Z-80 SoftCard

nicole express

Nicole gets a real computer! The Microsoft Z80 SoftCard! (nicole.express) So there I was, very happy with my Apple ][plus. But then I saw someone on the internet post, and it seems that my Apple is an overpriced box with a toy microcontroller for a CPU, while real computers use an Intel 8080, 8085 or Zilog Z80 to run something called “CP/M”… but I’ve already spent so much money on the Apple, so can I turn it into a real computer?

processor card of

product of

Microsoft

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Warehouse chain Costco previously had its headquarters in Kirkland. While Costco is now headquartered in Issaquah, the city is the namesake of its “Kirkland Signature” store brand.

tags

processor card
computer

The Old New Thing

The Microsoft SoftCard for the Apple II: Getting two processors to share the same memory (devblogs.microsoft.com) The Microsoft Z-80 SoftCard was a plug-in expansion card for the Apple II that added the ability to run CP/M software. According to Wikipedia, it was Microsoft’s first hardware product and in 1980 was the single largest revenue source for the company.

Wikidata

https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q3574321

Wikipedia

Z-80 SoftCard (Wikipedia) 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.