What does PS/2 stand for?

[is_jason]

I was just wondering what PS/2 stands for, i can't find it anywhere.

 

[Teq]

Personal System 2

First introduced by IBM in the mid-80s.

<b>(</b>It ain't better if it don't work.<b>)</b>

 

[orbz]

Playstation 2

<i><font color=blue>There is no failure when you believe in success.</font color=blue></i>

 

[elzt]

I think he meant that port for connecting a mouse or keyboard to a PC. But I really don't know what it stands for... never thought of it before.

 

[Teq]

The small round connectors were first introduced on the IBM "Personal System 2" back in the mid-80s. When you see "PS/2 Port" you can interpret it as "The same port as in the PS2 computers".

One of the biggest rules in computers has always been that each different type of port should have a unique connector ("If it fits it works"). The PS2 mouse and keyboard connectors are identical, but not interchangeable (on most systems)... why this caught on as a standard I will never know.



<b>(</b>It ain't better if it don't work.<b>)</b>

 

[elzt]

Thanks for the answer.

 

[svol]

It was probably to irritate users. The big AT plug for the keyboard and the small PS/2 made more sence. But I guess the AT plug wasn't modern enough.

Luckely they got colour codes nowadays for the newbies.

My dual-PSU PC is so powerfull that the neighbourhood dims when I turn it on

 

[Teq]

Ey-yup... they should have stayed with the big AT plug on the keyboards...

But, on the original IBM PS2, complete with 286 processor and 1mb ram, it didn't matter which you plugged in where. They are both serial ports and the BIOS sorted it out.

Go figger...



<b>(</b>It ain't better if it don't work.<b>)</b>

 

[svol]

LOL... the stupidities in modern PCs.

My dual-PSU PC is so powerfull that the neighbourhood dims when I turn it on