ISA
No. The first expansion slots on IBM PCs (and compatibles) had only an 8-bit data path, and ran at 8 Mhz.
They were known as an "expansion bus". So-called because the expansion cards with edge connectors, plugged directy into the bus board. (Today we would call it a motherboard) There were 3 bus standards: Industry Standard Architecture (ISA) Micro Channel Architecture (MCA) Extended Industry Standard (EISA) I hope that helps. Michael Sharp, CEO hostyouridea.com
Historically laptops used PCMCIA expansion slots, but these days this has generally been depreciated in favour of USB peripherals.
NLx
The board that houses the CPU, memory expansion slots, and active components in most IBM PCs is called the motherboard. It serves as the main circuit board, connecting various hardware components and allowing communication between them.
Windows is an operating system. Slots are on the computer. Some PCs have slots and some don't.
normally 2 IDE slots...
pcs
The Industry Standard Architecture (ISA) slot is primarily used for connecting peripheral devices to a computer's motherboard. It was commonly employed in older PCs for expansion cards such as sound cards, network cards, and modems. While its use has declined with the advent of more advanced standards like PCI and PCIe, ISA slots were crucial in enabling hardware upgrades and customization in early computing systems.
There are a few you can use, Much older PCs will have options like AGP and PCI slots Standard computers today will have the more common PCI and PCI-E slots You will find that before, these were necessary for expand to higher quality video rendering hardware but newer technology allows for expansion through a USB port. They sell devices that allow you to hook up a small piece of hardware to the computer that then lets you expand to multiple monitors, and provides better hardware for better visual quality as well.
A few of the differences in PCs are: Faster busses (lines of internal communication), such as USB and firewire. Faster expansion slots (for video cards, sound cards, etc), specifically PCI Express. New hard drive interfaces (Serial ATA) for faster data retrieval. Smaller "footprint" (desk coverage) availability, such as the shuttle PCs. New cooling systems available (including water-cooled and case refrigeration).
One problem with smaller computers is that they tend to use custom or proprietary parts. They are often too small or lack the expansion slots needed for upgrades. The things you want to upgrade might be built into the motherboard. The compact PCs often use boards similar to those in other PCs, but with parts removed, so you often don't have all the necessary hardware or connectors needed, so you might not be able to install all the RAM the chipset was made to handle. The smaller PCs often rely on smaller power supplies which won't be able to handle too many upgrades.