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It didn't originate with the PS/2 line, but the Model M keyboard with Selectric roots was standard equipment, an absolute beast, and the best keyboard I've ever had.
The Model M's buckling spring mechanism has absolutely nothing to do with the mechanics of the Selectric keyboard.
However, when I think back the two most disruptive problems for us were the development of the 80286 and the failure of OS/2. The 80286 was dog of a design not from its silicon per se but rather from a design concept. The switching modes problem, triple-faulting the processor and so on.
I understand the reasoning behind why Intel designed the processor that way as an explanation of why it did so took up most of the time of a long Intel seminar/presentation that I attended just when the chip became available.
It's easy to be wise in hindsight but it would have been better for everyone—except of course Microsoft—if the 80286 had never existed and that the 8086 platform had migrated directly to the 80386.
What I remember most about the PS/2 is the crazy power switch that internally connected to a metal rod that connected to another switch on the PSU itself.
Related fact, Windows/386 2.0 supported protected mode[1].
What I remember most about the PS/2 is the crazy power switch that internally connected to a metal rod that connected to another switch on the PSU itself.
Also the PS/2 keyboard and mouse connectors. Before that mice were speaking to serial ports or required an add in card with a nonstandard port. the people buying PS/2's were often very concerned with mice, they'd seen them on TV and they wanted one.
It didn't originate with the PS/2 line, but the Model M keyboard with Selectric roots was standard equipment, an absolute beast, and the best keyboard I've ever had.
And then there were a bunch of Amstrad PCs with 8086 and VGA:
https://www.seasip.info/AmstradXT/models.html#pc2086
No doubt the pivotal importance of IBM's PS/2 range and I was instrumental in my organization acquiring many but that wasn't without problems as we already had many ISA machines so PS/2s weren't compatible at a board level. That increased the cost of maintenance amongst other things. However, when I think back the two most disruptive problems for us were the development of the 80286 and the failure of OS/2. The 80286…
http://www.postbulletin.com/magazine/2004/08/index.shtml "According to Bob Dubke, the second engineer on IBM's 5100 team in Rochester (who now co-owns a locally-based company called eXport Ventures Corp. and also works for Edina Realty), that secret function was his contribution to the design of the computer. The function, which IBM suppressed because of worries about how their competition might use it, was an interf…