Abstract :
The state of the personal computer field in 1987, in the wake of IBM´s introduction of a completely new line of personal computers, known as the Personal System/2, is examined. The possibility that the formerly monolithic IBM PC standard might develop along several different paths is discussed. Other developments, including an open-architecture Apple Macintosh model, are described. An expert opinion is offered by Allen L. Hankinson, chief of the systems and software technology division of the Institute for Computer Sciences and Technology at the National Bureau of Standards, who contends that personal computers now resemble workstations.<>
Keywords :
microcomputer applications; microcomputers; standards; IBM PC; Personal System/2; open-architecture Apple Macintosh model; personal computers; standard; workstations; Application software; Cloning; Computer architecture; Graphics; IEEE news; Microcomputers; Microprocessors; Operating systems; Read-write memory; System buses;
