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Although IBM's launch of the Personal Computer (IBM 5150) in 1981 set the industry standard for personal computing, IBM had introduced a variety of small computers for individual users several years before that.

And IBM was able to do all that and roll out its first PC in just one year. It wasn't that long before the August 1981 debut of the IBM PC that an IBM computer often cost as much as $9 million and required an air-conditioned quarter-acre of space and 60 people to run and keep it loaded with instructions.

At one point, IBM considered buying the fledgling game company Atari to commandeer Atari's early line of personal computers. However, IBM decided to stick with making their own personal computer line and developed a brand new operating system to go with.

The IBM Personal Computer ("PC") was not as powerful as many of the other personal computers it was competing against at the time of its release. The simplest configuration has only 16K on-board RAM and uses an audio cassette to load and save data - the floppy drive was optional, and a hard drive was not suported.

The IBM PC transformed the computer industry. The microcomputer market—which gained steam after the releases of Commodore’s PET, Radio Shack’s TRS-80, and the Apple II in 1977—reached $1 billion in total sales by 1980; large enough for industry giant IBM to take notice.

The IBM Personal Computer AT, more commonly known as the IBM AT and also sometimes called the PC AT or PC/AT, was IBM's second-generation PC, designed around the 6 MHz Intel 80286 microprocessor and released in 1984 as System Unit 5170.

IBM introduced its Personal Computer to much fanfare on August 12th, 1981. The PC was developed in an astoundingly short time (under 1 year) by a "skunkworks" project at IBM's Boca Raton Florida facility.

The IBM PC. Many companies were dubious. Could small personal computers really be serious business tools? The IBM name was a reassuring seal of approval. IBM introduced its PC in 1981 with a folksy advertising campaign aimed at the general public. Yet, the IBM PC had its most profound impact in the corporate world.