Z-80 SoftCard

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The Z-80 SoftCard, later known as the Microsoft SoftCard, was a plug-in card from Microsoft for use with the Apple II personal computer. Due to the built in Zilog Z-80 CPU It enabled the Apple II to run the CP/M operating system. This made it possible to run a much wider range of business software on the Apple II than before^{[citation needed]}, as CP/M was an industry standard operating system at the time. A copy of the Microsoft BASIC programming language was included in the SoftCard package^{[citation needed]}, a move by Microsoft which may have helped them gain publicity in the days before being contracted by IBM to develop MS-DOS.

[edit] Development

The card was jointly developed between Tim Paterson of Seattle Computer Products^[1] (who developed the initial prototypes), a young Bill Gates^{[citation needed]} and Don Burdis of Microsoft^{[citation needed]}. It was first demonstrated publicly at the West Coast Computer Faire in March 1980^{[citation needed]}.

[edit] Sales

There were an unprecedented 5,000 of these cards purchased in the initial three months^{[citation needed]} and the card sold very well for several years.^{[citation needed]}