IBM+PC

The IBM Personal Computer is an icon of home computing. It was released in August of 1981. Instead of developing a 'specific purpose machine' like they did in the past, they developed a scaled down computer to compete with the other budget computers of the time. They chose an Intel 8088 (based on 8086) as the CPU, and slapped some 'off the shelf' parts together to make this iconic beast. The computer had an open standard, which originally allowed companies like Compaq/Dell/HP to form.

The cheapest OS available for this computer was PC-DOS, sold to IBM by Microsoft. Microsoft did not sell IBM exclusive rights to the software, and offered their version (MS-DOS) at a cheaper price. As PCs became more popular, MS-DOS and other Microsoft products did as well. Microsoft holds a monopoly over the OS market, so please thank them for the $50-100 price hike on the computer you just bought. As the IBM PC became cheaper and more available, it quickly set in as 'the' PC. Programs like Word Perfect and Lotus became common; a software market was born.

[|Wikipedia]