A History of the Personal Computer

Part III

1980's - The IBM/Macintosh Era.

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8/2 Part III 1980's- The IBM/Macintosh era

1980

1981

1982

1983

1984

1985

1986

1987

1988

1989

: Microprocessors

1 Motorola MC68010 \ Motorola MC68020

1 /Woforota MC 68030 \

1 Intel lAPX 432

Motorola MC68040

Feb

1 Si/n SP^lflC 1 1

1 Intel 8087

1 Intel 80286

1 Intel a0386DX

Jul \lntel 80486DX \

Jun Coprocessor Feb

Oct 1

\ \ Apr

Misc. Personal Computers

\ j ylfa/7 1200XL

1 Gateway

1 Sinclair ZX80

1 Son- 7 workstation

1 St/n3 workstation

Sun SPARCstation 1

Feb

1 Osborne 1

1 Osborne Executive

\ Toshiba T3100 \

1

1 Commodore

\ Commodore 64

1 Dell

\ \ Dell 286 system

Apr

Jun VIC-20 Jan | DEC Rainbow

1 Xerox Viewpoint

1 Xerox Star

\ TRS-80 100 1

Tandy WOO

1 Packard Bell

Apr

1 G/?/D Compass laptop Dec

1 AST Premium/286

1 NeXT \

1 TRS -80 Model III

1 /faypro // [ TRS-8D Model 4

Oct !

Compaq

1

Portable

1 Portable 286

1 Portable 386 LTE \

Nov 1 Compaq Plus \

Sep

1 1

Oct

j Deslipro 286
Jun I

1 Deskpro 386
Sep i

System Pro -> | |
Nov:

Apple

I Lisa

1 Lisa 2 \ 1 Lisa Discontinued

Macintosh llci \

Jan

1 Macintosh \ 1 Macintosh Plus

\& Portable \

1 Apple III

Jan 1 Fat Mac Jan | | Macintosh II & SE \

May

Sep I

Mar

1 Mac llx Sep 1

1 Apple lie 1 Apple lie

1 Apple IIGS

1 Apple lie Plus \

Jan

Apr

Sep

Sep

IBM

1 PC Computer

1 /I r Computer

Aug

1 IBM 9000

Aug I

1 PORT

1 Personal System/2

May

1 PC/XT Computer \

Jan

Apr

1 Management

Mar 1

PC/Xr370& 3270 PC

1 PC Convertible

PS/2 P70 portable

Aug

approve

1

PC/Jr Computer

Apr 1 PC/XT Model 286 |

PC project

Nov

1 Portable PC

Sep May

Software

1 DOS 1.0

1 DOS 2.0

1 DOS 3.0

1 DOS 4.0

Aug

Mar

Aug i

Jun

1 MS buys 86-DOS

1

/WS W/zidoivs- 1

Wz/Jdows 7.03 \ Windows 2.01

Oct

Nov announced Nov

Oct Quick Pascal

1 FORTRAN & COBOL for DOS \ \ MS-Net \

1

Microsoft

Mar 1 MultJplan (PC) j Chart | Excel(Macj

1

ExcellPC)

Mar

Word for

Oct

Aug Sep

Oct

1 XENIX

1 WordlPCI \ 1 Word(Macl

1 Bookshelf Windows 1 i

Aug

1 GWB,

<\SIC

Jan
1 Project

1 Qu/c* fi/^S/C
1 Works (Mac)

Dec;
1 Works (PC) \

Misc.

