History Platform / IBMPersonalComputer

** ''Warcraft II''

* ''VideoGame/{{Wolf}}''

* ''VideoGame/RomanceOfTheThreeKingdoms''

From TheNew10s, the popularity and ability of graphics cards grew rapidly. Modern games, where the graphics pipeline is the main bottleneck, can be run across multiple displays simultaneously and at resolutions of up to 8K, do stereoscopic 3D, and handle VR with ease. [=GPU=]s began to become more accepted in for uses beyond the scope of video games and graphics work. The number of graphics cards sold surged during the UsefulNotes/COVID19Pandemic due to both the number of people interested either in PC gaming or cryptocurrency increasing dramatically. The use of [=GPU=]s as perhaps the primary vehicle of computation is central to modern scientific computing, artificial intelligence, cryptocurrency, and blockchain technology. The concept of a general-purpose GPU which could be arbitrarily and transparently used for any calculation has also become popular among developers, cementing the [=GPU=] as an integral part of desktop computing.

Then, shortly before the turn of the decade into TheNewTens, another shift happened. Graphics cards prior to this were strictly for graphics. With the introduction of the [=GeForce=] 8000 series of graphics cards, Nvidia spearheaded another change--Graphics cards could now also do general-purpose calculations in addition to graphics. This added a big boost to the processing power of many [=PCs=], as previously, when an explosion occurred on screen, it was the CPU's task to calculate the debris' trajectory. This was CPU intensive, and meant that many games just didn't bother with the particles. Now, the CPU could actually have the graphics card do the particle physics as it renders the explosion onscreen instead of half-heartedly rendering an explosion. And as an added bonus, the card could be used for more than just physics--it could also be used to power the enemy's AI or even do non-gaming work like cracking passwords and finding prime numbers.

After TheNewTens, the ability of the cards suddenly skyrocketed; it is now possible for [=PCs=] run a game across multiple displays simultaneously, effortlessly handle resolutions of up to 8K, do stereoscopic 3D and handle VR with ease.

There have also been rumors that Apple may be switching their desktop machines to ARM; after years without any confirmation, Apple finally announced that the transition was happening at the 2020 Worldwide Developers' Conference, and Macs featuring the new "M1" CPU were available to users in November. The funny thing is, the ARM CPU was indeed originally created to power desktops, and was initially used in a desktop computer called the [[UsefulNotes/AcornArchimedes Archimedes]] from the UK-based firm Acorn Computers[[note]]ARM originally stood for ''Acorn RISC Machine'' before Acorn's demise and the subsequent founding of ARM Ltd, when the name was [[FunWithAcronyms slightly altered to]] ''Advanced RISC Machines''[[/note]], however they shifted to embedded electronics after [=PCs=] gained dominance. Now that Apple is making the switch, it means that the architecture has come full circle.

So far, x86 has seen off all attempts to replace it, with most of its challengers either long obsolete (6502, 68000) or relegated to embedded systems (MIPS, [=PowerPC=], although the latter was used in Macs until the mid-2000s). However, [[UsefulNotes/AcornArchimedes ARM]] [=CPUs=] have seen massive increases in computing power since the mid-2000s, and have since become the first real challenge to x86's dominance on the desktop in decades. Chips based on the ARM architecture have dominated consumer electronics for years because of their clean system design and low power usage (which means better battery life), whereas Intel had to cut features and performance from their attempt at an ARM competitor, Atom, just to get it cool enough for netbooks and tablets.[[note]]Intel discontinued the system-on-chip version of the Atom in 2020; the modern descendants of the netbook (2-in-1 "convertible" laptops, like the Surface or the Lenovo YOGA, and Intel-based Chromebooks) now use mainstream Core processors. Intel processors are still uncommon in pure tablets, though, which have all stuck with ARM.[[/note]] Chips from Nvidia, Texas Instruments, Samsung and Apple have shown what ARM is capable of, and with many people switching from desktops and laptops to tablets, even Microsoft has gotten concerned -- Windows 8 was ported to ARM as the highly stripped-down "Windows RT", and Windows 10 and 11 have full-featured ARM ports.

Today, the PC's various implementations are collectively the most popular desktop computer in the world, and have even made inroads into scientific and high-performance computing due to huge leaps in processing capability as well as an emphasis, post-Pentium 4, on power savings. Several attempts to update the PC using newer parts have come and gone; most of them failed after 1995 as the PC's hardware ended up absorbing most of the features that a switch to MIPS or [=PowerPC=] would have brought, including (eventually) the RISC philosophy itself. The Pentium Pro and its descendants are actually RISC processors internally, and use speculative execution and "macro-ops" to handle the rather haphazard x86 ISA instead of trying to execute it directly, as all processors up to the Pentium had.

