, ▁many ▁ABC ▁ 8 0 ▁and ▁ABC ▁ 8 0 0 ▁machines ▁used ▁in ▁industrial ▁or ▁scientific ▁applications ▁were ▁in ▁use ▁in ▁their ▁respective ▁install ations ▁for ▁many ▁years ▁to ▁come , ▁sometimes ▁well ▁into ▁the ▁late ▁ 1 9 9 0 s , ▁despite ▁no ▁longer ▁being ▁produced . ▁ ▁See ▁also : ▁Com pis . ▁ ▁Performance ▁ ▁In ▁order ▁to ▁see ▁how ▁the ▁ABC ▁ 8 0 ▁would ▁compare ▁to ▁other ▁contemporary ▁personal ▁computers , ▁in ▁ 1 9 8 2 , ▁the ▁Swedish ▁magazine ▁Mik ro D ator n ▁performed ▁a ▁" ben chmark " ▁test ▁using ▁eight ▁short ▁B AS IC ▁programs ▁( re ferred ▁to ▁as ▁B M 1 ~ B M 8 ) ▁defined ▁by ▁the ▁American ▁Kil ob aud ▁Magazine ▁and ▁rout in ely ▁used ▁by ▁the ▁British ▁magazine ▁Personal ▁Computer ▁World ▁for ▁testing ▁new ▁machines . ▁The ▁result ▁was ▁that ▁ABC ▁ 8 0 ' s ▁semi - comp iling ▁B AS IC ▁interpreter ▁turned ▁out ▁to ▁be ▁faster ▁than ▁most ▁other ▁B AS IC s ▁used ▁in ▁popular ▁machines , ▁especially ▁when ▁integer ▁variables ▁are ▁used , ▁the ▁results ▁for ▁some ▁well ▁known ▁computers ▁were ▁as ▁follows ▁( times ▁in ▁seconds , ▁lower ▁is ▁better ): ▁ ▁As ▁seen ▁from ▁the ▁table , ▁the ▁ABC ▁ 8 0 ▁were ▁up ▁to ▁ ▁as ▁fast ▁as ▁the ▁IBM ▁PC ▁using ▁integers ▁and ▁up ▁to ▁ ▁as ▁fast ▁using ▁floating ▁point ▁calculations . ▁However , ▁due ▁to ▁a ▁sub - opt imal ▁exponent iation