind it. It was an accident of history that the IBM PC happened to have an Intel CPU (instead of the technically superior Motorola 68000 that had been tipped for it, or an IBM in-house design), and that it shipped with IBM PC DOS (a licensed version of Microsoft's MS-DOS ) rather than

2688-452: The term " personal computer " or "PC", which specifies a computer that has been designed to be used by one individual at a time, a term first coined in 1959. IBM first promoted the term "personal computer" to differentiate the IBM PC from CP/M -based microcomputers likewise targeted at the small-business market, and also IBM's own mainframes and minicomputers. However, following its release,

2744-412: The vastly superior OS/2 (originally an IBM/Microsoft joint venture, and unlike the PS/2 hardware, highly backward compatible), but Microsoft preferred to push the industry in the direction of its own product, Windows. With IBM suffering its greatest ever public humiliation in the wake of the PS/2 disaster, massive financial losses, and a marked lack of company unity or direction, Microsoft's combination of

2800-493: Was a striking exception, bearing a modern design based on a monitor, keyboard, and tape and disk drives). Of the early "box of switches"-type microcomputers, the MITS Altair 8800 (1975) was arguably the most famous. Most of these simple, early microcomputers were sold as electronic kits —bags full of loose components which the buyer had to solder together before the system could be used. The period from about 1971 to 1976

2856-535: Was based on LSI chips with an Intel 8008 as peripheral controller (keyboard, monitor and printer), before adopting the Zilog Z80 as main processor. In late 1972, a Sacramento State University team led by Bill Pentz built the Sac State 8008 computer, able to handle thousands of patients' medical records. The Sac State 8008 was designed with the Intel 8008. It had a full set of hardware and software components :

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2912-546: Was common during the 1970s and 1980s, but has since fallen out of common usage. The term microcomputer came into popular use after the introduction of the minicomputer , although Isaac Asimov used the term in his short story " The Dying Night " as early as 1956 (published in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction in July that year). Most notably, the microcomputer replaced the many separate components that made up

2968-474: Was easier to learn and use than raw machine language, became a standard feature. These features were already common in minicomputers , with which many hobbyists and early produces were familiar. In 1979, the launch of the VisiCalc spreadsheet (initially for the Apple II ) first turned the microcomputer from a hobby for computer enthusiasts into a business tool. After the 1981 release by IBM of its IBM PC ,

3024-454: Was regarded as an essential hardware marketing tool). Microsoft was also able to require that free publicity be given over to them by hardware makers. (For example, the Windows key advertising symbols on nearly all modern keyboards, or the strict license restrictions on what may or may not be displayed during system boot and on the Windows desktop.) Also, Microsoft was able to take over most of

3080-429: Was released in 1971. Like the Datapoint 2200, it used small-scale integrated transistor–transistor logic instead of a microprocessor. It was marketed as an educational and hobbyist tool, but it was not a commercial success; production ceased shortly after introduction. In late 1972, a French team headed by François Gernelle within a small company, Réalisations & Etudes Electroniques (R2E), developed and patented

3136-546: Was well documented in IBM's manuals, and PC DOS was designed to be similar to the earlier CP/M operating system, the PC soon had thousands of different third-party add-in cards and software packages available. This made the PC the preferred option for many, since the PC supported the hardware and software they needed. Industry competitors took one of several approaches to the changing market. Some (such as Apple , Amiga , Atari , and Acorn ) persevered with their independent and quite different systems. Of those systems, Apple's Mac

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