The Dell System 316SX was a landmark computer, but it was not the first to be branded Dell. We had shipped several systems under the name "Dell" by this time, although we had recently changed the name of the company from PCs Limited (in 1987) to Dell Computer, and had just moved our headquarters into the new office in "the Dell building" over on MoPac in Austin.
This was the right computer at the right time. Windows had just been released, but it would only run on '386 machines. The '386s that were on the market were all very expensive, and this situation was keeping Windows from taking off as Microsoft desired. Microsoft needed a cheaper platform to get Windows off the ground. They were encouraging the computer manufacturers at the time to produce a less expensive '386 computer for mass use. They had already worked with Intel to produce a '386 processor without a math co-processor, so it could be priced to be relatively inexpensive. Michael Dell authorized the project, code-named "Falcon," in 1988.
Our project team at Dell worked really hard to get this system finished in record time. At its release, the Dell System 316SX was the first 386-SX computer in production in the world. It had a 16 MHz clock, thus the name. As I said, '386 architecture allowed it to run Windows, unlike the '286 machines, and unlike the other '386 machines then on the market, the computer was priced to be very affordable. We were also able to introduce several cost-saving innovations at the same time that helped lower the sales price.
The thing sold like hotcakes. This was definitely the right machine at the right time.
When Intel a bit later came out with the 25 MHz version of the '386SX, so we revised the 316SX design in a project code-named "Peregrine," and called it the System 325. Project manager for both.
