Computers: our 'microuniverse' expands

Something new happened to microprocessors last year: they became the software equivalent of minicomputers. At least the top of the line did. Instead of the difficult machine-language software that processors once worked with, the new microcomputers can handle the same easier, high-level languages (HLL) that the bigger computers have always used. With a minimum of program fine-tuning, they can execute quickly programs written in assembly or machine code.