https://www.edn.com/electronics-blogs/edn-moments/4374271/Intel-intros-8088-...

Intel intros 8088 microprocessor, June 1, 1979 Suzanne Deffree -June 01, 2019 On June 1, 1979, Intel introduced the 4.77 MHz 8088 microprocessor, featuring 16-bit registers and, unlike its predecessor, the 16-bit 8086, had an 8-bit external data bus. With that, as well as 29,000 transistors using 3-micron technology and its ability to directly address 1 MB of memory, IBM soon took interest in using the 8088 in its PCs. Until that point, most popular computers used 8-bit microprocessors.

How IBM made the final decision to use the 8088—instead of its own IBM 801 processor or Motorola 68000—is up for debate. Ask Bill Gates or Paul Allen and they will claim Microsoft talked IBM into going with the Intel microprocessor. Allen makes such statements in his 2011 autobiography.

Ask IBM engineers circa 1979 and many will say IBM was familiar with the technology family and that the 8088 allowed the computer to be based on a modified Intel 8085 design; that they needed a processor and its peripheral chips that would be in immediate and abundant supply; and that what they went with had to have available languages and operating systems.

In the end, the original IBM PC, a machine so popular it was cloned and copied for years, included the 8088. Whatever the reason, the decision to base the IBM PC on it helped propel Intel’s architecture and spur it along its path to become one of the largest companies in the electronics industry.

For more on the Intel 8088 and its family, see this Intel page.

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For more moments in tech history, see this blog. EDN strives to be historically accurate with these postings. Should you see an error, please notify us.

Editor's note: This article was originally posted on June 1, 2012 and edited on June 1, 2019.

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