 | |
| Developer | Microsoft |
|---|---|
| Release date | 1980 |
| Operating system | CP/M |
| CPU | Z80 |
| Platform | Apple II |
| Successor | Premium Softcard IIe |
The Z-80 SoftCard is a plug-in Apple II processor card developed by Microsoft to turn the computer into a CP/M system based upon the Zilog Z80 central processing unit (CPU). Becoming the most popular CP/M platform and Microsoft's top revenue source for 1980, it was eventually renamed the Microsoft SoftCard, and was succeeded by Microsoft's Premium Softcard IIe for the Apple IIe.
Introduced in 1980 as Microsoft's first hardware product, [1] and bundled with the Microsoft BASIC programming language, [2] the Z-80 SoftCard is an Apple II processor card that enables the Apple II to run CP/M, an operating system from Digital Research. This gives Apple II users access to many more business applications, including compilers and interpreters for several high-level languages. CP/M, one of the earliest cross-platform operating systems, is easily adaptable to a wide range of auxiliary chips and peripheral hardware, but it requires an Intel 8080-compatible CPU, which the Zilog Z80 is, but which the Apple's CPU, the MOS Technology 6502, is not. [3] The SoftCard has a Zilog Z80 CPU plus some 74LS00 series TTL chips to adapt that processor's bus to the Apple bus. As CP/M requires contiguous freely usable RAM from address zero - which the Apple II doesn't have, since its own 6502 CPU's call stack and zero page and its text mode screen memory cannot be outside the lowest 4 KiB of RAM - addresses are translated in order to move reserved-RAM and non-RAM areas to the top of memory. [4]
The SoftCard was Paul Allen's idea. [5] Its original purpose was to simplify porting Microsoft's computer-language products to the Apple II. [6] The SoftCard was developed by Tim Paterson of Seattle Computer Products (SCP). SCP built prototypes, [7] Don Burtis of Burtronix redesigned the card, and California Computer Systems manufactured it for Microsoft. [8] Unsure whether the card would sell, Microsoft first demonstrated it publicly at the West Coast Computer Faire in March 1980. [2] [6]
Microsoft also released a version for the Apple IIe, the Premium Softcard IIe. The card has functionality equivalent to the Extended 80-Column Text Card, including its 64 KB RAM, so would save money for users who wanted CP/M capability, additional memory, and 80-column text. [9]
Compute! witnessed the SoftCard's debut in March 1980 at the West Coast Computer Faire, calling it "an Apple breakthru". [1] InfoWorld in 1981 called the SoftCard "a fascinating piece of hardware". While criticizing the "computerese" of the CP/M documentation, the magazine wrote "if you need a lightweight, portable Z80 computer, the Apple/SoftCard combination is a perfect pair." [3] BYTE wrote, "Because of the flexibility that it offers Apple users, I consider the Softcard an excellent buy .. The price is reasonable, and it works". [8]
InfoWorld in 1984 also favorably reviewed the SoftCard IIe, approving of its ability to also replace the Extended 80-Column Text Card. The magazine concluded that it "is a good system among several good systems on the market", especially for those who wanted to run Microsoft BASIC or wanted functionality beyond CP/M. [9]
The SoftCard's immediate success surprised Microsoft. Although unprepared to take orders at the West Coast Computer Faire, a Microsoft executive accepted 1,000 business cards from interested parties on the first day; [6] Compute! reported that the company was "inundated" with orders. [1] The SoftCard became the company's largest revenue source in 1980, [10] selling 5,000 units in three months at $349 each, with high sales continued for several years. For a while, the SoftCard was the single most-popular platform to run CP/M, [11] and Z-80 cards became very popular Apple II peripherals. [12] By 1981 Microsoft, Lifeboat Associates, and Peachtree Software published their CP/M software on Apple-format disks. [8]
Following Microsoft's success, several other companies developed Z80 cards for the Apple II as well, including Digital Research with Apple CP/M and a CP/M card developed by Advanced Logic Systems named "The CP/M Card" (with a 6 MHz Z80 and 64 kB RAM) and Digital Research's CP/M Gold Card for CP/M Pro 3.0 (with 64 or 192 kB RAM). [13] [14] Others independent designs came from Applied Engineering, PCPI (with their 6 MHz Appli-Card), Cirtech, IBS. There were also about a dozen SoftCard clone manufacturers.
The Apple II series of microcomputers was initially designed by Steve Wozniak, manufactured by Apple Computer, and launched in 1977 with the Apple II model that gave the series its name. It was followed by the Apple II Plus, Apple IIe, Apple IIc, and Apple IIc Plus, with the 1983 IIe being the most popular. The name is trademarked with square brackets as Apple ][, then, beginning with the IIe, as Apple //. The Apple II was a major advancement over its predecessor, the Apple I, in terms of ease of use, features, and expandability.
