The IBM PC was based on an open, card-based architecture, which enabled third parties to develop applications for it. It used an Intel 8088 (the first 8-bit microprocessor) CPU, and could accommodate up to 64k on the main board, but up to 640 KB of RAM on cards. With the success of both the PC and the Apple II, the personal computer market soared. Time magazine named the personal computer its “Person (Machine) of the Year” for 1982.

Xerox drew on its original Alto computer and introduced in 1981 the Xerox Star workstation, the first commercial system to incorporate technologies that are common today in personal computers — a bit-mapped display, GUI, icons, folders, Ethernet networking, file servers, and a mouse. The Xerox system again would inspire Apple to create its next system — and its most successful — the Macintosh.

Mac and Windows
The skyrocketing PC market spawned a parade of companies in the early 1980s that offered what were referred to as “IBM clones.” These included Digital Equipment Corp.; Compaq Computer, which was founded in 1982; and Gateway Computer, which debuted in 1985 with its distinctive cow-spotted boxes. Hewlett- Packard also released its first personal computer, the HP-85. Many of these companies were fueled by Intel, AMD, and Motorola continuing to improve upon the microprocessor, including the introduction of the Intel 8086 16-bit microprocessor in 1978.

In 1984, a 19-year-old college student named Michael Dell started a company called PC’s Limited, selling IBM clones. Today, Dell Computer Corporation ranks among the world’s largest computer companies, and pioneered the concept of selling personal computer systems directly to customers, bypassing the dominant system of using resellers to sell mass-produced computers.

The next revolution in personal computing came in 1984 during Super Bowl XVIII. A commercial aired once during the game — and never aired again — featuring a scene from George Orwell’s 1984, which equated the world of “Big Brother” to the IBM PC. It showed that world being destroyed by a new machine. It was the world’s first glimpse of the Apple Macintosh.

The Macintosh — or Mac, as it became known — was the first successful mousedriven computer with a GUI. The all-inone system retailed for $2,495 and was introduced with 128 KB of RAM. It eliminated the internal hard drive, using only a single 3.5" floppy drive, which reduced the system’s cost. Even so, the Macintosh was not a top seller until the introduction of desktop publishing in 1985 through Apple’s parternship with Adobe, which produced PageMaker publishing software. Desktop publishing took advantage of the Mac’s graphical capabilities and helped propel Mac sales to new heights.

In 1985, two more technologies helped propel the PC market even higher. Intel introduced the 386, its first 32-bit microprocessor, and Microsoft released the first version of the Windows operating system, Windows 1.0, the company’s own GUI for IBM PCs.