IBM PC

IBM PC™ (Personal Computer), is a trademark of IBM. The predecessor of the current personal computers and progenitor of the IBM PC compatible hardware platform, it was introduced in August 1981. The original model was designated the IBM 5150. It was created by a team of 12 engineers and designers under the direction of Don Estridge of the IBM Entry Systems Division. The introduction of the PC changed the world of IBM in 1981.

Related Topics:
Trademark - IBM - IBM PC compatible - Platform - 1981 - Don Estridge

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The phrase "personal computer" was common currency before 1981, and was used as early as 1972 to characterize Xerox PARC's Alto. However, due to the success of the IBM PC, what had been a generic term came to mean specifically a microcomputer compatible with IBM's specification. (Twenty years after the original IBM PC was introduced, the term "personal computer" was still occasionally used, although very seldom, in the wider generic sense.)

Related Topics:
Xerox PARC - Alto - Microcomputer

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During the second quarter of 2005, the Chinese Lenovo Group secured the rights to produce IBM branded personal computers. This move reflects IBM's present lack of interest in the personal computer in favor of the server/mainframe markets, as well as providing business consulting and IT services markets.

Related Topics:
2005 - Chinese - Lenovo Group - Server - Mainframe - Business consulting - IT services

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Note the following distinctions within the general subject of personal computers :

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• For details on "PC compatible" computers (aka "PC clones" or just "PC"s, and making up the majority of today's computers), see IBM PC compatible
• For a discussion of generic "personal computers", see personal computer
• For details of the second generation of microcomputers, which largely died out with the Personal Computer revolution, see home computer
 
IBM PC: The IBM PC concept ►