4 adverts that feature the Intel 80286

Launched in 1982, at around the same time as Intel's 80186, the 80286 - or iAPX 286 - was Intel's first CPU to offer features like protected memory, making it much more useful in multi-user or multi-tasking applications.

It was also Intel's first chip to ship with non-multiplexed and separate address and data buses, which helped to make it around twice as fast per clock cycle as an 8086. Its address bus was also larger and at 24 bits could address up to 16MB of memory.

The 80286 - and not the 80186 - was the chip picked by IBM for its improved IBM PC/AT, even though Intel designed the 286 primarily for telecommunications and industrial automation applications, rather than for use in microcomputers.