The Intel CPU chip used in first-generation IBM PCs (XT class). Introduced in 1979, the 8088 came out one year after its big brother, the 8086. Both CPUs were 16-bits, but the data bus in the 8088 was only 8 bits rather than 16, which was the reason the chip was chosen. The 8-bit data bus made it easier to convert CP/M applications to IBM's DOS operating system. CP/M was the OS in many personal computers used for business in the early 1980s. See
XT class,
8086,
x86 and
CPM.
Technical Specs
The 8086 was a 16-bit CPU with fourteen 16-bit registers and 25,000 transistors in a 40-pin CERDIP package. Its addressing mode supported only 1MB of memory and was renamed Real Mode when IBM came out with its 286 PC (see
AT). See
Real Mode.