Editing Timeline of computing 1980–1989 (section)

==1982==
{| class="wikitable sortable"
! Date
! Location
! class="unsortable" | Event
|- valign="top"
|rowspan="2"| January
| UK
| Introduction of the [[BBC Micro]], announced in December 1981. Based on the [[MOS Technology 6502]] processor, it was a very popular computer for British schools up to the development of the [[Acorn Archimedes]] (in 1987). In 1984 the government offered to pay half the cost of such computers in an attempt to promote their use in secondary education.
|- valign="top"
| US
| Commodore unveils the Commodore 64 at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Built in just two months around the VIC-II Video Integrated Circuit and the SID Sound Interface Device chips, the C64 used the 6510 processor to access 64K of RAM plus 16K of switchable ROM. This "epitome of the 8-bit computer" sold up to 22 million units in the next decade.
|- valign="top"
| February
| US
| On February 1 the [[Intel 80286|80286]] processor was released.<ref>{{cite web |title=CPU History - The CPU Museum - Life Cycle of the CPU |url=https://www.cpushack.com/life-cycle-of-cpu.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210720004826/https://www.cpushack.com/life-cycle-of-cpu.html |archive-date=July 20, 2021 |access-date=September 6, 2021 |website=cpushack.com}}</ref> It implements a new mode of operation, protected mode{{Snd}}allowing access to more memory (up to 16 [[megabyte|MB]] compared to 1 MB for the 8086).

At introduction the fastest version ran at 12.5&nbsp;MHz, achieved 2.7 [[Million instructions per second|MIPS]] and contained 134,000 transistors.
|- valign="top"
| March
| US
| MS-DOS 1.25, PC DOS 1.1{{Context needed|date=June 2021}}
|- valign="top"
| April
| UK
| The Sinclair [[ZX Spectrum]] was announced, released later in the year. It is based on the [[Zilog Z80|Z80]] microprocessor from [[Zilog]], running at 3.5&nbsp;MHz with an 8 color graphics display. The Spectrum sold with two memory options, a 16 [[kilobyte|KB]] version for £125 or a 48 KB version for £175.
|- valign="top"
| May
| US
| IBM launch the [[Double-sided disk|double-sided]] 320 KB floppy disk drive.
|- valign="top"
| July
| UK<br>US
| Timex/Sinclair introduced the first computer touted to cost under $100 marketed in the U.S., the [[Timex Sinclair 1000]]. In spite of the flaws in the early versions, half a million units were sold in the first 6 months alone, surpassing the sales of Apple, Tandy, and Commodore combined.
|- valign="top"
| August
| US
| The [[Commodore 64]] is released, retailing at US$595. The price rapidly dropped, creating a price war and causing the departure of numerous companies from the home computing market. Total C64 sales during its lifetime (from 1982 to 1994) are estimated at more than 17 million units{{Citation needed|date=March 2007}}<!-- link to groups.google.com/group/alt.c64/msg/d5b890f317d972fd?q=commodore+annual+report+1986&start=10&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&rnum=13 removed, not a source per [[WP:RS#Bulletin_boards.2C_wikis_and_posts_to_Usenet]]) -->, making it the best-selling computer model of all time.
|- valign="top"
| October
| US
| [[MIDI]], Musical Instrument Digital Interface, (pronounced "middy") published by International MIDI Association (IMA). The MIDI standard allows computers to be connected to instruments like keyboards through a low-bandwidth (31,250 [[bit]]/s) protocol.
|- valign="top"
| December
| US
| IBM bought 12% of Intel.
|- valign="top"
| ?
| US
| Introduction of 80186/80188.{{Clarify|reason=What do these numbers refer to?|date=June 2021}} These are rarely used in personal computers as they incorporate a built-in DMA and timer chip{{snd}}and thus have register addresses incompatible with IBM PCs.
|}