PC-compatible

English IBM PC compatible Adjective - en computing historical Of a computer, offering the compatibility of the IBM Personal Computer regarding software, and―to a lesser degree―hardware. en IBM-compatible Usage notes In the 1980s, following the launch of the IBM Personal Computer, the term en IBM-compatible designated computers highly compatible with the IBM PC’s design, capable of running software designed for the IBM PC, most importantly MS-DOS. Following the advent of IBM PC clones and―in the 1990s―the obsolescence of DOS, it was replaced by PC-compatible, which became synonymous with support for Microsoft Windows (and continued support for x86 hardware). Concerning hardware, tremendous evolution in the decades following the IBM PC’s launch made the sense evolve to the point of becoming a misnomer or at best most vague, and even the sense of supporting Microsoft operating system became superfluous with the Apple–Intel architecture.IBM PC compatible The sense concerning software applications (compatibility with Microsoft operating systems) is now better described as "compatible with Microsoft Windows". Related terms en IBM PC Noun A computer of this kind. en IBM-compatible en 1998 Douglas A. Downing; Michael A. Covington; Melody Mauldin Covington bus Dictionary of Computer and Internet Terms 6th Hauppauge, N.Y. Barron’s Educational Series 65 https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofcomp00down/page/65/mode/1up 0-7641-0094-7 Most personal computers today use a 32-bit bus, but on PC-compatibles, the bus can also work in 8-bit and 16-bit mode. References Further reading PC-compatible article from NetLingo