Microsoft's Biggest Product in 1980: the Z-80 SoftCard for the Apple II

Date:
Thu, 16 Jun 2022 15:56:44 GMT

Description:
Before MS-DOS, Microsoft helped CP/M run on the Apple II.

FULL STORY ======================================================================

Back in 1980 before the release of MS-DOS and long before the release of Microsoft Windows the biggest seller for Microsoft was, believe it or not,
an add-on card for the Apple II computer which allowed the Apple II to run
the CP/M operating system from Digital Research.

The Microsoft SoftCard added a Z-80 CPU to the Apple II, and included some additional CP/M software (including Microsoft BASIC). A Microsoft SoftCard advertisement in Byte Magazine .

While Microsoft was initially uncertain of the market viability of the SoftCard, it turned into the companies biggest selling product of 1980
moving over 5,000 units (priced between $349 and $399) in just the first
three months.

From November, 1980 Infoworld :

Unsure of the demand for the product, Microsoft took a prototype to the last West Coast Computer Faire. Unprepared to take orders for the
then-unannounced product, Rayburn [who was then the President of Microsofts Consumer Products Division] collected over 1000 business cards from
interested buyers the first day.

Sales were good. Reviews were good. The Microsoft SoftCard (powered by Digital Researchs CP/M) was a hit.

From there the SoftCard would become so common that many software packages were shipped specifically for CP/M running on the Apple II. With Microsoft, themselves, shipping additional compilers for the SoftCard-equipped Apple II including Cobol and Fortran. The manual and disk folder for Microsoft Fortran-80

Fun historical tidbit: Because (at least in part) of the CP/M powered Microsoft SoftCard IBM approached Bill Gates and company regarding licensing CP/M to run on the new IBM PC. This (after negotiations with CP/M creator, Digital Research, broke down) resulted in an agreement between IBM and Microsoft just a few short months after the introduction of the SoftCard where IBM would license a CP/M clone from Microsoft (which Microsoft
purchased from a company in Seattle). Cutting Digital Research out entirely.
Thus the legacy of MS-DOS was born.

Heres a few extra resources on the Microsoft SoftCard for those interested in this fascinating system. Thanks to the popularity of the SoftCard in the early 1980s, there is a wealth of documentation available (including scans of original documentation such as those included below). An excerpt from the Microsoft Z-80 SoftCard brochure

From the Microsoft Z-80 SoftCard Manual



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Link to news story: https://lunduke.substack.com/p/microsofts-biggest-product-in-1980


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