microcomputer

microcomputer

Small digital computers whose CPU is contained on a single integrated semiconductor chip. As large-scale and then very large-scale integration (VLSI) have progressively increased the number of transistors that can be placed on one chip, the processing capacity of microcomputers has grown immensely. The personal computer is the most common example of a microcomputer, but high-performance microcomputer systems are widely used in business, in engineering, and in “smart” machines in manufacturing. See also integrated circuit, microprocessor.

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Generally refers to a Windows PC or Macintosh, but it can refer to any kind of small computer. When the term was first introduced in the late 1970s, it meant a computer with a single microprocessor chip as its CPU, namely, the personal computer. Today, the CPU in every computer is a microprocessor, and the terms "desktop computer," "laptop computer" and "PC" have mostly replaced microcomputer and personal computer.

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microcomputer - A computer based on a microprocessor. Contrast with minicomputer, mainframe.