A computer which can use hardware and software designed for the IBM PC (or, less often, IBM mainframes). This was once a key phrase in marketing a new PC clone but now in 1998 is rarely used, the non-IBM wintel {personal computer} manufacturers such as {Compaq}, {Dell} and {Gateway 2000} and OS vendor {Microsoft} having taken control of the market, marginAlising IBM. (1998-07-30)