16-bit computing

16-bit computing uses processors or architectures that handle data in 16-bit units, often with 16-bit registers or a 16-bit word size. The term can describe processor design, software conventions, or a generation of personal computers and game consoles.

Word (computer architecture): A processor’s natural unit of data, whose size depends on its architecture. A 16-bit word is one common meaning of the label “16-bit.”
Intel 8086: A 16-bit x86 microprocessor introduced by Intel in 1978. Its architecture helped establish 16-bit personal computing and the x86 lineage.
8-bit computing: Computing built around processors or architectures that handle data in 8-bit units. Its smaller words and registers mark the preceding major generation of personal computing.
DOS: A family of disk operating systems widely used on IBM-compatible personal computers. Many DOS programs were built for the 16-bit environment of early x86 PCs.
Backward compatibility: The ability of newer systems to run or support software and hardware made for older systems. Later x86 processors preserved support for widely used 16-bit programs.
CPU register: A small, fast storage location inside a processor used during computation. Register width is one way to describe a processor as 16-bit.
Motorola 68000: A 1979 microprocessor with 32-bit registers and instructions but a 16-bit external data bus. It shows why a machine’s “bitness” can depend on which architectural feature is measured.
32-bit computing: Computing built around processors or architectures that handle data in 32-bit units. Wider registers and address spaces became a common successor to 16-bit designs.
Windows 3.1: A graphical operating environment released by Microsoft in 1992, primarily for DOS-based PCs. Its standard edition ran 16-bit applications and depended on DOS.
x86: A family of instruction set architectures originating with Intel’s 8086 processor. The 16-bit 8086 became the starting point for a long-lived architecture family.

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