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  • Writer's pictureVincent Barletta

Which type of personal computer do most people use?

There are many personal computers available. From Apple Macintosh through Commodore PET, LINC, and Xerox Alto X. If you're a company owner, home user, student, or gamer, you can locate one.


The Macintosh is an Apple PC. The Motorola 68000 is used. A GUI lets users pick commands, call up files, and choose menu options.


Macintosh's graphical interface was popular with PC software makers. The GUI was better than text-based interfaces.


After MS-DOS, Macintosh's popularity declined. Microsoft Windows became the PC OS of choice. The Macintosh kept its market share. 1984 saw the first Macintosh ad. The Ridley Scott-directed ad showed a guy dictating on a big screen.


Commodore PET is one of the earliest PCs. Commodore International made it in 1977. Initially, the PET's only data storage was a cassette drive. The first users quickly sped up the system.


The first home computer, PET, was made in the US. It cost $595. It had a tiny keyboard and a monochrome screen. Although PET was a cheap computer, production was restricted. Five hundred machines were made in its initial year.


The PET used a MOS 6502 CPU. This microprocessor was utilized in many modern computers. Xerox Alto is the first PC with a GUI. As such, it predated current PCs. Xerox Alto features are being utilized today.


The Alto was created in the 1970s by Xerox PARC in Palo Alto, California. It had a graphical display, a three-button mouse, and a bespoke CPU. One of the first to use Ethernet.


The Xerox Alto was a desktop at first. A portable PC was created later. Alto X is a PC with a graphical display and a mouse. Ninety characters fit on a 60-line screen. The user may also choose font sizes and shapes.


The LINC was a fantastic discovery of the 1960s. MIT engineers and scientists created this computer in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The first commercial compact machine. The LINC was rolled out nationwide. The initial LINC model, LINC-I, had a tiny display and two magnetic cassettes for storage.


In the mid-1970s, a stronger LINC was built. In the meanwhile, smaller computers were made. The 1974 Scelbi-8H was one of them.


Workstations are PCs meant for engineers, scientists, and others. They have plenty of RAM and storage, powerful CPUs, modern graphics cards, and high-res displays. These devices are used for video editing and design.


In the mid-1980s, personal workstations were vast and powerful. Specialized components, proprietary operating systems, and expensive hardware were used. Early versions cost $10,000, but costs fell in the 1980s.


Today's workstations are affordable. Cheap PCs can be a fifth of the cost of a high-end server. Off-the-shelf components can be used in bespoke workstations.


Gaming PCs are dedicated to video games. It's a powerful system with a high-end CPU, SSD, and sound graphics card. Your PC can play single-player or online multiplayer games. Multimedia, video editing, and others are also common uses.


If you want to game, you'll need extra RAM. Top gaming laptops feature 8GB of RAM. A tiny fee to pay for a great gaming experience. A decent gaming PC features an SSD, and one type prevents games from freezing. You'll also need to chill.

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