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Amstrad couldn't see this move and released the Amstrad Plus range which should have been 16-bit. | Amstrad couldn't see this move and released the Amstrad Plus range which should have been 16-bit. | ||
| − | (Or perhaps it should have been an hybrid with both a 16-bit CPU and a Z80 to keep compatibility, why not?) | + | (Or perhaps it should have been an hybrid with both a 16-bit CPU and a Z80 to keep compatibility with the old range, why not?) |
On the other hand, Amstrad was producing affordable 16-bit PC compatibles with pseudo EGA capacity (16 colours), so in this way it was actually a 16-bit producer. | On the other hand, Amstrad was producing affordable 16-bit PC compatibles with pseudo EGA capacity (16 colours), so in this way it was actually a 16-bit producer. | ||
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See [[Amstrad PC]] for more information on Amstrad's ventures into the 16bit world. | See [[Amstrad PC]] for more information on Amstrad's ventures into the 16bit world. | ||
| − | Notable 16-bit machines | + | Curiously, the 16bit computer era only peaked for a few short years, a much shorter timeframe than the 8bit, 32bit and 64bit computer eras. |
| + | |||
| + | Notable 16-bit machines: | ||
*TI-99/4 (1979) | *TI-99/4 (1979) | ||
*[[PC|IBM PC]] (1981), PC/XT (1983), PC/AT (1984), PS/2 (1987) | *[[PC|IBM PC]] (1981), PC/XT (1983), PC/AT (1984), PS/2 (1987) | ||
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*[[Amiga|Commodore Amiga]] (1985) | *[[Amiga|Commodore Amiga]] (1985) | ||
*[[Apple II|Apple IIGS]] (1986) | *[[Apple II|Apple IIGS]] (1986) | ||
| + | *[[Amstrad PC|Amstrad PC1512]] (1986) | ||
*Sharp X68000 (1987) | *Sharp X68000 (1987) | ||
*[[MSX|MSX Turbo-R]] (1990) | *[[MSX|MSX Turbo-R]] (1990) | ||
| − | Notable 32-bit machines | + | Notable early 32-bit machines: |
*Compaq Deskpro 386 (1986) | *Compaq Deskpro 386 (1986) | ||
*Acorn Archimedes (1987) | *Acorn Archimedes (1987) | ||
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*NeXT Computer (1988) | *NeXT Computer (1988) | ||
*FM Towns (1989) | *FM Towns (1989) | ||
| + | *[[Amstrad PC|Amstrad PC2386]] (1989) | ||
*Atari TT (1990) | *Atari TT (1990) | ||
*Amiga 3000 (1990) | *Amiga 3000 (1990) | ||
Latest revision as of 18:33, 29 April 2025
The 16 bit computer generation peacefully "killed" the 8 bit computers.
Amstrad couldn't see this move and released the Amstrad Plus range which should have been 16-bit. (Or perhaps it should have been an hybrid with both a 16-bit CPU and a Z80 to keep compatibility with the old range, why not?)
On the other hand, Amstrad was producing affordable 16-bit PC compatibles with pseudo EGA capacity (16 colours), so in this way it was actually a 16-bit producer.
See Amstrad PC for more information on Amstrad's ventures into the 16bit world.
Curiously, the 16bit computer era only peaked for a few short years, a much shorter timeframe than the 8bit, 32bit and 64bit computer eras.
Notable 16-bit machines:
- TI-99/4 (1979)
- IBM PC (1981), PC/XT (1983), PC/AT (1984), PS/2 (1987)
- NEC PC-98 (1982)
- Apple Lisa (1983)
- Apple Macintosh (1984)
- Sinclair QL (1984)
- Elektronika BK (1985)
- Atari ST (1985)
- Commodore Amiga (1985)
- Apple IIGS (1986)
- Amstrad PC1512 (1986)
- Sharp X68000 (1987)
- MSX Turbo-R (1990)
Notable early 32-bit machines:
- Compaq Deskpro 386 (1986)
- Acorn Archimedes (1987)
- Apple Macintosh II (1987)
- NeXT Computer (1988)
- FM Towns (1989)
- Amstrad PC2386 (1989)
- Atari TT (1990)
- Amiga 3000 (1990)
Note: With the advent of 32-bit machines, hardware coprocessors became largely irrelevant for 2D games. The CPU was finally powerful enough to manage it all in software.