On top of all this, the rise of the clones meant that pretty much everyone was selling nearly identical systems with little to differentiate them; this made margins even tighter and made PC makers more reliant on advertising, system aesthetics (the aforementioned [=ThinkPad=] was one of the first [=PCs=] to buck the trend of the generic beige box), gimmicks such as "100x CD-ROM" software and other pack-ins, and, if all else failed, price. This environment made it much more difficult for a new player to enter, as any new system would almost certainly be more expensive than a regular PC would and would have the additional hassles of porting all the software. Apple was able to stick it out due to both clever advertising and innovative system design, but they, too, eventually switched to x86 in 2006.

* ''VideoGame/FireAndIce''
* ''[[TabletopGame/{{Freecell}} FreeCell]]''

* ''VideoGame/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles''

* A single 5.25" double sided, double density drive with a storage capacity of 320KB (360 KB if you're running PC-DOS 2.10). However, there are also a pair of ROM cartridge slots under the drive, and the machine has the necessary connectors for a tape drive.

* 3.5", 1.44MB double-sided, high density CAV drives like the PS/2. 2.88MB drives are an option.

* 3.5", 1.44MB double-sided, high density CAV drive. 5.25" 1.2MB drives as well as 3.5" 2.88MB drives are an option.

* ''VideoGame/MortalKombat1''

Games that are run through DOS. These remained popular until the mid-90's when Windows replaced DOS as the OS on most computers. Windows has tried to keep compatibility with them throughout the years; however, with Windows no longer being DOS based, along with the move to 64-bit versions of Windows that don't support older 16-bit programs, the use of an UsefulNotes/{{emulat|ion}}or (such as UsefulNotes/DOSBox) is almost required at this point.

* ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaI''

* ''VideoGame/AHoleNewWorld''

* ''VideoGame/TombRaider''

Then in 1995, the 3D craze hit. While pseudo-3D graphics had been around for a while at this point in the form of ''Wolfenstein 3D'', ''Doom'' and its various clones, the rise of multimedia, as well as hype caused by the first generation of VR glasses hitting the market and the seminal 1995 computer-animated film ''WesternAnimation/ToyStory'', caused gamers to crave better, more realistic 3D. A startup called Nvidia released a 3D chip called the [=NV1=]. It was quickly picked up by Diamond Technologies who were looking to make their card stand out of the then already saturated "graphics accelerator" market. The card proved to be rather impressive, as it could replace both the video card and the sound card, and produced beautiful and fluid 3D graphics, but ultimately it was a flop due to the oddball choice of quadrilateral polygons, which sent both Nvidia and Diamond back to the drawing board when UsefulNotes/DirectX chose the more traditional triangular polygons when it was ratified instead.

Born in the wake of the [[UsefulNotes/AppleII AppleII's]] success, the IBM Personal Computer (dubbed the "5150" in IBM's internal numbering system) was IBM's official entry into the desktop computer system market, and by far their most successful. Earlier attempts, like the 5100 desktop APL machine and the [=DisplayWriter=] word-processing machine, hadn't taken off, and IBM needed something ''fast'' to compete with Apple. Bypassing the usual IBM bureaucracy, in 1980 they tasked a team of engineers in an IBM office in Boca Raton, Florida with developing the new machine and gave them an unusual amount of freedom in developing the system.

Born in the wake of the UsefulNotes/AppleII's success, the IBM Personal Computer (dubbed the "5150" in IBM's internal numbering system) was IBM's official entry into the desktop computer system market, and by far their most successful. Earlier attempts, like the 5100 desktop APL machine and the [=DisplayWriter=] word-processing machine, hadn't taken off, and IBM needed something ''fast'' to compete with Apple. Bypassing the usual IBM bureaucracy, in 1980 they tasked a team of engineers in an IBM office in Boca Raton, Florida with developing the new machine and gave them an unusual amount of freedom in developing the system.

"IBM compatible" became to the personal computer industry what VHS was to the UsefulNotes/{{VCR}} in the '80s. While some other platforms might have been technically better, that didn't matter compared to the huge variety of software and hardware peripherals available for the PC, much like how the main advantage of VHS was the large amount of content available for it. The PC (or more importantly MS-DOS on x86 processors) became a de-facto standard everyone rallied around. The earliest clone manufacturers were Eagle, Columbia Data Products and Compaq. A number of small mom-and-pop operations sprang up using cheap parts from Asia.

"IBM compatible" became to the personal computer industry what VHS was to the UsefulNotes/{{VCR}} in the '80s. While some other platforms might have been technically better, that didn't matter compared to the huge variety of software and hardware peripherals available for the PC, much like how the main advantage of VHS was it's large assortment of content. The PC (or more importantly MS-DOS on x86 processors) became a de-facto standard everyone rallied around. The earliest clone manufacturers were Eagle, Columbia Data Products and Compaq. A number of small mom-and-pop operations sprang up using cheap parts from Asia.

** ''VideoGame/MortalKombat2''

* ''Magazine/PCPowerPlay''