Editing Microcomputer (section)

== Colloquial use of the term ==
[[File:Home or Personal Computers from 1977 - Commodore PET 2001, Apple II, TRS-80 Model I, together called 'Trinity77' (edited image).jpg|thumb|330x330px|Three microcomputer systems frequently associated with the first wave of commercially successful 8-bit home computers: The Commodore PET 2001, the Apple II, and the TRS-80 Model 1]]
By the early 2000s, everyday use of the expression "microcomputer" (and in particular "micro") declined significantly from its peak in the mid-1980s.<ref>"[http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/117935?redirectedFrom=microcomputer microcomputer]". OED Online. December 2013. Oxford University Press. 15 February 2014.</ref> The term is most commonly associated with the most popular [[8-bit computing|8-bit]] [[home computer]]s (such as the [[Apple II]], [[ZX Spectrum]], [[Commodore 64]], [[BBC Micro]], and [[TRS-80]]) and small-business [[CP/M]]-based microcomputers.

In colloquial usage, "microcomputer" has been largely supplanted by the term "[[personal computer]]" or "PC", which specifies a computer that has been designed to be used by one individual at a time, a term first coined in 1959.<ref>"[http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/262572?redirectedFrom=personal+computer personal computer]". OED Online. December 2013. Oxford University Press. 15 February 2014</ref> IBM first promoted the term "personal computer" to differentiate the [[IBM Personal Computer|IBM PC]] from [[CP/M]]-based microcomputers likewise targeted at the small-business market, and also IBM's own mainframes and minicomputers.{{Citation needed|date=February 2014}} However, following its release, the IBM PC itself was widely imitated, as well as the term.{{Citation needed|date=February 2014}} The component parts were commonly available to producers and the [[BIOS]] was [[reverse engineered]] through [[cleanroom design]] techniques. [[IBM PC compatible]] "clones" became commonplace, and the terms "personal computer", and especially "PC", stuck with the general public, often specifically for a computer compatible with DOS (or nowadays Windows).