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The Compaq Portable 386 is a computer released by Compaq Computer Corporation in 1987. [1] It was equipped with a 20 MHz Intel 80386 CPU, 1 MB RAM, 16 KB ROM, 1.2 MB 5¼-inch floppy, 40 or 100 MB hard disk drive, priced at US$ 7,999 or 9,999 respectively, [1] [2] and a 10" amber gas-plasma display.
In computing, BIOS (/ ˈ b aɪ ɒ s,-oʊ s /, BY-oss, -ohss; Basic Input/Output System, also known as the System BIOS, ROM BIOS, BIOS ROM or PC BIOS) is firmware used to provide runtime services for operating systems and programs and to perform hardware initialization during the booting process (power-on startup). [1]
Compaq's efforts were possible because IBM had used mostly off-the-shelf parts for the PC and published full technical documentation for it, and because Microsoft had kept the right to license MS-DOS to other computer manufacturers. The only difficulty was the BIOS, because it contained IBM's copyrighted code.
Compaq was aware that by introducing its computer first, a future IBM product might be incompatible with and obsolete the Deskpro 386. The company predicted that IBM would not greatly change the PC architecture as doing so would also orphan millions of real IBM PCs. PC wrote "Compaq's conclusion: IBM's DOS standard is now bigger than IBM". [5]
In the 1990s, as IBM's own PC division declined, Compaq faced other IBM PC Compatible manufacturers like Dell, Packard Bell, AST Research, and Gateway 2000. By the mid-1990s, Compaq's price war had enabled it to overtake IBM and Apple, while other IBM PC Compatible manufacturers such as Packard Bell and AST were driven out from the market.
Compaq's efforts were possible because IBM had used mostly off-the-shelf parts for the PC and published full technical documentation for it, and because Microsoft had kept the right to license MS-DOS to other computer manufacturers. The main difficulty was the BIOS, because it contained IBM's copyrighted code.
Learn how to download and install or uninstall the Desktop Gold software and if your computer meets the system requirements.
Descendants of the x86 IBM PC compatibles, namely 64-bit computers based on "x86-64/AMD64" chips comprise the majority of desktop computers on the market as of 2021, with the dominant operating system being Microsoft Windows. Interoperability with the bus structure and peripherals of the original PC architecture may be limited or non-existent.