DRAWING: (A man checking his minature personal computer - on his wrist.) FRED GREINER/SENTINEL IBM introduced its first personal computer (above) 10 years ago this week. The computer transformed the way millions of people work. ASSOCIATED PRESS BOX: PC history 1975: A small New Mexico company offers a $400 kit, the Altair 8800, giving birth to the personal-computer business. The Altair is programmed by switches and lights on its front panel. Consultant Gary Kildall can't sell Intel on the idea, so he starts Digital Research Inc. to sell the first successful microcomputer operating system program, called CP/M. Bill Gates and partner Paul Allen launch Microsoft Corp. by selling a version of the BASIC language for the Altair. 1977: Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak sell the first Apple II, kicking off the personal-computer age. In the same year, Commodore and Tandy introduce their first personal computers. 1979: Two seminal software packages appear. MicroPro's WordStar turns nearly every CP/M machine into a word processor. More important is the release of VisiCalc, the first spreadsheet. For the first time, business buyers see personal computers as something other than toys. 1980: The Apple III is introduced and bombs. But dBASE II is launched and stays the industry leader for the next 11 years. 1981: Industry pundits fawn over the Osborne I, the first "portable" computer - yet the company folds in two years. The same pundits dismiss the IBM PC when it is introduced Aug. 12, chuckling that a big main MS-DOS - after a Digital Research-IBM deal goes awry. 1982: People begin to realize what IBM has done. Lotus introduces 1- 2-3, a spreadsheet program that becomes an overnight hit. One month later, Compaq unleashes the first IBM PC clone, and the market explodes. 1983: Two of the industry's biggest disasters occur. With incredible fanfare, Apple launches the Lisa in January, with a radical user interface - and at $10,000 a price to match. In November, after months of speculation and leaks, IBM takes a stab at the home market with the PCjr, with a keyboard whose keys look and feel like Chiclets gum. 1984: Apple takes another crack at the user interface, introducing the MacIntosh to a cheering crowd - mainly employees - on Jan. 24. In August, IBM introduces the PC AT, its first success since the original PC. 1985: Apple and IBM admit their mistakes: The Lisa and the PCjr are killed in the same month. Commodore, meanwhile, jumps back in the fray with the Amiga, which despite good reviews never catches on with the public. 1986: Compaq introduces the Deskpro 386, the first machine to use the now-standard Intel 80386 processor. Microsoft goes public, and Bill Gates' decision to back IBM pays off when he soon becomes the industry's first billionaire. 1987: With older technology playing out, Apple and IBM try something new. The MacIntosh II now has what the Apple II had for years: a color screen and expansion slots.