Personal computer. A personal computer (PC) is a general-purpose computer, whose size, capabilities and original sale price makes it useful for individuals, and which is intended to be operated directly by an end-user with no intervening computer operator.
This contrasted with the batch processing or time-sharing models which allowed larger, more expensive minicomputer and mainframe systems to be used by many people, usually at the same time. Large data processing systems require a full-time staff to operate efficiently. Software applications for most personal computers include, but are not limited to, word processing, spreadsheets, databases, Web browsers and e-mail clients, digital media playback, games and myriad personal productivity and special-purpose software applications.
Modern personal computers often have connections to the Internet, allowing access to the World Wide Web and a wide range of other resources. IBM PC compatible. IBM PC compatible computers are those similar to the original IBM PC, XT, and AT and able to run the same software as those.
Such computers used to be referred to as PC clones, or IBM clones. They duplicate almost exactly all the significant features of the PC architecture, facilitated by IBM's choice of commodity hardware components and 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 by a clean room implementation of its BIOS. [citation needed] IBM Personal Computer. The generic term "personal computer" was in use before 1981, applied as early as 1972 to the Xerox PARC's Alto. However, because of the success of the IBM Personal Computer, the term PC came to mean more specifically a desktop microcomputer compatible with IBM's PC products.
Within a short time of the introduction, third-party suppliers of periperhal devices, expansion cards, and software proliferated; the influence of the IBM PC on the personal computer market was substantial in standardizing a platform for personal computers. History[edit] Rumors[edit] In 1981 International Business Machines (IBM), one of the world's largest companies, dominated the computer industry. Whether IBM had waited too long to enter an industry Apple and others were already successful in was unclear. Rumors abound about personal computers to come from giants such as Digital Equipment Corporation and the General Electric Company. Predecessors[edit] Project Chess[edit] Open standards[edit]
Macintosh. Signature of Steve Jobs engraved in the case of the first Apple Macintosh computer The Macintosh (/ˈmækɨntɒʃ/ MAK-in-tosh), marketed as Mac, is a line of personal computers (PCs) designed, developed, and marketed by Apple Inc.
It was initially targeted mainly at the home, education, and creative professional markets. Macintosh 128K. Features[edit] The Macintosh was designed to achieve adequate graphics performance, which had previously required hardware costing over US$10,000, a price inaccessible to the middle class.
This narrow goal resulted in an efficient design which traded off expandability but met or exceeded the baseline performance of its competitors.[7][8] Processor and memory[edit] The centerpiece of the machine was a Motorola 68000 microprocessor connected to 128 KB DRAM by a 16-bit data bus. Lack of RAM proved to be a constraint to much multimedia software, and the RAM could not be upgraded. The 68000 and video controller took turns accessing DRAM every four CPU cycles during display of the frame buffer, while the 68000 had unrestricted access to DRAM during vertical and horizontal blanking intervals.
Back case of an unaltered original Macintosh (sold from January–November 1984). Peripherals[edit] Storage[edit] Macintosh motherboard. iMac. PowerPC iMac history The iMac is a range of all-in-one Macintosh desktop computers designed and built by Apple Inc.
It has been the primary part of Apple's consumer desktop offerings since its introduction in 1998-08 (shipped; intro 1998-05), and has evolved through six distinct forms.[2] History[edit] The announcement of the iMac in 1998 was a source of discussion and anticipation among commentators, Mac fans, and detractors. Opinions were divided over Apple's drastic changes to the Macintosh hardware. Ken Segall was an employee at an L.A. ad agency handling Apple's account who came up with the name "iMac" and pitched it to Steve Jobs. Updates[edit] By 2005, it had become more and more apparent that IBM's development for the desktop implementation of PowerPC was grinding to a halt. On July 27, 2010, Apple updated its line of iMacs to feature the new Intel Core processors across the line.