The History of the Intel Processor Chip

Intel is one of the biggest names in personal computing, recognized as a pioneer along the lines of IBM and Microsoft. Intel has consistently been a driving force behind the creation of new computing technology, and they continue to introduce microprocessor innovations and upgrades to their current processor products.

History

Intel is the largest manufacturer of microprocessors in the world, and they got their start by being the brains behind the world's most advanced consumer calculator.
In 1972, the Busicom high-powered business calculator was released, and it was powered by an Intel 4004 chip, Intel's first microprocessor.
Shortly after, in 1974, Intel broke into the personal computer market when they put their 8080 microprocessor in the Altair 8800, the first successful personal computer ever released.
In 1978, Intel struck a deal with IBM to produce the 8088 microprocessor chip to power the brand-new IBM PC for home and small business use. With an ad campaign that featured a re-creation of Charlie Chaplin's "Little Tramp" character, the IBM PC went on to be a huge success and established Intel as a premier microchip manufacturer.

Significance

In 1982, Intel released the 80286 microprocessor, which it eventually shortened to just the 286. This was the first attempt by Intel to create a microchip that could run any of the software written for previous Intel processors. Prior to the release of the 286, none of the Intel processors were backwards compatible--able to run programs written for previous generations of processors. The ability to be backwards compatible with all previous generations is now standard with Intel products. The expanded compatibility of the 286 resulted in the sale of over 15 million personal computers throughout the world.

Time Frame

The 386 generation of microprocessors was released in 1985, and it was the first processor to allow a computer to multi-task, which is the ability to run more than one program simultaneously. The programs were simple, and they were limited to only two or three at one time, but this was a huge jump in technology for home computing.
The next generation 486 was released in 1989, and this processor had a built-in math co-processor that allowed it to do complicated computations at a fraction of the time of previous generations. The 486 also allowed for a wider array of colors, and it also allowed for the introduction of true point-and-click technology.
Prior to the 486, it was necessary to purchase a math co-processor separately to get the maximum speed out of an Intel microprocessor.

Effects

The Pentium processor was first introduced in 1993 at speeds of 60 Mhz and 66 Mhz. It contained over 3 million transistors that greatly expanded the processor's computing capability and that increased its speed.
In 2000, Intel introduced the Pentium 4 family of processors, which featured an initial speed of 1.5 Ghz.
Intel continued to make design changes to the Pentium line, which included introducing dual core and quad core processors that were the equivalent of two processors in one and four processors in one.
In 2009, Intel finally retired the Pentium name and introduced a new core technology called Merom.

Considerations

The Pentium line of processors was actually going to be called the 586 line, but Intel found it difficult to put patents on a product that was referred to only by a number, so they decided to use the Pentium name instead. The name "Pentium" was created by a marketing firm named Lexicon Branding in 1992 and then used by Intel in its 1993 release.
The very first line of Pentium processors was not very successful. A floating point error in the processor caused it to miscalculate on a regular basis, and this prompted one of the largest recalls in the history of the computer industry. It wound up costing Intel over $450 million to recall the defective chips. To avoid the problem ever happening again, Intel created a quality control division that checks each microprocessor before it leaves the factory.