Early 8-Bit Microcomputers

Altair 8800, released by Micro Instrumentation and Telemetry Systems, becomes the first commercially successful home microcomputer.

1974

It uses an Intel 8080 CPU, but did not come with standard support for a printer, keyboard or monitor, and used either toggle switches or paper tape as an input, with LEDs as an output.

1976: Mos technologies releases the KIM-1

1976

At $245, it is the first computer to use their new 6502 processor.
While it came with a 7-segment display and simple hexadecimal keyboard, It could output to a monitor and used a cassette deck or paper tape reader for storing programs. It contained only 1K of RAM and 2K of ROM.

The Apple 1 is released by Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs as a kit.

1976

While the computer had support for a keyboard and monitor, with data storage provided by a cassette data deck, they had to be provided by the user. The Apple 1 was sold for $666.66. It came with a standard 4K of RAM, expandable up to 64K, and used a MOS 6502 processor.

The apple][ is released by the Apple Computer Company.

1977

Using a MOS 6502 and starting with 4K of RAM (expandable up to 48K), the computer came with 8 expansion slots and a built in keyboard, and like many other computers, could use either a 5 ¼ inch floppy drive or a cassette deck. It quickly became one of the first successful 8-bit home computers and began Apple’s rise in the business world, in part due to its inclusion of the basic programming language and VisiCalc, a spreadsheet program.

The Osborne-1 is released.

1981

With a Zilog Z80 and 64K of RAM, the Osborne was one of the first “Luggables,” a computer the size of and a little heavier than a standard briefcase, while also having a full keyboard, 2 floppy disk drives, and a cute little 5 inch screen. The Osborne-1 ran the CP/M operating system.

IBM launches the Personal Computer, or PC.

1981

Using a Intel 8088, the PC was quickly cloned by competitors, as the only component that was developed by IBM was the BIOS. The system ran Microsoft MS-DOS, and came with 16K RAM, although like many other computers, it could be upgraded to up to 640K. Storage was provided by 2 built in floppy drives. The PC soon became a bestseller, and and was one of the most common PC during the 8-Bit Era.

The VIC-20 is released by Commodore for less than $300.

1981

using the It offered color graphics and 4-channel sound from the Video Interface Chip, and could use a floppy or cassette drive as well as accept cartridges. It became the first computer to sell more than 1 million units. The VIC-20 used a MOS 6502 (used as, at this time, MOS Technologies was owned by Commodore), and had around 5K of RAM, with room for expansion up to 32K through the cartridge port. It ran Commodore BASIC, a modified version licensed by Microsoft

The Commodore 64 is released.

1982

Offering 64K of RAM for $595, and including multiple hardware upgrades as compared to its predecessor, the VIC-20, the C64 quickly dominated the market, and with a total of around 17 million produced, is widely considered to be the best selling computer in history. Like many computers, the C64 used a cassette deck and floppy drive, although the use of a serial interface with the disk drive led to slow load speeds. The C64 used a MOS 6510, a variation of the 6502 that allowed for bank switching.

Sinclair launches the ZX-Spectrum

1982

The "Speccy" came with either 16K or 48K RAM (some of which used half much larger but faulty chip)at £ 125 and £ 175, respectively, and like many other computers could use a cassette dock or floppy drive. This computer became popular in Great Britain, and Many clones of the machine were available in the Soviet Union. The ZX Spectrum used a Zilog Z80.