1 VisiPlot &

1 /WSX

Apr VisiTrend
1 >:lppte IVr/te/- //

Jun

May \\nie IMaci

Sep

Mar

■fZortis "7-2-3 1 "Qu/citen

1 C+ +

1 IBM/MS OS/2 Operating

Jan

\ 1 PostScript

Apr System announced

1 dBase II

\

Visi On

1 dBase III | \/enfura | OS/2 7.0

IBM

Jan

1

WordPerfect

Jun 1 IBM TopView Publisher Nov

OfficeVision \

Nov

1 Symphony \ Jazz

\ QuarkXPress

1 1

1 CP/M-86

Feb 1 Gem

1

NewWave

Jun

Apr

1

AppleWorks PageMaker

Nov INeXTSTEP

Magazines

1 PC Magazine

1 PC Week

1 PC Computing

Mar

1 PC World

1 Nibble

1 in Cider

Jan 1 So

fa/A

Jan

1 Macworld

Figure 8.1: A graphical history of personal computers
(1980' s) - The IBM/Macintosh era.

Chapter 8 Microprocessors in the 1980' s

8.1... Intel

Microprocessors

The iAPX 432 (Intel Advanced Processor
Architecture) which was now a 32-bit microprocessor, was
introduced in February 1981. Principals in the
development were William Lattin and Justin Rattner. The
chip was an advanced design with an innovative
architecture. It supported data store using multiple
pointer levels, fault tolerance, memory error
correction, multiprocessing and object-oriented
software. The microprocessor was described as a
micromainframe computer in the May 3, 1982 issue of
Fortune magazine. However, due to performance
deficiencies the product was discontinued.

Intel announced the 80186 and 80188 high
integration 16-bit internal data path microprocessors in
1982 . Both processors were designed for embedded
applications in computer peripherals and other
electronic products.

The 8028 6 microprocessor was introduced in
February 1982 and was four times more powerful than the
8088. The chip has 134,000 transistors, a 16-bit
internal data path and at a clock speed of 8 MHz it has
a rating of 1.2 MIPS (million instructions per second) .
The microprocessor featured on-chip memory management to
support multitasking. It also had an on-chip security
system for data protection. The memory addressability is
16 megabytes and the microprocessor is available at
clock freguencies of 8 , 10 and 12.5 MHz. The price at
introduction was $360. This microprocessor was selected
by IBM for the PC AT computer released in August 198 4.

A group of engineers led by John Crawford
developed Intel's 80386DX microprocessor. It had full
32-bit capability and preserved software compatibility
with the previous 8086 and 80286 architectures. The
8038 6DX was introduced in October 1985 and was
approximately fifteen times more powerful than the 8 088.

8/3

8/4 Part III 1980's- The IBM/Macintosh era

The chip has 275,000 transistors, a 32-bit internal data
path and at a clock speed of 16 MHz a rating of 6 MIPS.
The memory addressability is 4 gigabytes and the
microprocessor became available at clock freguencies of
16, 20, 25 and 33 MHz. The price at introduction was
$299.

The 8038 6DX was selected by Compag for the Deskpro
computer released in September 198 6. This was the first
product application of the microprocessor. Intel had
tried to get IBM to incorporate the new microprocessor
in their product line. However, IBM had concerns
regarding the processors power affecting their
microcomputer sales and were therefore slow in adopting
the 80386. Initially the 80386 microprocessor was not
second sourced by Intel to other competitors, other than
IBM for a portion of its internal use. The 80386 became
a very successful product and started to contribute
significantly to the company profits .

The 8038 6SX microprocessor was introduced in June

1988. The chip has 275,000 transistors, a 32-bit
internal bus with a 16-bit external bus and at a clock
speed of 16 MHz a rating of 2.5 MIPS. The memory
addressability is 16 megabytes and the microprocessor is
available at clock freguencies of 16, 20, 25 and 33 MHz.

The 8048 6DX microprocessor was introduced in April

1989. The chip has 1.2 million transistors, 1.0 micron
minimum feature size and a 32-bit bus. This was the
first Intel processor to incorporate a Level 1 (LI)
cache of 8 KB for faster data access. At a clock speed
of 25 MHz it has a rating of 20 MIPS. The microprocessor
included an integrated floating-point unit. The memory
addressability is 4 gigabytes and the microprocessor
became available at clock freguencies of 25, 33, 50, 60,
75, and 100 MHz. The price at introduction was $950.

