IBM Personal Computer: Difference between revisions

 

Born in August 1981 due to the [[Apple II]]'s success, the IBM Personal Computer (dubbed the "5150" in IBM's internal numbering system) was IBM's official entry into the desktop computer system market, and by far their most successful. Earlier attempts, like the 5100 desktop APL machine and the DisplayWriter word-processing machine, hadn't taken off, and IBM needed something ''fast'' to compete with Apple. Bypassing the IBM bureaucracy, in 1980 they tasked a team of engineers in an IBM office in Florida with developing the new machine, and gave them unusual amounts of freedom in developing the new system. It was built almost completely out of off-the-shelf parts and had generous amounts of expansion capability. As for the processor, the team settled on Intel's 16-bit 8088. The 8088 was chosen mainly for cost and time-to-market reasons. To ensure a steady supply of 8088s, IBM and Intel recruited Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) to act as a second source, a decision that would have some importance later.

 

== History ==

The other big influence on the IBM PC's design was the world of ''S-100 machines'', which were based around the Intel 8080 (or, later the Zilog Z80) and the "S-100" bus that had been introduced in the pioneering Altair 8800. These machines ran an OS called ''CP/M'', which had been invented by a programmer named Gary Kildall in 1974 and was based indirectly on Digital Equipment Corp.'s ''RSX-11'' [[Operating System]] for the PDP-11. While they weren't nearly as slick as the [[Apple II]], S-100 machines were popular with hobbyists and businesses alike, and several CP/M applications for businesses, like ''WordStar'' and ''dBASE'' were making inroads.

 

The base system came with just 64K, like the Apple II, but could be expanded to a then-breathtaking 640K thanks to the Intel 8088 processor inside, which had a 1 MB address space (huge for a desktop machine in 1981). It even had BASIC in [[ROM]], just like the Apple II.

 

 

=== The Rise of the Clones ===

At first, the IBM PC didn't have much to offer home users and gamers. It was new, expensive, not as good with graphics as the Apple II or the Atari 800, and was directed squarely at business users. However, IBM's name on the machine made it a safe buy for businesses that already used IBM hardware, and they ended up buying the machines in droves. The machine's open design sparked a huge third-party expansion market, with dozens of vendors selling memory expansion boards, hard drive upgrades and more. It wasn't long until other computer makers started examining the PC's design and figuring out how to make clones of the machine that could run PC software without issues. The one thing stopping them, however, was the ROM. IBM had a copyright on what they called the "ROM BIOS", and while cloning the hardware was easy, cloning the ROM would be much harder, with few vendors able to get it completely right. It wasn't until Compaq introduced the Portable in 1983 that a truly 100% IBM compatible PC was available, and after that, software houses such as Phoenix and AMI followed suit, opening the floodgates to an entire industry of low-priced PC compatibles.

 

 

SCP was mostly a hardware outfit, whose business was in memory upgrades and other add-ons to the aforementioned S-100 machines. When the 8086 appeared on the market, they wanted to use it and quickly threw together a prototype machine. Digital Research had promised an 8086/8088 port of CP/M for a long time and never delivered until it was too late, leading Patterson to write his own and name it "86-DOS" or "Q-DOS" (depending on who you ask). Microsoft, who had already basically lied to IBM and said they had something ready (they did; it was called Xenix--but it was a UNIX OS, and IBM wouldn't accept that. Xenix was later sold to the SCO Group), paid SCP and Patterson $10,000 for the rights to 86-DOS, did some quick editing and released that as MS-DOS/PC-DOS 1.0. Microsoft also put language in their contract with IBM, stating that they had the right to license MS-DOS to whoever they wanted without first seeking IBM's approval. This had serious implications for the PC clone business, as it meant that once the clone makers, AMI and Phoenix had opened the floodgates on the hardware side, Microsoft could sell the hardware makers MS-DOS, thus creating a complete package -- and a huge pain for IBM.

 

=== IBM Tries to Win Back the Crowd ===

In 1986 Compaq beat IBM to the punch with the first PC to use the new, 32-bit 80386 processor. Between the clone armies and Compaq's meteoric rise, IBM decided that if it couldn't compete on price, it would compete on features, and introduce a new standard that they alone would control.

 

 

=== Wintel Comes And Wins ===

After years of being confined to what were basically fleet sales, IBM discontinued the PS/2 line and MCA in the mid-1990s, preferring instead to concentrate on the revived "IBM PC" brand (new, ISA/PCI-based machines sold as business desktops) and the highly successful ThinkPad line of notebooks, which was introduced in 1992. This marked the end of IBM's dominance of the PC clone market, with the balance of power now shifted to Microsoft, Intel and the clonemakers.

 

 

=== Exclusive titles and [[Multi Platform]] games that started here ===

* ''[[Battlefield (series)|Battlefield]]''

* ''[[Codename: ICEMAN]]''

* ''[[Commander Keen]]''

* ''[[Elvira: The Arcade Game|Elvira]]: Mistress of the Dark''

** ''Elvira II: The Jaws of Cerberus''

* ''Formula One Grand Prix'' aka ''World Circuit''

* ''[[Gabriel Knight]]''

* ''[[Rise of the Robots]]''

* ''[[The Adventures of Sam & Max: Freelance Police|Sam and Max Freelance Police]]''

* ''[[Shadow President]]''

* ''[[Simon the Sorcerer]]''

* ''[[Space Quest]]''

* ''[[Star Control]]''

* ''Stunts'' aka ''4D Sports Driving''

* ''[[SuperTuxKart]]''

 

=== Ports ===

* ''[[Burger Time]]''

* ''[[Cobra Mission]]''

* ''[[Mega Man X]]''

* ''[[Revolution X]]''

* ''[[Sonic the Hedgehog CD]]''

* ''[[Space Harrier]]''

* ''[[Zaxxon]]''

* ''[[Zeliard]]''

 

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[[Category:index]]

[[Category:IBM Personal Computer]]