Computer Types (continued)
Microcomputers are the newest type of computer and, by far, the most plentiful
of the three computer types. Known as personal computers or PCs, microcomputers
come in many different sizes and they offer users a number of different
capabilities.
When microcomputers first became popular in the early 1980s, they
were found mostly on individual desks in homes and in small businesses. But
soon, these "desktop" computers began to show up in larger business and in
schools and government offices. At first, these "micros" were made by very small
companies and were sold in retail shops or through the mail. But eventually they
became so popular that just about every company that made any product that had
anything to do with electronics began to manufacture a microcomputer. Big
companies soon began to order microcomputers to attach to their mainframes and
minicomputers. This let their employees run their own programs on a
microcomputer and still maintain a data communications link with a large host
computer.
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