Though it too has its own platform, the rival Japanese company introduced IBM-compatible models in 1993.

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And its next-generation operating system, Copland, which is designed to work with both Macintosh and IBM-compatible machines, is due to be launched next year.

CNN: Getting Ready for Asia's PC Wars

In a contractual masterstroke, Microsoft was allowed to licence the operating system to other manufacturers, spawning an industry of "IBM-compatible" personal computers which depended on Microsoft's operating system.

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This opened the door for Honeywell, which started to make mainframes that were wholly compatible with IBM's products but cost less, and eventually, for the appearance of IBM PC clones.

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If you're absolutely certain you're going to run only text-based word processors or spreadsheets on an IBM-compatible, or simple word processors and spreadsheets on a Mac, you can settle for a basic box with one megabyte of memory and a 40-megabyte hard drive.

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AOL's AIM client is compatible with CompuServe, Netscape, IBM's Lotus Notes and Sametime, and RealNetworks.

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