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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Z80-based_home_comput...
Also the Z80 was in a lot of game systems and arcade machines. Imagine Sonic and Pac Man multitasking:
The specs on this are kind of weird. Z80, 1MB memory, 2TB HDD. Is this some kind of super Z80 clocked at 50+Mhz? I tend to think of Z80 systems as having 32-128kB of memory and 400k floppies for storage.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I think you'll need a Z80 machine with bank switched RAM, that's how the multi-tasking side of things works.
The TI-83+ does not have bank switched RAM, but it's sister products the 83+ SE, 84+, and 84+ SE do. Regardless, you can achieve preemptive multitasking on z80 without banked RAM, you just need PIC.
http://www.symbos.de/symmodul.htm?0
(relevant sections passed through google translate de->en)
Memory Management
SymbOS supports up to 1024 KB of RAM, depending on what was connected to a memory expansion. The memory manager splits the entire RAM into individual blocks of 256 bytes, which can be assigned completely dynamically. A big feature here is the fact that SymbOS applications are always executed in a secondary 64K ram bank. Thus, each program is allowed to allocate and address up to 63KB in one piece. Screen memories and operating system routines are all in the first, severed ram bank. They are virtually invisible and do not stand in the way of the application. Of course, an application can also reserve more than 63KB for itself.
Banking Management
If an 8-bit CPU is to manage a memory of up to one megabyte (which is theoretically at least 20 bits for the address bus), then it can possibly become very complicated. This is where the bank switching administration of SymbOS comes in, which regulates everything independently and transparently. Completely unaffected, e.g. System routines located in a completely different bank are called by programs as if they were in the same 16-bit address range. Using the so-called transfer ram area (the top 16KB of a ram bank) both the operating system and the application can access the same memory from two different 64K banks. Copying memory areas between any two RAM banks is also possible without any problems.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
The TI-83+ does not have bank switched RAM, but it's sister products the 83+ SE, 84+, and 84+ SE do. Regardless, you can achieve preemptive multitasking on z80 without banked RAM, you just need PIC.
Sure, but I think SymbOS specifically requires bank switching capability: http://www.symbos.de/symmodul.htm?0 (relevant sections passed through google translate de->en) Memory Management SymbOS supports up to 1024 KB of RAM, depending on what was connected to a memory expansion. The memory manager splits the entire RAM into individual blocks of 256 bytes, which can be assigned completely dynamically. A big feature he…
The specs on this are kind of weird. Z80, 1MB memory, 2TB HDD. Is this some kind of super Z80 clocked at 50+Mhz? I tend to think of Z80 systems as having 32-128kB of memory and 400k floppies for storage.
It's ridiculously unprofessional in my book.
Why does every OS screenshot (not from a big company) always have to have a few pictures of women in it? It's ridiculously unprofessional in my book.
These sorts of things are great reminders of just how bloated modern software is and what is possible if you can avoid the bloat. These systems are less powerful than a typical modern washing machine or refrigerator.
Why does every OS screenshot (not from a big company) always have to have a few pictures of women in it? It's ridiculously unprofessional in my book.