A computing device made up of one or more microprocessors, random access memory (RAM), input/output logic, and usually one or more data input and data output devices. Desktop computers (personal computers) are all also called microcomputers.
A microcomputer is a personal computer. It's considered a personal computer because people can use it in their homes. Microcomputers were invented in the 1970s. Before the invention of microcomputers, people used mainframes and minicomputers. They were big, bulky, expensive computers used at companies and universities. Microcomputers were smaller and cheaper than mainframes and minicomputers.
Microcomputers use a microprocessor, which is an integrated circuit that's referred to as the central processing unit. The microprocessor is able to move information back and forth through its transistors.
Intel and Motorola took center stage in the development of microprocessors in the 1970s, although Zylog and Texas Instruments made microprocessors. Intel's first microchip, the MCS4 or 4004, had four 16-pin chips with 2,300 transistors and 45 instructions and could handle a word length of up to 4 bits.
Intel's 8008 microchip made it possible for one microprocessor to perform multiple tasks. Intel 8008 microprocessors had 3,500 transistors, 66 instructions and 8-bit register, meaning it could hold up to eight word lengths of information.
Mark-8 was one of the first microcomputers to use the Intel 8008 microchip, in 1974. The computer came in parts and was sold as a kit. When Intel developed the Intel 8800 microchip, it was used in 1975 with the Altair 8800 computer kit. Bill Gates and Paul Allen developed the Basic Interpreter for the Altair 8800. IBM used Intel 8088 to design its first microcomputer and called it a personal computer. In 1980, Gates and Allen supplied IBM with the DOS operating system software to be used with their computer model.
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