Editing IBM RT PC (section)

{{short description|Early RISC workstation from IBM}}
{{more footnotes|date=November 2017}}
{{Infobox information appliance
| name      = IBM RT PC<br />(RISC Technology Personal Computer)
| logo      = IBM logo.svg
| logo_size = 120px
| image     = IBM RT PC at Vintage Computer Festival Soutwest (1).jpg
| caption   = 
| cpu       = [[IBM ROMP]]
| memory    = 1 [[Megabyte|MB]] RAM, expandable to 16 MB
| developer = [[IBM]] / [[IBM Research]]
| manufacturer = [[IBM]]
| type      = [[Workstation computer]]
| releasedate = {{Start date and age|1986}}
| discontinued = May 1991
| os        = [[AIX operating system|AIX]]<br>Academic Operating System<br>[[Pick operating system|Pick]]
| successor = [[IBM RS/6000]]
| related      = [[IBM Personal Computer AT|IBM PC AT]]
}}

The '''IBM RT PC''' ('''RISC Technology Personal Computer''') is a family of [[workstation computer]]s 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 [[IBM ROMP|ROMP]] [[microprocessor]], which commercialized technologies pioneered by [[IBM Research]]'s [[IBM 801|801]] experimental minicomputer (the 801 was the first RISC).<ref name="unixreview198603_romp">{{ cite magazine | url=https://archive.org/details/sim_unix-review_1986-03_4_3/page/8/mode/1up | title=The Monthly Report | magazine=UNIX Review | date=March 1986 | access-date=24 June 2022 | last1=Chandler | first1=David | pages=8,10,12,14-16,18,20 }}</ref> The RT PC runs three operating systems: [[AIX operating system|AIX]], the Academic Operating System (AOS), and [[Pick operating system|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.<ref name="unixreview198603_romp"/> 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.