Zilog Calls Time on the Venerable Z80, Discontinues the Standalone Z84C00 CPU Family

Magister , 3 months ago

Incredible, I started with a ZX81 (it was using a Z80) in 1981, then moved to a CPC6128 in 1984, still using a Z80, I learnt assembler on it, cracking games, etc, good memories :)

Diplomjodler3 , 3 months ago

Greetings, fellow geezer! I had the ZX81 in kit form, which meant you had to solder on every single component yourself. I still have it in the basement somewhere.

Magister , 3 months ago

I also had the kit, 495FF IIRC

ricdeh , 3 months ago

Oh don’t worry, TI will find another decades old CPU to put into their overpriced calculators!

Pretzilla , 3 months ago

Just got an Intel Z84 NUC so maybe that’s where the upgrade went

homesweethomeMrL , 3 months ago

Wow. Spectrum, TRS-80, Pac Man. Legend.

Thorry84 , 3 months ago

Don’t forget about the MSX, Commodore 128, the Sega Mastersystem and the Gameboy (although that used a custom modified version of the Z80, but very similar)

palordrolap , 3 months ago

The Z80 was a secondary processor in the C128. The main processor was the rival MOS8502, a descendent of the Z80's main rival, the MOS6502.

The Z80 was included so that the C128 would be able to run CP/M software which was considered to be an important inclusion at the time.

CP/M was supplanted by the ubiquity of IBM-compatible PCs and MS-DOS, which is a shame considering that MS-DOS started life as something deliberately quick and dirty based heavily on the syntax of CP/M. The dir command? That's from CP/M. The peculiar *.* wildcard syntax? Also from CP/M.

Now, it's true that CP/M took a lot of inspiration from Unix and similar, but it wasn't trying to replace Unix. MS-DOS though? Arguably, it came to fill the same niche that CP/M already occupied. Except everyone was then on x86, not Z80.

SharkAttak , 3 months ago

And all to cripple the russian's war industry..!

cmnybo , 3 months ago

I just ordered a few before the price goes way up in case I ever want to build anything with them.