The Apple II is a personal computer released by Apple Inc. in June 1977. It was one of the first successful mass-produced microcomputer products and is widely regarded as one of the most important personal computers of all time due to its role in popularizing home computing and influencing later software development.
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CP/M, originally standing for Control Program/Monitor and later Control Program for Microcomputers, is a mass-market operating system created in 1974 for Intel 8080/85-based microcomputers by Gary Kildall of Digital Research, Inc. CP/M is a disk operating system and its purpose is to organize files on a magnetic storage medium, and to load and run programs stored on a disk. Initially confined to single-tasking on 8-bit processors and no more than 64 kilobytes of memory, later versions of CP/M added multi-user variations and were migrated to 16-bit processors.
In computer architecture, 8-bit integers or other data units are those that are 8 bits wide. Also, 8-bit central processing unit (CPU) and arithmetic logic unit (ALU) architectures are those that are based on registers or data buses of that size. Memory addresses for 8-bit CPUs are generally larger than 8-bit, usually 16-bit. 8-bit microcomputers are microcomputers that use 8-bit microprocessors.
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Tim Paterson is an American computer programmer, best known for creating 86-DOS, an operating system for the Intel 8086. This system emulated the application programming interface (API) of CP/M, which was created by Gary Kildall. 86-DOS later formed the basis of MS-DOS, the most widely used personal computer operating system in the 1980s.
A source-to-source translator, source-to-source compiler, transcompiler, or transpiler is a type of translator that takes the source code of a program written in a programming language as its input and produces an equivalent source code in the same or a different programming language. A source-to-source translator converts between programming languages that operate at approximately the same level of abstraction, while a traditional compiler translates from a higher level programming language to a lower level programming language. For example, a source-to-source translator may perform a translation of a program from Python to JavaScript, while a traditional compiler translates from a language like C to assembly or Java to bytecode. An automatic parallelizing compiler will frequently take in a high level language program as an input and then transform the code and annotate it with parallel code annotations or language constructs.
The Z-89 is a personal computer introduced in 1979 by Heathkit, but produced primarily by Zenith Data Systems (ZDS) in the early 1980s. It combined an updated version of the Heathkit H8 microcomputer and H19 terminal in a new case that also provided room for a built-in floppy disk on the right side of the display. Based on the Zilog Z80 microprocessor it is capable of running CP/M as well as Heathkit's own HDOS.
Apple II processor cards were special cards that could be used to allow the Apple II to use different processors on the (otherwise) same computer hardware. This allowed other operating systems to run on the Apple II.
The Apple II Plus is the second model of the Apple II series of personal computers produced by Apple Computer. It was sold from June 1979 to December 1982. Approximately 380,000 II Pluses were sold during its four years in production before being replaced by the Apple IIe in January 1983.
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Following the introduction of the IBM Personal Computer, or IBM PC, many other personal computer architectures became extinct within just a few years. It led to a wave of IBM PC compatible systems being released.
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Altos Computer Systems was founded in 1977 by David G. Jackson and Roger William Vass Sr. It focused on small multi-user computers, starting with multi-user derivatives of CP/M, and later including Unix and Xenix-based machines. In its 1982 initial public offering on NASDAQ, the company raised $59M. Thereafter the company's stock was traded under the symbol ALTO.
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The Olivetti M20 is a Zilog Z8000 based computer designed and released by Olivetti in 1982. Although it offered good performance, it suffered from a lack of software due to its use of the Z8000 processor and custom operating system, PCOS. The company introduced the IBM PC compatible Olivetti M24 in 1983 and the M20 line was phased out.
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The Micro Expander Model 1 is an S-100-based microcomputer introduced by Micro-Expander, Inc., in 1981. The computer was the brainchild of Lee Felsenstein, designer of the Sol-20, the first home computer. After his primary client and marketers of the Sol-20, Processor Technology, went out of business in 1979, Felsenstein founded a new company, Micro-Expander, Inc., in 1980. He gained the capital to sell his prototype of a successor to the Sol-20 as the Micro Expander Model 1 with help from some Swedish investors, primarily Mats Ingemanson, who was hired to market the computer.
It was one of the founders of Microsoft, Paul Allen, who hit upon the idea of putting a Z80 processor into the Apple.
Unsure of the demand for the product, Microsoft took a prototype to the last West Coast Computer Faire
They brought in Tim Paterson of Seattle Computer Products, located across Lake Washington, to try to build a card for the Apple that would let it run Microsoft's 8080 and Z80 software. They called it the SoftCard. Paterson did a series of prototypes before Don Burdis took over the project.
