A
microcomputer is a small, relatively inexpensive
computer with a
microprocessor as its
central processing unit (CPU). It includes a microprocessor, memory, and input/output (I/O) facilities. Microcomputers became popular in the 1970s and 80s with the advent of increasingly powerful microprocessors. The predecessors to these computers,
mainframes and
minicomputers, were comparatively much larger and more expensive (though indeed present-day mainframes such as the
IBM System z machines use one or more custom microprocessors as their CPUs). Many microcomputers (when equipped with a keyboard and screen for input and output) are also
personal computers (in the generic sense).