IBM compatible (computer) A computer which can use hardware and software designed for the IBM PC (or, less often, IBM mainframes).
This was once a key phrase in marketing a new PC clone but now in 1998 is rarely used, the non-IBM wintel personal computer manufacturers such as Compaq, Dell and Gateway 2000 and OS vendor Microsoft having taken control of the market, marginalising IBM. Last updated: 1998-07-30
