Smaky

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The Smaky is a line of mostly 8-bit personal computers and accompanying operating system developed by Professor Jean-Daniel Nicoud and others at the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne in Switzerland beginning in 1974. The computers were used at École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne and in Swiss schools. The names derives from SMArt KeYboard, reflecting the form factor that contained a compact motherboard which fit within the same housing as the keyboard.

The first three models, Smaky 1, Smaky 2, and Smaky 4, were based on the Intel 8080 microprocessor (Smaky 3 was a prototype that was never completed). In 1978 the Smaky switched to using the 8-bit Zilog Z80 processor. A portable Smaky was made during this period, which resembled Osborne portable computers. In 1981 the platform again changed to the 32-bit Motorola 68000 processor. A new operating system was written, called Psos, which was developed specifically for the Smaky, and used on all subsequent models.

Development work on the Smaky hardware ended in 1995. A Smaky emulator for Microsoft Windows was developed in 2000.