III ^rd Generation Microprocessor:

The single 3rd generation microprocessor chip having 64-pins began with the introduction of 16-bit Intel 8086 in 1978. The other essential III^rd generation microprocessors were, Motorola M68000, Zilog Z-8000, Texas Instruments TMS 99000, and National NS16016series etc. The 16-bit microprocessor by using HMOS technology gain better performance parameters w.r.t. the 8-bit microprocessors.  In addition to better   performance,   it has multiply/divide   arithmetic   hardware.   The memory addressing capabilities were increased for example IM Byte to 16 Mbyte through a variety of powerful and flexible addressing modes.

Intel 8088 was identical to 8086 but for the 8-bit data bus. So 8088 could read orwrite8-bits data at a time to or from the memory.  The Intel 80186 and 80188 were the enhanced versions of Intel 8086 and 8088, respectively. In addition to 16-bit CPU, 80188 and the 80186 had programmable peripheral devices integrated on the similar package. The program written for 80186 and 80188 cannot work well on 8088 and 8086, but those written for 8088 and 8086 worked without many difficulties on 80188 and 80186. This means they were    upward compatible with 8088 and 8086. The Intel 80286 was the advanced version of 80186. It is designed for use in multi-user/ multitasking environment.