IBM PC

IBM Corporation, the world’s dominant computer maker, did not enter the new market until 1981, when it introduced the IBM Personal Computer, or IBM PC. The IBM PC was significantly faster than rival machines, had about 10 times their memory capacity, and was…

…quickly was shortened to the IBM PC. It was an immediate success, selling more than 500,000 units in its first two years. More powerful than other desktop computers at the time, it came with 16 kilobytes of memory (expandable to 256 kilobytes), one or two floppy disk drives, and an…

…printers, modems) created for the IBM Personal Computer (PC). Because the three partners had little start-up capital, they turned to Ben Rosen, former electronics engineer and technology analyst at Morgan Stanley, who had recently cofounded a Houston-based venture capital firm, Sevin Rosen Partners. Rosen offered an initial investment of \$2.5…

…could count on a wide IBM PC–compatible market for their software. The system soon had a new spreadsheet program, Lotus 1-2-3, that changed computing and created what would later be known as a “killer app”: a software program (application) so useful that it propels hardware sales.

…on its first microcomputer, the IBM PC (personal computer). After the machine’s release in 1981, IBM quickly set the technical standard for the PC industry, and MS-DOS likewise pushed out competing operating systems. While Microsoft’s independence strained relations with IBM, Gates deftly manipulated the larger company so that it became…