[Elecraft] ELEPRODUCT POLL - IBM PC (OT)

[Mike Morrow]

Vic wrote:

>Technically speaking, the 8088 and especially MSDOS  ...  were
>significantly behind the state of the art.  Who knows where we would
>be now if the original PC had come with a multi-tasking OS (like the
>one on my Sinclair QL in 1981) and a 680xx processor with a flat 
>address space?

Having graduated as an EE in 1974, I tracked development during the early PC days with great interest.  I too thought the 68000-series was superior to the 8086-series, but I have always understood that the 8088/8086 was selected by IBM largely due to the fact that Intel had a math coprocessor nearer to delivery than did Motorola.  I was amazed by the capability of the 8087 math coprocessor when it first came out.

73,
Mike / KK5F