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The funny thing is that IBM caused x86 to be successful due to the IBM PC

• skissane 7y ago
  It's entirely possible that the x86 might still have been very successful even if the IBM PC had never happened. Back then, there were a lot of vendors involved in the 8080/Z80 ecosystem, and the 8086/8088 was a logical path to the future for those vendors – an easier migration path than e.g. the Motorola 68K, and cheaper than the 68K as well.
  • FullyFunctional 7y ago
    I was an active Z-80 user in those days and I respectfully disagree with that assessment. There was nothing logical about going from Z-80 to 8088/86 (and 8080 didn't matter nearly as much). Seeing the number of design wins m68k racked up, it would have been the logical choice (and ISTR that IBM actually liked it better, but it and its peripherals were more expensive). Disclaimer: not a fan of any of these architectures. EDIT: typo