The IBM PC, Part 1: Arrival
6 hours ago
- In the early 1980s, the personal computer market was highly diverse with many brands and subcultures, lacking a universal standard.
- IBM, dominant in mainframes, had no presence in the microcomputer market until Project Chess was launched to develop a personal computer quickly.
- Don Estridge led the project, bypassing IBM's bureaucratic norms by using third-party components, open architecture, and outside retailers.
- IBM chose Intel's 8088 processor for cost efficiency and Microsoft's BASIC and later MS-DOS (via 86-DOS acquisition) as the operating system.
- The IBM PC launched in 1981, combining features from competitors and offering 16-bit processing with expanded memory, driving rapid sales.
- Its open architecture attracted third-party vendors and clones, but also led to internal political struggles and eventual decline after Estridge's death.
- Microsoft's non-exclusive license for MS-DOS allowed it to sell to other vendors, forming the basis of its future empire.