IBM Personal Computer: Difference between revisions
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{{cleanup|This page needs a better introduction and a more compact history section. (Compare to the Apple II page for reference.)}} |
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| ⚫ | Born in the wake of 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 usual IBM bureaucracy, in 1980 they tasked a team of engineers in an IBM office in Boca Raton, Florida. with developing the new machine, and gave them an unusual amount of freedom in developing the new system. |
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== History == |
== History == |
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| ⚫ | Born in the wake of 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 usual IBM bureaucracy, in 1980 they tasked a team of engineers in an IBM office in Boca Raton, Florida. with developing the new machine, and gave them an unusual amount of freedom in developing the new system. |
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What appeared in August 1981 was nothing like any IBM machine built before. Like the Apple II, the IBM PC was built almost completely out of off-the-shelf parts and had a generous amount of expansion capability. As for the the system design, the Boca Raton team considered several processors (including IBM's own ROMP CPU <ref>an early RISC chip whose design was ancestral to the POWER architecture</ref> and the Motorola 68000) before settling on Intel's 16-bit 8088. The 8088 was chosen mainly for cost and time-to-market reasons; the ROMP was still experimental and IBM was concerned that the 68000 wouldn't be available in quantity. Also, the 8088 could re-use many of the support chips Intel had designed for the 8085, making the motherboard design simpler. 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. |
What appeared in August 1981 was nothing like any IBM machine built before. Like the Apple II, the IBM PC was built almost completely out of off-the-shelf parts and had a generous amount of expansion capability. As for the the system design, the Boca Raton team considered several processors (including IBM's own ROMP CPU <ref>an early RISC chip whose design was ancestral to the POWER architecture</ref> and the Motorola 68000) before settling on Intel's 16-bit 8088. The 8088 was chosen mainly for cost and time-to-market reasons; the ROMP was still experimental and IBM was concerned that the 68000 wouldn't be available in quantity. Also, the 8088 could re-use many of the support chips Intel had designed for the 8085, making the motherboard design simpler. 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. |
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