from the July 1978 issue of Byte magazine

by Lou Frenzel - Heath Company - Benton Harbor Ml 49022

All personal and hobby computers are microprocessor based. That is, they use a single processor integrated circuit chip. One of the most important decisions you will ever make in purchasing a personal computer is choosing the type of microprocessor. The semiconductor manufacturers have provided computer designers with a wide range of microprocessing units having varying degrees of power and sophistication. As a result, there are at least a half dozen different processors available in hobby computers. This wide variety of products makes your choice somewhat flexible, or at least it seems that way. In reality, having so many processor styles to choose from, your decision becomes much tougher. If you are a beginner, it may be particularly difficult to make an intelligent choice. The purpose of this article is to provide you with some guidelines in making this important decision. The emphasis is on how to choose the best microprocessor for you when purchasing a personal computer.

from the October 1994 issue of Byte magazine

by PETER H. SALUS

New Jersey, in the muggy summer of 1969, was the birthplace of Unix. It was born out of the frustration that resulted when AT&T’s BTL (Bell Telephone Labs) withdrew from the Multics (Multiplexed Information and Computing Service) project, a joint attempt by BTL, General Electric, and MIT to create an operating system for a large computer accommodating up to a thousand simultaneous users.