Motorola MS150

Motherboard History
By Jerry Langan
The History of Computing and Motherboards.

The early days

The modern PC motherboard comes from a long history of innovation and design improvement. It really begins all the way back in 1924 when IBM was formed from the Tabulating Machine Company. Fifteen years later Bill Hewlett and David Packard joined forces to create the company we know as HP. In 1947 the first transistor was invented which ushered in solid state electrical amplification for the first time which is the basis for most motherboard components. For the next two decades many people were involved in research and development of transistors and creating new uses for this versatile device which underlies many parts of a motherboard.

The 60s

In 1968 a group of engineers from Fairchild formed the company we now know today as Intel. The next year Advanced Micro Devices arrived on the scene and AT&T creates the UNIX programming language.

The 70s

In 1970 Intel announces the first microprocessor named the 4004 and follows up with the 1103 RAM module. 1974 arrives with the next Intel processor called the 8080, and that is followed up in 1975 with one of the first PC's the Altair 8800 available as a mail order kit. Also in 1975 both Apple and Microsoft were founded. 1976 finds Intel introducing the 8086 processor and the Ethernet networking protocol is released by Robert Metcalf and Xerox at their PARC facility in Palo Alto. In 1979 Motorola enters the fray with its 6800 processor and Intel upped the ante with the 8088. Phoeneix is founded and writes many of the BIOS programs found
on modern Motherboards.
The 1980's would find an exponential increase in the digital world. Advances in technology are at a fever pitch. In 1980 Bill Gates and Paul Allen create DOS or Disk Operating System. 1981 HP builds the first 32 bit chip, Intel ships the 8087 math co-processor and MS-DOS is released followed by the first IBM PC that runs on MS-DOS. Intel, in 1882 announces the 80286 processor. Initially released in 6 and 8 MHz editions, it eventually reached 20 MHz. The 286 was widely used on a variety of IBM compatible motherboards. The IBM XT was released on March 8, 1983. 1983 also found a new version of MS-DOS (2.0), the Apple 2E and Micrsoft announced its Windows Operating System in November. In 1984 motherboard ISA slots were expanded to 16-bit architecture and 3.5 inch floppies were intoduced. Microsoft introdces MS-DOs 3.0 and enters neworking with MS-DOS 3.1. Radioshack offers the Tandy 100 PS and computer viruses rear their ugly heads.
1985 the 80386 is produced by Intel and MS Windows 1.0 is unveiled. Microsoft and IBM released the next generation operating system, called OS/2. Gateway is also founded this year and Microsoft Windows 1.0 is shipped. In 1986 Microsoft releases, MS-DOS 3.2. 1980 that arrives, and IBM introduces both VGA and MCA. Microsoft releases MS-DOS 3.3. IBM introduces the PS/2 personal computer. In 1988 EISA is developed as an alternative to MCA. The first Sound Blaster card is released by Creative Labs. MS-DOS 4.0 is released. The 486 DX processor is released by Intel in 1989. Also in that year, the motherboard maker ASUS is founded.