The IBM PC Compatible Today
The term 'IBM PC compatible' is not commonly used presently because all current mainstream computers are based on the PC architecture, and IBM no longer makes PCs. The competing designs have either been discontinued or, like the Amiga, have been relegated to niche, enthusiast markets. One notable exception was Apple Inc., the Macintosh set of computers of which used non-Intel processors from its inception; first the Motorola 68000 family, then the PowerPC architecture until 2006, when Apple adopted the Intel x86 architecture. Macs (Computers manufactured by Apple Inc) for OS X (OS 10) are capable of running Microsoft Windows.
The processor speed and memory capacity of modern PCs are many orders of magnitude greater than they were for the original IBM PC and yet backwards compatibility has been largely maintained – a 32-bit operating system published during the 2000s can still operate many of the simpler programs written for the OS of the early 1980s without needing an emulator, though an emulator like DOSBox now has near-native functionality at full speed.
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Famous quotes containing the words compatible and/or today:
“As to happiness in this life it is hardly compatible with that diminished respect which ever attends the relinquishing of labour.”
—Anthony Trollope (1815–1882)
“Most personal correspondence of today consists of letters the first half of which are given over to an indexed statement of why the writer hasn’t written before, followed by one paragraph of small talk, with the remainder devoted to reasons why it is imperative that the letter be brought to a close.”
—Robert Benchley (1889–1945)