Computer model

The Commodore 64 is the best-selling single computer model in world history.

A computer model is a specific model of computer. In the early days of computers, every new computer model was essentially a completely new combination of hardware and software. For example, the Commodore VIC-20 was incompatible with software designed for previous Commodore PET and the subsequent Commodore 64. By the mid-1980s, computer models started to be released in lines of multiple models that ran compatible software like the Amiga which had over a dozen models featuring mostly-compatible software and hardware. By the late-1980s, most computer models were designed by cloning one of the most popular existing systems in order to be able to run their operating systems and software. By the mid-1990s, the computer model was largely irrelevant and it really mattered which operating system the computer could run.

Although computers were generally thought of as business machines, most of the early 8-bit home computers were sold primarily to be video game machines, but their software wasn't just inferior recreations of arcade titles common to video game consoles of the time. Much of the software being released on home computers was inspired by the software circulating on university minicomputers. And, because they almost always shipped with a variation of BASIC, enterprising users created a large variety of simple games for them.

Personal

Throughout my life I have used many different computer models. I began using various 8-bit home computer models in the 1980s, particularly the Commodore 64 and TRS-80 Color Computer. My family's first computer was a Packard Bell 386 SX which ran MS-DOS 5.0 and Windows 3.0 with multimedia extensions. As an adult, I have bought several older 8-bit computer models.