Coprocessors

The concept for a coprocessor evolved at Intel
from the 8086 microprocessor in 1976. This resulted in a
floating-point extension to the 8086 instruction set and
a systems interface architecture. In 1987 the
development of the coprocessor was assigned to the Intel
design center in Haifa, Israel.

Microprocessors in the 1980' s 8/5

The 8087 math coprocessor added a set of floating-
point instructions to the 8086/88. It was the first
implementation of the IEEE standard for floating-point
mathematics. Use of the coprocessor resulted in a
significant increase in the speed of mathematical
computations. The 8087 coprocessor was released in June
1980. Intel announced the 82786 graphics coprocessor in
May 1986.

Corporate & Other Activities

Competitive pressures in the microprocessor market
from companies such as Motorola and Zilog, resulted in
the implementation of a sales campaign called "Operation
Crush" in early 1980. Intel had been loosing market
share, mainly to Motorola whose microprocessor products
were perceived as being superior. Numerous activities
were initiated to communicate the overall advantages
offered by the company, and the sales personnel were
assigned goals to increase the number of design wins for
the use of Intel chips in customer products. By the end
of 198 0, the campaign became very successful. One major
design win with far reaching conseguences for Intel, was
in Boca Raton, Florida for the IBM Personal Computer.

Intel and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) negotiated
a ten year technological exchange agreement, and AMD
became a second source for the 8088 microprocessor in
February 1982. This was largely the effect of a desire
by IBM to have an alternate source for the
microprocessor in its new personal computer.

IBM purchased 12 percent of Intel Corporation for
$250 million in December 1982. Intel was having
financial problems due to intense competition from
Japanese manufacturers of memory chips. Then in 1983-8 4,
IBM increased its investment in Intel to 20 percent.

In 1984 Intel approved a project for a line of
parallel processing supercomputers. The company also
licensed AMD as a second source for the 80286 in 1984.

The semiconductor industry had been enjoying a
boom market until mid-1984, when demand slowed
dramatically. This resulted in excess capacity across
the industry and prices collapsed between 1985 and 198 6.
At Intel, a reduced demand for microprocessors and

8/6 Part III 1980's- The IBM/Macintosh era

termination of the company's DRAM chip business resulted
in significant losses in 1986. This resulted in plant
closings and the termination of over 8,000 employees.
However, in 1987 conditions improved. Intel started to
report profitable income and Andrew Grove became the
chief executive officer.

During 198 6, Intel concluded a technological
exchange agreement with IBM. IBM received rights to
manufacture up to half of its own requirements for the
Intel 8038 6 microprocessor and to develop an enhanced
design for its own use and external sales. Intel
received a number of IBM technologies, such as advance
chip packaging. IBM started reducing its investment in
Intel Corporation in 198 6, and completed its divestiture
of Intel shares due to its own financial problems in
December 1987.

Robert Noyce, who had been moving towards semi-
retirement, accepted a position as chief executive
officer of SEMATECH, Inc., in mid-198 8. SEMATECH is an
acronym for SEmiconductor MAnuf acturing TECHnology. The
company was founded by the U.S. Government and a group
of leading U.S. semiconductor manufacturers to conduct
research that would help combat competition from Japan.

8.2... Motorola

Motorola introduced 10 and 12 MHz versions of the
MC68000 microprocessor by the end of 1981. The company
then introduced the MC68010 in 1982 and the 32-bit
MC68020 in 1984. The MC68020 used 2.5 micron technology,
had 200,000 transistors, a 256 byte cache and executed
instructions at 2.5 MIPS. Clock speeds are 16-33 MHz.

The MC68030 32-bit unit has all the features of
the MC68020 plus a paged memory management unit,
separate 256 byte caches for data and instructions and
additional enhancements . It executes instructions at 12
MIPS and clock speeds are 16-50 MHz. The MC68030 was
introduced in 198 7 and was used on the Apple Macintosh
IIx computer.

