These advances in software and operating systems were matched by4 the development of microprocessors that contained increasing numbers of circuits. It resulted in increases in the processing speed and power of personal computers. The memory capacity of PCs had increased from 64 kilobytes (64,000 characters) in the late 1970s to 100 megabytes (100 million characters) by the early '90s.
By 1990, some PCs had become small enough to be completely portable. They included laptop computers, which could rest in one's lap; notebook computers, which were about the size of a notebook; and pocket, or palm-sized, computers, which could be held in one's hand. At the high end of thePCmarket5, multimedia personal computers equipped with CD-ROM players and digital sound systems allowed users to manipulate animated images and sound (in addition to text and still images) that were stored on high-capacity CD-ROMs. Personal computers were increasingly interconnected with each other and with larger computers in networks to collect, send and receive information electronically. The applications of personal computers continued to multiply as the machines became more powerful and sophisticated, and their software more versatile. By 2000, about 45 percent of all households in the developed countries owned a personal computer.
Notes: 1computer kit – конструктор (компьютер, продаваемый в виде комплекта деталей и узлов);
2in earnest – всерьез;
3clone – клон, двойник, копия (семейство компьютеров, полностью совместимое с каким- либо иным семейством, но произведённым другой фирмой);
4to match by – зд: происходить одновременно с;
5high end of the market – элитный рынок (рынок товаров для состоятельных интеллигентных потребителей с уровнем дохода и образования выше среднего).