PC

A P ersonal C omputer that is compatible with the IBM desktop computers. PCs that are not manufactured by IBM Corporation are typically referred to as "clones." Generally, programs written on any PC will play on another PC. Most PC users now run under Microsoft DOS or Microsoft Windows operating systems. Newer and more advanced processors include OS/2 from IBM and Windows 2000 from Microsoft Corporation. Programs written on a Mac operating system will not usually run on a PC. Differences between Mac and PC computers have led to constant frustrations for authors since there is no single standard for authoring materials that can be used across the computer market. This is especially frustrating for authors of CD-ROM learning and entertainment materials. PC computers using the early Intel 8088 processor were called XT models. The XT's gave way to the AT models containing the 80286 or higher level Intel processors. Now the model names usually contain the processor specifications such as Intel 386, 486, and Pentium designations. The top-rated PCs at the end of 1994 are Dell Dimension (Rank 1), Micron PCI (Rank 2), Gateway P% (Rank 3), and IBM ValuPoint (Rank 4) according to PC Computing, December 1994, p. 126. Two pages later, that same magazine ranks the best-buys in portables as TravelMate 4000M from Texas Instruments (Rank 1), Latitude XP from Dell (Rank 2), and ThinkPad755C from IBM (Rank 3). (See also Bus , Amiga , Mac , SGI , SUN , and PowerPC )