Motorola announced the 88000 family of Reduced
Instruction Set Computing (RISC) microprocessors in

Microprocessors in the 1980' s 8/7

1988. They were designed for applications such as
multiprocessing and high performance graphics.

The MC68040 is a 32-bit microprocessor that
executes instructions at 20 MIPS. It contains 1.2
million transistors, has a 4K byte instruction cache, 4k
byte data cache and a floating-point unit. Clock speeds
are 25-40 MHz. The MC68040 was announced in April 1989.

8.3... Other Microprocessors

The National Semiconductor 16032 was a
microprocessor with a 16-bit external data bus and a 32-
bit internal bus. It was announced in 1981. The 32032
was the first full 32-bit microprocessor. In 1987,
National Semiconductor acguired Fairchild Semiconductor
that had been having problems.

The Western Design Center 65802 and 65816
microprocessors were designed by Bill Mensch and
announced in 1984. The W65C816 is a 16-bit
microprocessor that is used in the Apple IIGS computer.

Gordon Campbell who had previously been with Intel
Corporation founded Chips and Technologies, Inc. The
company started by producing low cost chip sets for the
IBM PC AT computer.

The Zilog Z-80000 is a 32-bit microprocessor and
the Z280 is a 16-bit version of the Z-80 that was
announced in 198 7.

RISC Microprocessors

John Cocke developed the primary concepts for the
Reduced Instruction Set Computing (RISC) technology at
IBM starting in the 1960's. It evolved from his research
on optimizing the interaction between hardware and
software. Cocke determined that the overall speed of
execution could be increased by reducing the number of
complicated instructions to a relatively small set of
simple optimized instructions.

The RISC architecture was first implemented on two
experimental computers and on the IBM 8 01 minicomputer
in 1978. Then in 1980, IBM's Austin laboratory developed
the ROMP (Research Office products Microprocessor) RISC

8/8 Part III 1980's- The IBM/Macintosh era

microprocessor for the office products division. The
original intent was to use the microprocessor in a
networked office workstation. The first IBM personal
computer to use the ROMP microprocessor was the PC RT
workstation introduced in January 198 6. IBM's mainframe
and personal computer divisions did not support the
application of RISC technology on their products. This
allowed other companies to exploit the technology during
the last half of the 1980' s.

David Patterson from the University of California
at Berkeley, who after evaluating the complexity of the
DEC VAX computer instruction set, developed the RISC-I
microprocessor in 1980. John L. Hennessy also did
research on RISC microprocessors at Stanford University,
and with Skip Stritter, also from Stanford and John
Moussouris of IBM, they founded MIPS Computer Systems in
1984. MIPS released the 32-bit R2000 RISC
microprocessor, that had 185,000 transistors in 1986.

The SPARC RISC microprocessor was developed at Sun
Microsystems by Anant Agrawal with assistance from
Robert Garner, William Joy and David Patterson from the
University of California at Berkeley. SPARC is an
acronym for Scalable Processor Architecture. It was
introduced by Sun in July 1987 and used on their
SPARCstation 1 in 1989.

8.4 ... Other Corporate Developments

The Exxon corporation acguired Zilog Inc., in 1981
then sold it to Zilog executives in 1989.

Texas Instruments introduced its first single-chip
digital signal processor (DSP), the TMS320 in 1982. This
subsequently became a major product line for the
company.

In April 1985, AT&T purchased the assets of
Synertek, Inc., a subsidiary of Honeywell for an
estimated $25 million. Then in November a French
company, Thomson-CSF purchased Mostek, a subsidiary of
United Technologies for $70 million.

Microprocessors in the 1980' s 8/9

AMD started litigation to obtain a license as a
second source for the 80386 microprocessor in 1987.
Intel wanted to restrict the second sourcing of the
microprocessor. However, the technological exchange
agreement that Intel had agreed to with AMD in 1982
would become a problem for Intel. During the litigation
arbitration in 1989, AMD decided to make an independent
clone design of the 80386.

8/10 Part III 1980's- The IBM/Macintosh era

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