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IBM 610
The IBM 610 is according to Columbia University, the first personal computer because it was the first programmable computer intended for use by one person and controlled from a keyboard. -
Datapoint 2200
Earliest known device that bears some significant resemblance to the modern personal computer, with a screen, keyboard, and program storage. -
Xerox Alto
First computer to use a mouse, the desktop metaphor, and a graphical user interface (GUI), concepts first introduced by Douglas Engelbart while at International. It was the first example of what would today be recognized as a complete personal computer. -
Altair 8800
The Altair was introduced in a Popular Electronics magazine article in the January 1975 issue. In keeping with MITS's earlier projects, the Altair was sold in kit form, although a relatively complex one consisting of four circuit boards and many parts. -
IBM 5100
It was the evolution of a prototype called the SCAMP (Special Computer APL Machine Portable) that IBM demonstrated in 1973. -
Apple II
It had color graphics, a full QWERTY keyboard, and internal slots for expansion, which were mounted in a high quality streamlined plastic case. The monitor and I/O devices were sold separately. -
Commodore PET
It was essentially a single-board computer with a new display chip (the MOS 6545) driving a small built-in monochrome monitor with 40×25 character graphics. The processor card, keyboard, monitor and cassette drive were all mounted in a single metal case. -
TRS-80
The Model I combined the motherboard and keyboard into one unit with a separate monitor and power supply. The Model I used a Zilog Z80 processor clocked at 1.77 MHz (the later models were shipped with a Z80A processor). -
The IBM PC 5150
Based on an open, card-based architecture, which allowed third parties to develop for it. It used the Intel 8088 CPU running at 4.77 MHz, containing 29,000 transistors. -
VIC-20 and Commodore 64
The C64 name derived from its 64kb of RAM and it also came with a side mount ROM cartridge slot. It used the 6510 microprocessor CPU; MOS Technology, Inc. was then owned by Commodore. -
Apple Lisa and Macintosh
The Lisa ran on a Motorola 68000 microprocessor and came equipped with 1 megabyte of RAM, a 12-inch (300 mm) black-and-white monitor, dual 5¼-inch floppy disk drives and a 5 megabyte Profile hard drive. -
Atari ST
Based on the Motorola 68000 microprocessor, was introduced with the first color GUI in the Atari TOS. It could be modified to emulate the Macintosh using the third-party Spectre GCR device. -
NeXt
he NeXTstation was meant to be a new computer for the 1990s, and was a cheaper version of the previous NeXT Computer. Despite its pioneering use of Object-oriented programming concepts, the NeXTstation was somewhat a commercial failure, and NeXT shut down hardware operations in 1993. -
BeBox
used dual PowerPC 603 processors running at 66 MHz, and later 133 MHz with the Be operating system. -
Wi-Fi, LCD monitor, multi-core processor, flash memory
In the early 21st century, Wi-Fi began to become increasingly popular as many consumers started installing their own wireless home networks. Many of today's laptops and desktop computers are sold pre-installed with wireless cards and antennas. In 2008 the MacBook Air and Asus Eee PC were released, laptops that dispense with an optical drive and hard drive entirely relying on flash memory for storage.
