WinTel

What Does WinTel Mean?

WinTel is slang term that references a PC built with an Intel microprocessor and a Microsoft OS. WinTel’s architecture, which remains the dominant desktop and laptop platform, is commonly known as WinTel computing.

Techopedia Explains WinTel

By 1984, Microsoft experienced explosive growth and revenue from its disk operating system (DOS) sale to IBM and other PC manufacturers. In 1987, IBM made disastrous manufacturing and marketing mistakes when the company manufactured non-IBM compatible PCs, including the PS/2 computer line. While other manufacturers made technological strides, IBM lost its leading position.

By the early 1990s, Microsoft and Intel excelled with central processing unit (CPU) and OS sales, while IBM suffered massive financial losses. Intel grew, and at one time it was the largest global manufacturer of motherboards and one of a few chipset manufacturers.

More recently, the dominance of WinTel is under attack with the resurgence of Apple and the proliferation of mobile devices. While

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Margaret Rouse

Technology Specialist

Margaret is an award-winning writer and educator known for her ability to explain complex technical topics to a non-technical business audience. Over the past twenty years, her IT definitions have been published by Que in an encyclopedia of technology terms and cited in articles in the New York Times, Time Magazine, USA Today, ZDNet, PC Magazine, and Discovery Magazine. She joined Techopedia in 2011. Margaret’s idea of a fun day is to help IT and business professionals to learn to speak each other’s highly specialized languages.

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