Any computer manufactured by a company other than IBM that functions virtually the same as an IBM PC, and which can share software with IBM PCs. IBM-compatible computers are now referred to generically as "PC"s, usually to distinguish them from the Apple Macintosh when describing a particular computer platform. PCs commonly use either MS-DOS or Microsoft Windows (or both) as an operating system, although IBM has developed its own operating system, called OS/2. IBM-compatibles are the most commonly-used computers, primarily because of their low cost and the wide availability of software, although ease of use is easily surpassed by the Macintosh.
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