PC Hardware A Beginner’s Guide

(^14) PC Hardware: A Beginner’s Guide
have competed with Intel, Intel has managed to dominate the market with its x86 and
Pentium microprocessors (see Chapter 3 for more information on the microprocessors
used in PCs).
While other developers were adopting the Intel chips, Steve Wozniak chose to use
the 6502 microprocessor in the Apple I and II computers. He did this for several reasons,
not least of which was that it cost less than $100. He also favored this processor because its
disassembler allowed the user to play around with the system. Figure 1-11 shows the Apple I
motherboard with the 6502 processor (the large white chip on the center of the board).
The debate as to which system, the PC or the Macintosh, may be better is certainly a
matter of preference and will probably continue for as long as the two platforms are
manufactured and sold. Essentially, the hardware, the focus of this book, is and performs
about the same (although even this very general statement could start an argument).
Some believe the Macintosh computer to be better for artistic uses and graphics and the
PC to be better for number crunching and applications, but these differences are largely
because of the software developed for each.
The examples we show in the figures and illustrations of this book focus on personal
computer systems based on Intel processors. This is not meant to indicate that one type of
computer is better or worse than another. Our choice is based strictly on the fact that the
PChasdominatedthemarketandthatyouaremorelikelytohaveanIntel-basedcomputer
than not.
Figure 1-10. The Intel 8080 microprocessor. Photo courtesy of the Intel Museum
Archives and Collections