IBM PC
A PC that was made by IBM. In 1981, the first IBM PC was introduced. However, the company was not terribly optimistic, projecting that 250,000 machines would be sold in five years. In fact, three million were shipped, and the PC industry, first DOS and later Windows, would become the world's largest computer base.
Good Bye IBM PC
In 2004, IBM exited the desktop and laptop arena when it sold its personal computer division to Lenovo, a major Chinese PC manufacturer. IBM retained its System x servers until 2014, when Lenovo acquired that line as well (see System x).
Names and Numbers
IBM PCs were named PC, XT and AT, while its next-generation PS/2 line was given model numbers. For historical purposes, early IBM models are listed below. See PC, IBM-compatible PC, IBM XT, IBM AT, ThinkPad, IBM and Lenovo.
The Original IBM PC
The first IBM PC had two floppy disks and 16KB of RAM. Today, desktop computers can have 100,000 times as much RAM and more. (Image courtesy of IBM.)
IBM PS/2 Model 50
The PS/2 introduced the Micro Channel bus, VGA graphics and the 3.5" floppy disk. See IBM PS/2. (Image courtesy of IBM.)
IBM ThinkPad
Very popular, IBM's ThinkPads introduced novel features such as the pointing stick and Butterfly keyboard. This model 755CD came out in 1994. See ThinkPad. (Image courtesy of IBM.)
FIRST GENERATION - IBM PC
Year
Model Intro. CPU Features
PC (#1) 1981 8088 floppy disk
XT 1983 8088 slow HD
XT 286 1986 286 slow HD
XT/370 1983 8088 370 emulation
AT 1984 286 hard disk
3270 PC 1983 8088 3270 emulation
PCjr 1983 8088 floppy home use
PC Portable 1984 8088 floppy portable
Convertible 1986 8088 floppy laptop
SECOND GENERATION - IBM PS/2
Unless otherwise noted, models
used the Micro Channel bus.
Year
Model Intro. CPU Features
25 1987 8086, PC bus
30 1987 8086, PC bus
30-286 1988 286, ISA bus
35 LS 1991 386SX, ISA, diskless
35 SX 1991 386SX, ISA
L40 SX 1991 386SX, ISA, laptop
40 SX 1991 386SX, ISA
N45 SL 386SL notebook
50 1987 286
50 Z 1988 286, faster 50
N51 SX 1992 386SX, notebook
N51 SLC 1992 386SLC, notebook
55 SX 1989 386SX
55 LS 1990 386SX, diskless
56 SLC 1992 386SLC
56 SX 1992 386SX, upgradable
57 SLC 1992 386SLC
57 SX 1991 386SX, 2.88MB floppy
CL57 SX 1992 386SX, notebook
60 1987 286
65 1990 386SX
70 1988 386
70 486 1989 486
P70 1989 386 portable
P75 486 1990 486 portable, 22 lbs.
76 1994 486SX & DX, OS/2, SCSI
76i 1994 486SX, OS/2, IDE drive
77 1994 DX4, OS/2, SCSI, ECC RAM
77i 1994 DX4, OS/2, IDE, ECC RAM
80 1987 386, tower
90 1990 486, XGA, SCSI
90 1992 486DX2/66
95 1990 486, tower
90 SX 1991 486SX
95 SX 1991 486SX, tower
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