IBM RT PC

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IBM RT PC
(RISC Technology Personal Computer)

Developer	IBM / IBM Research
Manufacturer	IBM
Type	Workstation computer
Release date	1986; 38 years ago (1986)
Discontinued	May 1991
Operating system	AIX Academic Operating System Pick
CPU	IBM ROMP
Memory	1 MB RAM, expandable to 16 MB
Successor	IBM RS/6000
Related	IBM PC AT

The IBM RT PC (RISC Technology Personal Computer) is a family of workstation computers from IBM introduced in 1986. These were the first commercial computers from IBM that were based on a reduced instruction set computer (RISC) architecture. The RT PC uses IBM's proprietary ROMP microprocessor, which commercialized technologies pioneered by IBM Research's 801 experimental minicomputer (the 801 was the first RISC).^[1] The RT PC runs three operating systems: AIX, the Academic Operating System (AOS), and Pick.

The RT PC's specifications were regarded as "less than impressive" compared to contemporary workstations by its competitors in that particular market, although the product was deemed deserving of "a healthy amount of respect", particularly with the prospect of IBM as "a serious competitor" who, despite having a product whose performance was an estimated 18 months behind other vendors, would potentially be able to catch up quickly by applying the company's renowned technological capabilities.^[1] Given such performance limitations, the RT PC had little commercial success as a result. IBM responded by introducing the RS/6000 workstations in 1990, which used a new IBM-proprietary RISC processor, the POWER1. All RT PC models were discontinued by May 1991.