Fourth generation

The basis of the fourth generation was the invention of the microprocessor by a team at Intel.
Unlike third generation minicomputers, which were essentially scaled down versions of mainframe computers, the fourth generation's origins are fundamentally different. Microprocessor-based computers were originally very limited in their computational ability and speed, and were in no way an attempt to downsize the minicomputer. They were addressing an entirely different market.
Although processing power and storage capacities have grown beyond all recognition since the 1970s, the underlying technology of large-scale integration (LSI) or very-large-scale integration (VLSI) microchips has remained basically the same, so it is widely regarded that most of today's computers still belong to the fourth generation.